Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Vaccinations?


I read an article on parents falsely claiming "religious reasons" for not having their children vaccinated. Interesting. I guess they must be claiming religious reasons because that is the only reason the state will accept and still allow their children into school.

Now, I seem to recall that some of my loyal readers are people who do not get their children vaccinated.

I have never given a second thought to having my children get their shots. Just this week all 3 have gotten their flu shots. All have had chicken pox shots. I guess I am uninformed on the issue - because I just don't get it.

I think I've heard that some people feel like some shots may have a link to autism. I have a cousin with autism - I believe his parents feel it is more likely something that happened in the birthing process, but I'm not real sure . . . .

Guess I never really considered there may be children in my kid's classes that do not have their immunizations. It's a bit scary to me to think about that. That a child may come in their with TB, measles, etc.

What are your thoughts on vaccines?

7 comments:

Brandie said...

We have not vaccinated our youngest child yet.
My oldest was vaccinated according to schedule.
My middle child had BAD reactions to her shots. We had to stop and delay them. At 5, she is all caught up.
My youngest, we will probably start his shots next summer and only do one at a time.

In many other countries vaccines are not given to young children because health professionals feel it is not safe. Vaccines do cause issues for some children. There is actually a fund in the US to pay people who have severe reactions.

No vaccine is 100% guaranteed. Which you must know already, or you wouldn't be worried about people who don't have them.

I think in America, you don't really need to worry about the unvaccinated children causing your child honestly. If we were living in other parts of the world I'd be more concerned. But in most industrialized countries, I don't think it's a big concern truthfully. And even with measles outbreaks or whooping cough outbreaks, it is usually affected vaccinated children (because let's face it, most of the population is vaccinated).

For me, I don't believe young children need to have all those chemicals and stuff put in their bodies. I also don't think some of the things we vaccinate for is truly necessary for the life we live (we don't get flu shots. The risk of flu issues is actually quite low. For the same reason, we won't get the CP vaccine).

Now, I don't believe vaccines are evil and it's wrong to get them. I just don't agree all are necessary and I don't think that doctors are going over all the risks that can be associated with them. For example, the gardisil vaccine is actually linked to some deaths. My sister was just given that vaccine and the doctor didn't mention that side affect to my mother. Although it may be rare, I think it needs to be mentioned!

Anyway, just my 2 cents on the topic! I also hope someone more eloquent can come and throw their 2 cents in LOL!

Anonymous said...

My opinion is Vaccinate.

Judi said...

I have always had the shots. I am like you, I can't imagine a kid coming into school with something horrible that could have been prevented and spreading it around.

Alida said...

There is a blog you can link through mine.

http://www.creaturebug.typepad.com

She wrote a great blog about vaccines based on a book she reviewed. It's excellent and I highly recommend anyone on the fence to read what she had to say.

My kids are vaccinated and we HOMESCHOOL!

Shawna said...

I do have Scamp vaccinated. I never had a second thought until my husband's nephew was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. It's scary to see the statistics for diagnosis these days: 1 in 150 (http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FactsStats). Something is causing that great of a rise, but I'm no expert.

Jill said...

I think it's OK to vaccinate. I hate to speak out of turn because I don't have an autistic child, but my brother, who is a pharmacist (and doesn't generally believe taking Rx is a good thing) has commented that autism just happens to appear in children at about 2 years of age, which is also the end of several rounds of vaccines starting almost at birth. Also, in years gone by there may have been just as many cases of autism, but they were not diagnosed (ditto with ADD, ADHA, etc). I'm not against those who chose not to vaccinate, but I did not hesitate to get the shots for my own child.

Mara said...

Niice post thanks for sharing