Will You Vaccinate Your Daughter for HPV? Older
Link Roundup: Gisele Bundchen Sparks Controversy
Poll: Did You Vaccinate Your Child?
Despite the debunking of the vaccine-autism connection, debate still rages over the link between vaccinations and the condition. So, we're interested: did you vaccinate your child?
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18 Comments
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Thu, 2010-03-04 10:57
Jusdbfedfwf
Wed, 2010-03-03 18:25
I know that there is no link between vaccinations and autism, but even if there were it is a greater risk to not vaccinating. I your kid gets sick and you take them to the park where thay can be around other kids some too young to be vaccinated you put them at risk as well along with older adults. You may think that your choices are for you and your family but if you choose not to vaccinate than you shouldn't take your kids out where they can be around others they can infect like daycare stores and other public places. If my child got measles (b/c she too young to be vaccinated) b/c you didn't vaccinate your child I would sue and it has been done and I would win b/c it endangering the lives of other children.
Sun, 2009-11-08 10:36
There is more than just the all or nothing approach, and that does not seem to be taken into account here. In our families we have excessive allergies and also several cousins with autism and learning disabilities. After researching how they do it in other countries, as well as looking at studies that talk about the immune system overload we decided to approach the issue in a less traditional manner.
We have used a modified vaccination schedule as listed on the Dr. Sears website. There are a few that we skipped early on, as our son was not in daycare, therefore the vaccines were not important. We will follow this same approach with our second child though we will likely opt for the daycare ones since older sib is in daycare. Given that shingles runs in both our families, and there is an increased risk for shingles withe the chicken pox vaccine, we are choosing to not vaccinate for chicken pox until its absolutely necessary by age 7 or 8.
Wed, 2009-07-08 13:48
I did not vaccinate, but it frankly had nothing to do with autism. Put simply, there are 2 questions you try to get answered before giving your child any treatment. Is it safe? Is it effective? Sadly the answers I received from my child's doctor really only provoked more questions for me, so I waited and researched, in spite of the doctor's panicked view that it needed to be done right then. There were no outbreaks at the time; my child was not in daycare, so waiting seemed reasonable to me. When I gathered my thoughts, read the CDC and my state's health department website, dug up some studies and charts and other information that wasn't easily available, and wrote down my questions, I went back to the doctor. I asked my questions. And he fired me. For asking questions. Kicked me out of his practice.
Since that time, I have tried to get these questions answered by doctors, epidemiologists, anybody who has skills at interpreting scientific studies, since I know I may be lacking in this department. All I can get is lots of arm-waving, stomping of feet, and screaming that I am crazy and don't know what I am talking about. Then, correct me, I say. Explain what I'm misinterpreting and how. SHOW ME! I WANT TO LEARN!
My oldest is five now, and I have yet to have anyone help me get the answers I need to feel comfortable with the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Questions about the way studies are done, about the difference in research standards for vaccines versus other drugs, about the timing of the decline of all communicable diseases, and about several other concepts that are seldom discussed that I feel should be. And yes he is at a higher risk of catching something should there be an outbreak, but regardless of what the CDC says - that the risk of severe complication from catching a rare disease is greater than the risk of a complication from the vaccine itself - the numbers for either are too rare to be compelling. And frankly I don't want to be told, I want to be SHOWN. I want to see exactly how it adds up.
There's a lot of emotional, knee-jerk reaction on both sides, and I am simply trying to take a rational approach to a complicated problem, in what is apparently a very irrational world.
Mon, 2009-04-13 07:53
LadyofNomads - i'm in a similar predicament that you mentioned.... last year... sorry this is so late and i HOPE you read it, but i'm worried and want answers. all i get is "shame on you! bad mommy!"
right now my kids are with me(stay at home mom on a 3 acre farm in a small country town in FL..) and i plan to home school because the schools in this town are nothing more than a holding facility.... and the staff in the front office will let anyone off the street walk in and pick their kid out of a crowd with no questions asked. yeah its a small town, but i can think of a hundred scary situations where that DOESNT need to happen.
Anyway, my husband disagrees on home schooling, he would prefer private, but i'm not convinced thats any better, plus... i think its an insult to my ability to prefer a stranger's teaching method over my own!
and then there is that pesky "are vaccinations good or bad" issue... i say they are, for the most part, good..... but the contradictions are SCARY!!
I just joined this site today because i wanted to ask you about your success and if you have discovered anything new since you last commented on this article. But... I did not see a way to contact you personally.
Thanks!
all the best,
Gin
Sat, 2010-02-27 15:54
I also am surprised at the way these poll choices were written. In fact, it's a little bit insulting to the thousands of parents who choose an alternative approach to vaccinations. Many parents recognize the importance of vaccinations for the health of their own children as well as for public health in general. However, there is a growing number of parents who feel that the CDC/APA/Big Pharma did NOT have the best interests of their individual children in mind when the current vaccine schedule was created. There is no reason to overload a newborn/infant/toddler's system with the staggering number of vaccinations per visit as the schedule currently is written, and parents have the choice/responsibility to make sure that their children are receiving vaccinations in a way that is safest for them.
I am one of thousands of parents who will vaccinate, but will do so selectively and on a delayed schedule. I've read extensively on the matter, and the autism question is but one to be visited. I understand there is only so much you can allow for when creating a poll like this, but honestly, the way it is written is such a oversimplified look at the issue. I find it to be a little irritating.
Thu, 2009-04-09 10:24
I won't respond to this poll, it seems to imply that Autism is the only reason one wouldn't vaccinate and doesn't provide the all important "other" or delayed and selective approach option that more and more people are turning to.
Tue, 2009-04-07 20:43
The poll does exclude some answers that I think are logical.
Yes, my first child received all her vaccines and I plan on having the one I am expecting receive all her vaccinations as well. BUT...I know that the cases of vaccine reaction exist and that these reactions are serious and devastating, if not life-threatening, and/or deadly.
We know that vaccines are not risk-free. The choice to vaccinate is a calculated risk -- the child is safer against illness by taking the vaccine than they would be otherwise, risks of the vaccine included. But given that we know the risk of vaccine reaction exists, we need to talk about it honestly so that better solutions can be found. For the one parent who loses their child to polio or measles, the vaccine is the most important thing that could ever happen. For the one parent who watches as their child suffers and sometimes dies from the result of a vaccine, the right to refuse a vaccine is the most important thing that could ever happen. We all can agree that neither situation is acceptable. Given this, the only solution, as I see it, is more research and open conversation.
My answer to the poll would have been, "I am aware that vaccines pose some risk to my child's health, but I choose to have my child receive her vaccinations because I think the risk posed by various diseases she may otherwise be exposed to is a greater risk to my child's health."
Tue, 2009-04-07 18:59
It is my personal belief that autisum develops after some kids experiances phisical or emotional trama. Getting a vaccine may cause your child trama if it is not done with care. If your child is in the thirty persentile for her age than perhaps she should wait or get a smaller dose at a time. You could have the perfact storm if you do a bunch of make up shots all at once too.
Tue, 2009-04-07 15:45
Concern regarding autism is not the only reason parents choose not to vaccinate. There are many concerns regarding other side effects, and dangerous ingredients used in making vaccines. As a parent of a 15-month-old, I have decided to delay, and only give selective IZs based on my concerns. This is the right decision for our family.
Tue, 2009-04-07 10:19
I am the mom of Jacob, who will be 7 in May, and Gracie, who turned 3 in October. Jacob had all his vaccinations. I was nervous but felt parents who did not vaccinate were crazy. Three years ago on May 12th, I took Gracie in for her 6 month check up... four shots..two in each leg. Days later, Gracie suffered a massive stroke. Her brain damage effected her left side mobility (arm and leg), her speech area and behavior area of the brain. She stayed at Johns Hopkins Hospital for 5 days where she endured test after test, blood draw after blood draw with no answer as to why she had a stroke that could have killed her. I keep asking about her vaccines and no one would answer until a resident doctor said to me " if it was the vaccines, they will never tell you." Since her stroke, Gracie has been treated for a brain anuersym she developed because of the stroke, she has therapy twice a week, annual hip and leg x-rays, annual bloodwork, annual nuerolgy evaluations, and has just recently started receiving electric therapy for her arm and leg...and she is only three! She has a long way to go. Since her stroke I am always researching vaccines. I was shocked to find out that 250,000 cases are report every year of babies/children who suffer horrible reactions to these vaccines. These cases do not include autism or the children that go without being reported like Gracie. I was sick to my stomach when I read in detail how the vaccines are made. My brother in law is a scientist at NIH in Bethesda Maryland, who worked on the HIB vaccine back in the day. I consulted with him about vaccines and about Gracie. He agreed it was probably the vaccines that caused her stroke. Through this journey I have been on with Gracie, I have met so many moms who tell me how their child had a stroke after vaccines, or started having seizures after their vaccines. I have a dear friend whose son was a healthy, happy, vibrant 5 month old boy. He had is vaccines and now is 26 years old, living in a home for mentally retarded adults , who functions at a 2 year old level.
Gracie has not received a vaccine since or ever will.
Tue, 2009-04-07 09:26
I too couldn't do the survey. I work with children who have autism as an Occupational Therapist. MOST of the parents I work with report their child had a link with autism & vaccinations making me uncomfortable to vaccinate my daughter on the schedule given. I WILL vaccinate but not on the schedule given. I find it absurd to inject these substances on the FIRST DAY OF LIFE! They now want to give kids Hepatitis series & flu shots on the first day...when will it stop!
There is such a fear in America (I am not American) about these things it is no wonder we feel inadequate as parents. I will vaccinate but at a later schedule & will be selective on the ones I choose for my daughter.
The reason the 'scientific evidence' will never link autism (or other illnesses/diseases) & vaccinations?...hello! we are talking about fighting the Drug Industry & 'their research'...billions of dollars are to be made by these companies making vaccinations, OF COURSE you will never find parents winning these court cases. I think we just need to be given ALL the information to make safe decisions about vaccinating...BOTH sides (risks of doing it & risks of not) but I am dealing daily with kids that were 'normal' until they had their shots...
Tue, 2009-04-07 03:51
Also as a mother of one boy with autism, I feel very strongly about vaccinating your children. When our son was first diagnosed with autism, this thought of "did I cause this by vaccinating?" went through my head...but eventually the reality of the situation sets in. The relation between the two has been disproven and the risk of not vaccinating your child opens him/her up to other very serious health issues.
We've just recently had this conversation around our family and some of the publicity that goes on in regards to this topic is a real shame. There are those out there that only worry about the negative, but what about the positive...protecting their child and other children around them from diseases like the measles.
Ultimately everyone can make their own choice, but it's not just about their child in my opinion! Thanks for discussing this very important topic!!
Mon, 2009-04-06 19:39
I wish I could take the poll but I feel like it is really missing important information. People need to be well informed with their choices....and well this just talks about autism and vaccinations. There is much more to both sides of whether to vaccinate or not to vaccinate than autism. Let's discuss that!
Mon, 2009-04-06 19:10
Hi drheather!
Definitely! We'd love for you to bring up the topics that you feel are relevant. Our videos are a jumping off point to the Momversation... we love when our members continue and expand upon it!
Mon, 2009-04-06 23:22
As a mother of three children with Autism, I have strong feeling on this issue. Research has shown over and over that there is no link between Autism and the MMR vaccination. All three of my children where vaccinated. Yes, when I had my last child vaccinated I was a little bit worried but I knew it was best. Even if the MMR vaccination causes autism. I would still have it done, as autism is not fatal and Measles can be fatal. Research has shown that autism is genetically based. Which is obvious in the fact that all three of my children have autism.
Heather, I think it is great that you are willing to bring up this topic as it is an important topic that is very miss understood. Many people are still misinformed and believe that if they vaccinate their child their child will get Autism. This has caused my people not to vaccinate their child and I am afraid we will be see more and more measles outbreak in the future. So, lives will be lost because parents are afraid to vaccinate their children.
Mon, 2009-04-06 16:53
We just had our two month old vaccinated at his last doctors vsit. He will have his second vaccine at four months. Yes he cried for a few seconds, but i think i would rather him cry for a few seconds then die or possibly get very ill from some crazy disease.
Mon, 2009-04-06 16:14