Vaccinations

[melodymatters]

BO, I'm with you on this one ! I worried a lot, daughter had a horrible reaction to the mmr.

 

If I was to have another child, i would go about the vaccination process in exactly the ame way you are ! Kudo's for being such a good parent !

 

on a side note, my late ex huband and his 6 sibling were all raised christian scientist and never got ONE vax between them. They all grew up to be very healthy, non disease spreading adults !

[Kenyth]

No it's not.

 

Doctors can tell through blood testing if you have HSV1 or 2 (both can be genital of facial). However, if you have never had an outbreak they would not know whether it's on your face or your genitals.

 

A swab of an outbreak can also tell a doctor what type a person has.

 

Anyway to keep it on topic, I heard on the news a while back that labs are coming closer to creating a vaccine for HSV1. I guess for some it's a lot worse than an occasional cold sore, some people have horrible outbreaks all over there face, etc. Also, the rise in genital infections is surprising doctors, not to mention occular herpes and encephalitis.

 

I don't have kids, but I think if and when I do I'll be a lot like you BO. I like your idea of creating an alternative schedule. I think you're making good choices for your little boy

 

Really? I didn't know that. A vaccine for HSV1 would be great. I'm all for every vaccine they can come up with. My wife and her mom have cold sores occasionally. My little guy caught it early in life. It was pretty mild though. A single standard sore on the upper lip and a low grade fever. It's come back a couple times and seems to be less severe each time. The last time, it was so small I barely noticed he had it at all. It just looked like a little pimple. With any luck his immune system will suppress it completely as he gets older.

[Kenyth]

BO, I'm with you on this one ! I worried a lot, daughter had a horrible reaction to the mmr.

 

If I was to have another child, i would go about the vaccination process in exactly the ame way you are ! Kudo's for being such a good parent !

 

on a side note, my late ex huband and his 6 sibling were all raised christian scientist and never got ONE vax between them. They all grew up to be very healthy, non disease spreading adults !

 

 

Of course they did. They weren't exposed to any nasty diseases because most everyone else they interacted with was vaccinated! Vaccination is an individual act, but it's benefits cascade to those around you as well by preventing you from becoming a carrier. If they came into contact with an infected individual, they would be unprotected.

 

I remember reading a story about one of the last smallpox outbreaks. A man traveling the world as a missionary was not completely protected from smallpox because he started his traveling too soon after being vaccinated. He came into contact with smallpox. His symptoms were no more than severe flu, but he inadvertently infected and killed many in his travel home.

[milvushina]

There is a principle called herd immunity that means when a high proportion of people get vaccinated, the disease rate goes way down.

 

For instance the controversial MMR vaccine that scares some people. My son will be getting it but not until he is one. If enough people are passing up the vaccine, kids his age have a higher chance of coming into contact with children who should have been vaccinated (old enough) but weren't. Shots not only keep your kids safe but protect those in the "herd" who have not yet had the opportunity to have their own protection.

 

It seems like what does the most damage to vaccination programs, is their own success.

[blind_otter]

It is interesting to note that when you look on the cdc website and their annual disease stats, the only cases of polio in the US are actually induced by the vaccine. I think that vaccines are good and do serve a purpose, but I question the adviseability of giving 6 vaccines simultaneously - it seems to me that would overload an infant's immune system - I mean, we don't normally get infected with 6 diseases simultaneously.

 

And then there's the PC vaccine - the strains it does protect against are now no longer prevalent. Instead, now one of the several strains it does NOT protect against is becoming prevalent amongst infants. And the drug companies that manufacture the vaccines are working on altering their existing vaccine but it's still 1-2 years away from distribution. It seems like trying to walk up a slippery slope, every time you get somewhere another disease pops up to take the place of the one that children are now protected against.

 

One wonders if children in 10 or 20 years will be getting 10 vaccine combos, or the like. And if that will have as yet unexamined consequences?....anyone who has even an elementary understanding of the human body and its processes can see that every little thing you introduce into the system has a cascade of effects, even minute behavioral consquences that don't necessarily show up upon gross examination.

 

And yes, vaccines do temporarily give children and adults protections against diseases, but unlike surviving an actual illness (which gives liftetime immunity), you have to get booster shots every few years to maintain that immunity. A friend's mother who travels in asia often got her hepatitis B vaccine, and only 2 years later they did a titer to see if she was still immune when she traveled to China and she had already lost her immunity.

 

I was a victim of being over-doctored as a child. In the 80s it was popular to just hand out antibiotics like candy. I was on antibiotics almost non stop for 3 solid years. Then, magically, I developed an "idiopathic" digestive disease that I suffered with for nearly 4 years that made me unable to digest solid food. It was great fun living off scrambled eggs, smoothies and ensure, let me tell you.

 

This is why I can't just blindly follow the recommendations of doctors. It's up to every single patient to advocate for themselves. And as a parent, I must advocate for my infant son who is unable to advocate for himself. It's just a huge stress in my mind that my son will suffer the consequences if I don't make the right decision and at this point I feel like there's no one source I can really trust or rely upon to help me MAKE those necessary decisions.

[amaysngrace]

This is why I can't just blindly follow the recommendations of doctors. It's up to every single patient to advocate for themselves. And as a parent, I must advocate for my infant son who is unable to advocate for himself. It's just a huge stress in my mind that my son will suffer the consequences if I don't make the right decision and at this point I feel like there's no one source I can really trust or rely upon to help me MAKE those necessary decisions.

 

Your antibiotic story is one I can relate to. I had to argue with my kids' doctor one day because he wanted to give my son a three-day script. I told him no. I told him to give my son the ten-day pink amoxicillian. He said the three day was more convenient.

 

It got ugly. I told him no, it's worked so far, if he needs to get it for ten days instead of three I will make sure that happens, and I will not have his tolerance for antibiotics be ruined so you can get a round of golf.

 

Okay so that last part I didn't have to say but he gave me the script for the pink stuff.

[Kenyth]

BO, I think the only diseases you get lifetime immunity from are the one's that hang around in your body forever, like chickenpox.

 

Other than that, your immunity is compromised at about 10 years IIRC. From what I was reading, multiple innoculations over time seem to cause a lengthened immunity each time. If you've been previously innoculated, but lost the immunity, you still get a quicker, stronger immune response to the disease in comparison to those never innoculated.

 

Someone tell me if I'm wrong, because I sure can't find the story I was reading, and it's been a long time, so I might be getting it wrong.

[blind_otter]

BO, I think the only diseases you get lifetime immunity from are the one's that hang around in your body forever, like chickenpox.

 

Not according to my research, although I'm no immunologist; I have been studying this topic with some intensity for the past 4 months or so.

 

Here is an article proving that 90 years after the 1918 flu pandemic survivors continue to be immune to that strain of the influenza virus. Antibodies produced by cells isolated from these survivors served as an effective therapy to protect mice from the highly lethal 1918 infection.

 

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/tmsh-so1081408.php

 

From what I understand, the push to immunize very young infants has more to do with compliance than anything else.

 

I am very much in favor of vaccinations. I just wonder why so many vaccinations are given at such a young age.

[RecordProducer]

Yet if you choose not to vaccinate and your baby gets a fatal disease that could have been prevented, would you not feel awful? The odds of this happening are much greater than the odds of possible side effects from the vaccinations.

Exactly. People HAVE lived without vaccinations in the past and they were dying young. There is no doubt that statistically, vaccinations have prevented illness and death in many cases.

 

It is important that you feel comfortable with your own choice.

I agree, but you shouldn't put your child's health at risk because of your own fears.

 

As parents, we are always concerned about our children. It's a never-ending worry. But the risk is always there, whether you take all measures to prevent it or not, some risk will always exist. I have a hard time dealing with this fact, but we must learn (me too) to find a balance between doing our best and having faith. Do you want to teach your son that he should live in a bubble?

[melodymatters]

I don't think BO wants her son to live in a bubble, or as against vaccinations as she has stated numderous times that she is not.

 

But I HIGHLY agree that we are giving TOO many, TOO soon, to people ( babies) that do not have mature immune systems.

 

For example, so many people when they get a fever, the first thing they do is take something to lower it. I, and my teen daughter, believe that the fever is there for a reason, to help fight the infection, and that if we don't have anything we HAVE to do, it is better to wrap up in blankets, drink tons of fluids and "sweat it out" as it were.

 

I attribute my daughters extremely healthy childhood, to a year of breast feeding, being fed healthy, fresh, foods from a young age, and not over medicating her. ( and of course good luck in the form of good genes)

 

Good luck BO, keep doing your research and follow your heart.

[blind_otter]

Thanks, mel.

 

Ultimately, I just want people to be aware that they need to do their homework nowadays, especially when it comes to their own health or the health of their children.

 

I didn't just create an alternative vaccine schedule because of hysteria about autism - and of course the problem is not that the vaccine directly causes autism, the theory is that is causes digestive issues that lead to autism. There are so many other reactions that are of concern - from inconsolable crying to high fever, seizures, and some indications that longterm chronic health problems are linked to us messing with immature immune systems.

 

The child's immune system is mature by age 2. It seems like it might be adviseable to treat them more delicately until they reach that age.

[milvushina]

Last week my son got 9 total vaccinations, all at once (2 were combo shots). It sounds like a lot, but everything you eat, drink, touch, or breathe is full of allergens, bacteria, and viruses. This is anti-intuitive to some people, but all those shots actually barely register on the body's radar, compared to what you're bombarded with in everyday life.

 

I'm not sure what you meant by compliance, but doctors try to get you do them all at once is because it's most important to prevent them early, since disease is usually most dangerous in babies and the elderly. And, it decreases the window of vulnerability. The idea is to eventually eradicate disease totally so they are always looking for ways to make vaccination more efficient.

 

Don't worry about the polio, it's impossible to get it from the shot, the bug's not live (oral is live though...).

 

I think you're doing a real good job and I do some problems with people that are totally anti-vaccine, but I understand wanting to take a moderate position. Personally, I decided that there's no contest between vaccines and disease when it comes to risk. I'm going with all that are recommended and I would rather keep up with boosters than put him and possibly others through an illness unnecessarily.

[SierraRose]

When my son was an infant, I had him immunized for everything. I only had issues with 2 of them. First, was the chicken pox vaccine. I did online research and talked to the doctor. What he said made sense; if everyone gets their child immunized against it, it will be wiped out. I did it. The one I was really iffy about was Preznar (sp?) it was relatively new, so I explained to the doctor my hesitation. He understood and told me to continue to read up on it and we can discuss it at the 6 month visit. My ex husband had numerous ear infections when he was a baby, sooo painful. We discussed it and decided to go with it. At the time Preznar was rapidly becoming popular. It was administered in 3 separate shots; 3, 6 and 9 months I believe. I waited so it was to be 6, 9 and 12 months. First shot was at 6, second shot was at 10 (9 month checkup they were out of it due to demand), and he never had the third shot. The last shot, I was told the doctors now were having a difficult time in even getting the vaccine at all. I was also told it was disproved that the Prevnar made any difference at all in the frequency in ear infections.

I agree with the older vaccines. The newer ones, basically a crap shoot. My son is now turning 8. He is healthy and to date he has had only one ear infection. So really, I think it's a gut instinct...

[SierraRose]

One more quick note...to ease side effects of immunizations, give the baby/child Tylenol 1 hour before the Dr.s visit..

[Mary3]

After leaving the health department today I learned a sad fact. My state Nevada , was ranked the LOWEST for parents compliance with the vaccinations. The next sad fact is the program for FREE immunizations is ending due to budget cuts.

 

The WORSE thing to do according the health department was to delay shots for years and clump them all together right before school starts.

 

Babies starting at 2 months old need the Vaccinations, then the progression of shots , 4 months old , 6 months and ect. ( I am not sure of the exact amount or time on the shots ) Starting young as infants , the kids who got no shots , were exposed to any diseases and had NO protection. The kids who got vaccinated from infancy were the least likely to get diseases that have been eradicated in our country ( for the most part ) Because of the vaccinations.

 

As far as the vaccinations being unsafe , I have not researched that.

 

But imagine 20,000 toddlers running around , none have the vaccines , a yard full of infected kids mix with the unvaccinated kids and you have a recipe for disaster.