Inoculations definitely serve a purpose, because tetanus and polio and meningitis are serious diseases that will mess a body up. But keeping to the “recommended” injection schedule by forcing all that serum in such a young little body is ludicrous. If your goal is to bolster your child’s immune system, you might want to wait until s/he actually has one.
When we were looking for a pediatrician, our primary criterion was an open mind toward delaying inoculations as long as possible. We did a lot of research, as all parents should, about the pros and cons of early immunization, and we decided there really wasn’t much of a need to guard against Hep B, for example, since we were reasonably certain our infant son wasn’t sharing drug needles or having unprotected sex.
We were also put off by all the heated controversy over thimerosal and its alleged association with the appalling surge in autism cases over the past ten years. We learned that thimerosal kept costs down by allowing drug companies to sell the vaccines in larger, multiple-dose vials. And now, despite years of preaching its harmlessness, Big Pharma has suddenly decided to start removing thimerosal from most vaccinations. Imagine what other policy shifts might await us.
Our older son has started preschool, so we’re listening to our pediatrician and catching up to where the AAP wants us to be. And were taking our time, because we’d rather keep our sons’ intake of ammonium sulfate, pig blood, rabbit brain, monkey kidney, fetal bovine serum, formaldehyde, monosodium glutamate, antifreeze, and washed sheep red blood cells to a minimum.
Sorry, Mr. LOD, you are way off on this one.
Those recommendations by the CDC are based on the best scientific evidence about when and how vaccines work. If children didn't have an immune system when the vaccines were given, the vaccine wouldn't do anything to protect them.
However, children of the appropriate ages DO have functional immune systems and the vaccines DO protect them.
Further, on your thoughts that Hep B vaccines aren't necessary for children since they don't share needles or have unprotected sex, what about the parents of your child's playmates? HepB can be transmitted by human bites or other bodily fluid exchanges.( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15911449&query_hl=1 )
According to the CDC, there are an "Estimated 1.25 million chronically infected Americans, of whom 20-30% acquired their infection in childhood". The earlier someone encounters HepB, the more likely it is that they will develop the chronic form of the disease, which increases the chance of death due to liver failure. ( http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/b/fact.htm )
That isn't a risk I am willing to take.
I probably am coming across too passionately, probably because I am.
As parents, we can only try our best to make the best decisions we can from the available information. Every parent will probably disagree with every other parent on at least one issue, but the data on the safety and efficacy of vaccines is extremely solid.
I hope people who are considering not vaccinating their children according to the CDC schedule will do as much research on the options as you did, and carefully weigh the known and high risks of non-vaccination against the low or unknown risk of vaccine side effects.
Posted by: Brian Haugen | Sep 30, 2005 2:45:14 PM