I have a 16 and 14 year old, as well as a 4 year old. I have a 16 year old nephew with severe autism since he was diagnosed at age 3.

My girls (oldest two) had all the shots and I took the doctors word for everything. Then I had a long break between having another child and have also experienced what life is like for my nephew and his family. My sister in law thinks his autism is a result of vaccine "injury" and it has totally screwed up his brain.

My nephew is like a large 3 year old who is not potty trained totally, doesn't speak and will need care for the rest of his life. He has seizures, obsessive compulsive disorder, dietary allergies and a host of other issues.

Now, with my 4 year old I was more cautious about vaccinating him. I spread them out (with advice from a book called "what your doctor doesn't tell you about vaccinating") and didn't do any shots in combinations and asked for mercury free dosages. Most are mercury free now, except for flu shots, I believe. The doctors were willing to accomidate, but then I had to go to a special nurse to have the shots given. That nurse's son happened to be autistic, but she was of the opinion that he was born that way-totally possible. I do believe there can be a genetic component to it.

I happen to be a special education teacher so I see a lot of kids with many different forms of autism and know of family histories.

I would do research and look for books at the library and it's a choice only you can make. I just think that if there wasn't a "vaccine injury hotline" then I might be more likely to believe the pediatricians when they say things are safe. My nephew was developing like a normal toddler and I know that for a fact, before the age of 18-24 months. Also, if you read Jenny Mcarthy's book about her son's autism, you might take away a similar story to my nephew's.

So, do your research, talk to the local schools and don't ever vaccinate your children when they are ill because that is when the worst things are likely to happen.

Hope this helps.

 Quote: Lisa Simms

So, do your research, talk to the local schools and don't ever vaccinate your children when they are ill because that is when the worst things are likely to happen.

I also wonder about the wisdom of vaccinating a teething baby.

Wouldn't teething, just like with illness, also be a bad time to stress a baby's immune system?

I don't doubt that numbers didn't add up to a large number of people, but it was still around (a little less I believe)1% of the infected people that had severe symptoms, 5% had muscle cramps and fever, headache, etc, and almost 95% had not a single symptom at all.

True, that odds don't matter to those it affected and really since they've switched from the live virus stuff in the 50's It has seemed pretty safe. I merely pointed out that they made it seem like if you ventured outside in the summer you'd end up in an iron lung before the vaccine, and that simply was not the case.

Yes, I imagine, as some babies do develop fevers, rashes and cold like symptoms while teething. I imagine any time of stress for a baby (like getting their first molars) would affect their well-being. Good point.

Lisa

Megan,

My children were born in 1986 and 1990 and both had chickenpox when they were little because the chickenpox vaccine did not become available in the U.S. until 1995. Did you have chickenpox before then or after? If before 1995 then you definitely were not vaccinated against it.

 Quote: Eric Read

I merely pointed out that they made it seem like if you ventured outside in the summer you'd end up in an iron lung before the vaccine, and that simply was not the case.

You are very correct that the frightened parents did indeed make it seem (and maybe they believed) that swimming and just about everything else we wanted to do during summer vacation was a terrible danger.

My family was loaded with health professionals like RNs and doctors (including my mother), but that did not modify the fear that was in the air during every epidemic.

Bulbar, of course, was a tiny tiny percentage of all cases. I had paralytic only, but when I went for exams and treatment at Boston Children's (I was fortunate to be near one of the top two pediatric hospitals in the country), the rows and rows of Drinker respirators were frightening indeed. To me at age 7, they stretched as far as the eye could see.

I think the problem is that most parents who are facing the vaccination question were themselves vaccinated when they were young. And so they have no experience with mumps, measles, rubella or any other childhood disease except for chickenpox.

I had all those diseases before the vaccines were available. I remember the measles running through a class and lots of kids missing school.

I had my kids vaccinated and I am glad I did. The only childhood disease we had to deal with was chickenpox, because that vaccine was not available until 1995, after both my children had the disease.

Have you ever known anyone who had shingles? Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. The virus is dormant in the person who had chickenpox and in 1 in 5 adults it "wakes up" and causes shingles. If you are vaccinated against chickenpox and don't get chickenpox, you will never harbor the virus that actually causes the disease and you will not get shingles later in life. http://www.karrifamilyclinic.com.sg/2007/02/why-you-should-vaccinate-against.html

I remember measles. I remember mumps. I remember chickenpox and watched my children get it. I think it is great that we can vaccinate against these diseases.

Nancy,

If you had chickenpox as a child there is a 1 in 5 chance that you will get shingles when you are older. The CDC is now advising adults over age 60 who have had chickenpox to get a shingles vaccine. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051502364.html

And as you say, those adults who become more susceptible to shingles are adults who had chickenpox. One article I read said that with universal chickenpox vaccination shingles could be gone in 50 years. Another said "several generations".

It's an interesting dilemma. Vaccinate all, or a very high percentage, of children against chickenpox and they will never* get either chickenpox or shingles. But adults (such as myself) who have had chickenpox will be more likely to get shingles.

*I know, the vaccine isn't 100% effective.

WOW I did not expect this topic to boom.

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I never had a fleeting thought about vaccinations, for pets or humans, before discovering Leerburg.

Me either. It seems that those who do the research find out they're not that great and need to be cautious with timing and amount (same with most kibble). I like that this site is such a great resource.

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Not to mention three of the wonderful "peanut butter shots" in the buttocks over the years.

haha should I ask ?

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Why vaccinate for a disease that isn't fatal? Good health never comes in the form of an injection.

AMEN. It's a good mantra.


My fears lie more in the long term effects which are not known. Why hasn't the jump in cancer (that Sarah mentioned) been looked at more analytically? And the side effects. Aluminum is a vaccine additive as well as a neurotoxin *yikes* no thanks. They phrased it well on This American Life. I just don't "trust the system".