Vaccination Update
To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate
I am not a doctor. Nor do a play one on TV.
Over the years, that has been my standard response whenever anyone asks for my opinion on whether or not to vaccinate their children. It’s such a huge issue, and probably one of the most contentious issues facing new parents these days. And frankly, it wasn’t really one that I felt qualified to answer. Instead, I always felt it was important that parents find a health care provider that they trust who will listen to their thoughts and concerns and offer advice accordingly.
Still, I can’t deny that the vaccination debate comes up quite frequently in my sphere in the form of blog comments, emails, twitter messages, and even on Facebook. So rather than continue to pass the buck, I’ve decided to face it head on. I’ve been compiling research on the topic for years, and it was my intention to write a series of blog posts highlighting both the pros and the cons of vaccination and offering readers a list of sources where they could follow up for more information.
So a few weeks ago, I sent out a query (using an awesome free resource for reporters called HARO,) asking to hear from parents who felt strongly about vaccination on one side or another. I expected the standard responses…parents who are convinced that vaccination saves lives and parents who are convinced that vaccinations are more likely to take lives than save them.
As expected, my inbox was literally flooded with emails…and many were just as I expected. But there were also a large percentage of responses that did not fall into column A or column B…and these were the ones that I hadn’t expected at all.
Take for instance the email that I got from a mom who feels strongly in favor of vaccination, but whose own son cannot be vaccinated because of an allergic reaction he has to certain medications. Her email conveyed the powerlessness she feels at having to rely upon the decisions of strangers to protect the health of her son. Another one I didn’t expect was the email from the mother who’s baby stopped breathing on the day she was immunized. Talk about compelling evidence! And I was completely thrown for a loop to receive an email from a polio survivor who lost many family members and friends to the disease.
I had originally planned to start the vaccination series today. But I can now see that the vaccination debate is not as simple as for or against…and to be quite honest, it will take me longer than I thought to sort it all out. Give me one more week, and hopefully I’ll have a series of posts ready that give you the pros and the cons as well as all of the gray areas in between. And in the meantime, feel free to drop me a line if you’d like to voice your own opinion on vaccination. Here’s where to find me:
Email: jenn[at]thegreenparent.com
Twitter: @thegreenparent
Facebook: Jenn Savedge
Or just leave a comment below!
I indeed think vaccinations are an important way of protecting our children. Did you see the recent death of an unvaxed infant from Hib? One way we looked at things is to look at the potential risk, say 1 in 2 million of a reaction to the vaccine versus the risk of dying or other complications from contracting the illness protected by said vaccine. When it comes to Hib for example, 1 in 20 infants who get it die. In general, it seems that most concerns relating to vaccines come because people are fearful of side effects; at the same time vaccines have significantly reduced infant and child mortality rates… And, there are many other environmental factors that can contribute to side effects or other problems.
Our oldest is autistic. We have 3 other children after him and have vaccinated each one. My husband is a dr. and what we did was spread out the vaccinations so that there is not more than 2-3 given at a time. We were with a pediatrician who was very for vaccinations and we determined that OUR son’s autism is a combination of other things like environmental, losing oxygen in labor, prolonged inducement, early gastric problems, etc. We did wait to give our twins Hib until they were out of the hospital. They were getting other shots there and we wanted their bodies to be a little more advanced before introducing more vaccinations. They were 6 lbs when born and we waited until they were 8 lbs. The risk of spreading awful things far outweighs what “might” happen. Besides, the concerns with MMR have been fixed for over 10 years. Yet autism and learning delays are still on a rise. That points to more than vaccinations. In our opinions.
I have had both my children vaccinated, BUT not with every vaccine they offer! I do my homework, and choose (along with my Dr.) which ones are a must (including MMR) and which (like Hep A) are not neccessary for MY children.
like you i have always pointed to resources on this topic as I felt I wasn’t particularly qualified, when my kids were little I never knew I had a choice, in my work I found parents unwilling to consider that vaccinating contributed to health concerns they had about their children
frustrating
I bet you will bring alot to this conversation
can’t wait to read more…