Questions about your thoughts on vaccines and poll

[gevs4him]

My parents were a whatever the Dr. said type of people so I have received all shots that were given in 1963 through 1982 public school system requirements.

 

I was told to get the flu shot because of my weakened immune system and it made me sick so I now say no thank you. I do receive a tetnus once in a while.

 

Okay I am not anti shots, but do strongly believe a child should only receive one shot at a time.

 

Also, can anyone give me a positive reason why you should give your child the chicken pox shot?

 

Thank you

Edited February 25, 2012 by gevs4him
added

[Heather in Neverland]

I have just about everything when I came to this country

 

We are getting ready to bring our adopted daughter to the states for the first time and her immigration visa required every kind of vaccine you can think of! It was crazy. I follow routine vaccinations for my kids and even I thought it was over the top!

 

 

 

.

[MamaT]

From what I understand you can get shingles from chicken pox AND the chicken pox vaccine.

 

My oldest had chicken pox (not vaccine), then shingles.

 

I received polio, smallpox, and DPT. I actually had measles, mumps, and rubella as a child - the illnesses, not the vaccine. I'm 48.

[lailasmum]

I assume I had everything recommended at the time except I didn't have the whooping cough jab because it was not recommended if you have epilepsy in your family which we do.

 

I remember having the Polio vaccination on the sugar cube and later the BCG (tuberculosis) one as teen.

 

I have always wondered when my kids are going to get chicken pox because I had a very mild case when I was a kid but my dad had a very severe case of chicken pox that hospitalised him as a child in the 1930s. Yet my kids have never picked it up even with being accidentally exposed multiple times to kids who have shown the rash several hours later and with dh having shingles on a regular basis.

Edited February 25, 2012 by lailasmum

[DawnM]

Well, I grew up in Africa, so I got most of the top half of these plus a whole lot more!

 

Dawn

[Lisbeth]

Preface: My dad is a polio survivor. We got every vaccine available to us at the time. My children get every vaccine (except the HPV) available to them. If I had not been the daughter of a man with polio, I might think differently. Watching him die slowly of Post Polio Syndrome at the age of 65 is almost too much to bear. (He missed the polio vaccine by 3 years.)

 

I didn't experience this personally. :grouphug: However, I have read a lot of accounts of what people went through. We are so VERY BLESSED in this country and in this time in history to have the option of avoiding dread diseases and losing children early, or watching family members suffer and die with entirely preventable diseases. My children and I get vaccines to contribute to the herd immunity. I have read too much about how it used to be without vaccines.

[Lisbeth]

Infants are bombarded with germs from day one, and their immune systems can handle thousands of assaults with ease. The only reason I would ever be a proponent of one shot at a time is because of potential reactions and pinpointing the culprit. Never because I believed the immune system couldn't handle them. 5 or 6 shots is a drop in the bucket compared to what the immune systems handles all of the time.

[angela in ohio]

If the diseases for which we have vaccines become more common in the US, I will get them.

 

:D

[GailV]

Infants are bombarded with germs from day one, and their immune systems can handle thousands of assaults with ease. The only reason I would ever be a proponent of one shot at a time is because of potential reactions and pinpointing the culprit. Never because I believed the immune system couldn't handle them. 5 or 6 shots is a drop in the bucket compared to what the immune systems handles all of the time.

 

I think one typical argument with this is that we're bombarded with germs through typical portals -- nasal passages, digestive track -- that are designed to handle the onslaught, and not bombarded through having it injected directly into our systems.

[mommaduck]

I know you want those of us that have the DT or D and T to respond with DPT, but I can't do that. We intentionally avoid the P because of a deadly reaction. Only my older children are getting vaccinated and then we are leaving out Pertusis, Chicken Pox (though the older ones have had CP), and Gardisil vaxes. The rest are being carefully screened for ingredients (dd is allergic to grains) and we are spreading them out bit by bit. Younger children won't be touched till older due to their older sister's reaction.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I voted for the first three, and I'm pretty sure I had the smallpox vaccine, too.

I didn't vote for influenza, but I did have one flu vaccine, one time. I was talked into it by the doctor when I was there for another reason. Never had one since.

[MrsBear]

I have my vaccine record - born in the mid-60's, I had shots for measles, mumps and rubella (separate, not the MMR), polio, smallpox and DPT.

 

I had the chicken pox as a child, so never got that one.

 

I've had tetanus boosters over the years as an adult, have gotten additional rubella shots when I've shown no titers for immunity in bloodwork (and still do not), and before traveling to Asia in the mid-90's had the HepB series and the booster at 12 years a few years ago (and still remain negative for titers for that too).

[Iucounu]

We are told by doctors and the CDC that 'vaccines are safe'. People take this to mean your child is safe when they receive a vaccine, which simply isn't true. What they really mean is that according to research data your child is statistically less likely to be harmed by the vaccine than the disease if they contracted it. Vaccine injuries are real and do happen... Giving a child a vaccine is a risk, no matter how small.

Your statements here seem to be contradictory, unless you're implying that you think that it's false that vaccines are a net positive in terms of avoiding harm to the vaccinee (ETA: excluding for the moment the concerns about creating superbugs over time, which I think are valid but complicated). Everything in life involves risk, including exposing an unvaccinated child to vaccine-preventable diseases.

 

This is where the pseudoscience and conspiracy theories crop up. Some people have unfortunately been convinced that vaccine-related injuries are a much greater risk than they actually are, and in some cases been convinced that certain injuries have been caused by vaccines without proof. VAERS self-reports of injury by people essentially suffering from mass hysteria are not reliable data.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Iucounu

[SKL]

I also think that the CDC (etc.) are so afraid of admitting that vaccines have risks / side effects that they aren't doing all they can to reduce those risks.

 

For example, postponing the recommended first MMR to a later age (say 2 or 2.5) would reduce the (very real) risk of neurological damage without significantly increasing the risk of contracting the diseases and suffering severely therefrom. I've never heard one single scientific argument against this rather straight-forward change. But they won't admit it makes a difference. That would be admitting the vax isn't perfect, even though they know it isn't. So kids continue to get injured.

 

It's no wonder parents who do a little research get scared. I guess that makes us "hysterical" instead of responsible.

[SKL]

VAERS self-reports of injury by people essentially suffering from mass hysteria are not reliable data.

 

That may be true (though I thought it was up to doctors to report, not hysterical individuals).

 

But it's also true that many actual injuries never get reported to VAERS. My guess would be that underreporting skews the data more than overreporting.

[Iucounu]

The problem is that there is so much misinformation out there. "Doing research" (which often means relying heavily on reading websites, some outright bogus and many others which contain misinformation as well) can lead someone in the wrong direction.

 

The CDC has certainly made mistakes, as bureaucracies tend to do. I don't think that claiming that vaccinations are perfect is one of their major current faults, at least-- I'd tend to frame it as a desire not to increase distrust. IIRC they disseminate information on known side effects of vaccines. However, they've certainly not done the most wonderful job of managing public expectations and policy with the whooping cough fiasco.

 

Doctors can report adverse events to VAERS, and so can patients and their parents. I'd never assume in the current climate that under-reporting of adverse events skews reporting, but we can definitely agree that the data is suspect.

[desertmum]

I know I had the polio and measles vaccines. Also tetanus as a grown up because I hurt myself with some rusty metal so I had it done.

 

I caught the mumps and chicken pox at school so I know I wasn't vaccinated against these. I know I don't have any antibodies for rubella, but by the time the gp found out I was pregnant (I had never heard of rubella anyway). Every winter I get the flu vaccine because I am a registered asthma sufferer.

 

DS has got pretty much everything except for the MMR booster. I wish I could do the MMR in separate jabs so I m diddering because the whole MMR thing makes me nervous and ds had a bad reaction to the flu jab.:confused:

[edithcrawley]

I'm pretty sure I've had every vaccine on that list, plus the Gardisil one, and maybe a few others, but I don't remember. I know that my parents okayed every vaccine the Dr. mentioned as I was growing up (I'm 23 now).

[Virg]

I started elementary school in the late 80's so I had all of the recommended vaccinations throughout my childhood. My dad was an older dad, born in the 30's, and he remembered children dying of diseases and he and his friends being terrified of catching polio and being in the iron lung. He didn't but some of his friends did. He tells stories of the excitement when the vaccine was given out in town. Also my aunt adopted a child from India with polio so that also contributed to my parents' decisions. I caught chicken pox when I was four and had a horrible case, I have the pox scars covering my body to prove it lol

 

As an adult I have had everything updated as I have a child with an auto-immune disorder who must take immune suppressants. Everyone in my house is caught up on all vaccines and gets the flu shot each year. DS11 almost died from the flu once for reasons no one can explain. He gets pneumonia a lot so we all have the prevnar & pnumovax shots too. The twins were premature so they had a few extra shots, as did I.

[Crimson Wife]

Your statements here seem to be contradictory, unless you're implying that you think that it's false that vaccines are a net positive in terms of avoiding harm to the vaccinee

 

There is a big difference between saying that vaccines are a net positive to society (which I would agree with) and saying that vaccines are a net positive to any given individual.

 

None of us has a crystal ball that will allow us to accurately gauge the true benefit/harm ratio for a specific person. We don't know whether an individual will ever come down with a disease (for example, my dad is in his 60's and my mom in her 50's and neither has had measles nor the measles vaccine). We don't know what the severity of any vaccine-preventable disease caught will be (even with polio, most folks did recover). We also do not know the true risk of side effects from vaccines (all of the studies claiming to "prove" vaccine safety suffer from serious methodological flaws and conflicts of interest upon the part of the researchers).

 

I'm not anti-vax and my children do eventually receive just about all the recommended vaccines. However, given the uncertainty, I feel the safest course for the individual child is a selective, delayed schedule.

[ThreeBlessings]

Your statements here seem to be contradictory, unless you're implying that you think that it's false that vaccines are a net positive in terms of avoiding harm to the vaccinee (ETA: excluding for the moment the concerns about creating superbugs over time, which I think are valid but complicated). Everything in life involves risk, including exposing an unvaccinated child to vaccine-preventable diseases.

 

This is where the pseudoscience and conspiracy theories crop up. Some people have unfortunately been convinced that vaccine-related injuries are a much greater risk than they actually are, and in some cases been convinced that certain injuries have been caused by vaccines without proof. VAERS self-reports of injury by people essentially suffering from mass hysteria are not reliable data.

 

You're absolutely right that most everything is a risk. Riding in a vehicle, for example, is a risk. As a parent I know it is a risk, but to me the benefits far outweigh the risk. I can research car safety, get a good car seat that fits my child appropriately, be sure the car seat is correctly installed, be sure I know exactly how to strap the child in properly, etc. My point is by doing my best to gain knowledge and make decisions for my child I am quite possibly reducing the risk of injury. I feel vaccines deserve the same treatment as any other decision I make for my child. I want to weight the risks and benefits to my child, make what I feel is the best decision, and do what I can to reduce the risks. I would love if all parents would research vaccines and the diseases. Lots of people I've talked to truly think the statement vaccines are safe means their child is safe when they get a vaccine. That is what I was addressing. Vaccines are safe is not exactly the best catch phrase in my opinion. Parents deserve to be educated and given the chance to weigh the benefits and risks.

 

I totally agree that pseudoscience and conspiracy theories are something to be concerned about. Fact is a lot of parents who research vaccines are very careful about their research and aren't apt to fall prey for this sort of thing. My reading was done on the CDC site, the vaccine manufacturers' sites, and in peer reviewed Science journals. I did read a few books from the library, mostly general books about the immune system and diseases, and a couple books by Paul Offit. I do not use VAERS data in my decision making process at all. I can't tell you how many eye rolls and bad attitudes I've endured from doctors, nurses, and other parents when I say I'm researching vaccines. I wish they'd give me a little credit.

 

Regarding whether vaccines are a net positive in terms of avoiding harm to the vaccinee, this is also a complicated issue. If one were to make that blanket statement I wouldn't necessarily agree with it. Are we talking about people in the US only? Is the statement being made as a general statement for everyone in the world? Even Paul Offit and the CDC are aware that for some vaccines a child in the US is more likely to be injured by the vaccine than the disease. Let's use Polio or Measles as an example. A child in the US is highly unlikely to contract either disease and very likely to receive the vaccine. You can still make the statement the child is more likely to be harmed by the disease if contracted than the vaccine, however the children is so highly unlikely to catch the disease that the risk to the individual child is greater from the vaccine than the disease.

 

I understand that Paul Offit, the CDC, and doctors are concerned for a future in which so many people choose not to vaccinate that diseases like Polio and Measles could become common place. They would like us all to vaccinate on schedule with every vaccine. They would like us not to research and ask questions. They would like us to not consider what would be best for our individual child. I feel the way this issue is being handled by doctors, the CDC, and the powers that be does far more harm than good. Doctors are turning away children and refusing to care for them if their parents want to alter the schedule in any way, among other bullying tactics. What kind of parent would I be if I allowed this sort of bullying to change such an important decision concerning my child's health and safety? I just wish people would be more respectful across the board about the issue. People tend to get very heated when the topic is brought up and I really appreciate getting to talk about it a bit with people who are being respectful. :)

Edited February 26, 2012 by ThreeBlessings