Needling Questions: Immunizing Kids
If you choose not to have your child vaccinated against measles, mumps, chicken pox, and other infectious diseases, does your responsibility end there?
It’s a debate that continues as the trend for not vaccinating children increases.
Parents who believe that vaccinations are linked to autism, or who object for religious or other reasons, balk at government regulations that bar their unvaccinated children from attending school if they don’t have the required shots. One anti-vaccination group calls forced vaccination “a violation of human rights.”
But those on the opposite side of the argument say not vaccinating violates the rights of others. According to officials at the Centers for Disease Control, “The decision not to vaccinate is a decision for your child but also a decision for society.” They say that unlike other medical issues where refusing treatment affects only the patient, refusing vaccinations puts others at risk as well, including newborns and people with suppressed immune systems.
Parents of unimmunized children rely on the vast majority of kids who do get their shots, figuring there’s little polio, measles, chicken pox or other pathogens to be found among so many protected kids. But with recent measles outbreaks in four states, that protection may not be enough. “We are seeing outbreaks that look different, concentrated among intentionally unimmunized people,” says an immunization official. “I hope they’re not the beginning of a worse trend.”
Tell us what you think: When it comes to vaccinations, do parents have a responsibility beyond their own children?
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I agree
I am in complete agreement with you
k lambright | 3 months ago
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kk
Obviously you weren’t “injured” enough to keep your uneducated opinion to yourself. Quit whining!
KK | 3 months ago
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some shots are unnessesary
I will never have my children take the flu vaccines. they cause more problems than they do good. why so many chemicals in them, antifreeze? I got the flu shot for the first time in my life about 2 years ago and i got the flu, never befor that have i ever gotten the flu and since then i have gotten it every year. if vaccines are so great can someone explain that?
sarah | 3 months ago
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autistic child
Child became autistic after 3 shots in one day says friend with autistic child.
shan Meacham | 3 months ago
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There is no one right answer
A blanket approach to vaccinations is the problem here. Every child leads a different life, with specific risks of exposure to diseases and various natural protections against them. Breastfed children have a major leg up in the fight against many diseases with the immunity they receive from their mothers, the impact of which should not be minimized. Every time my son nurses his immune system is getting a booster against all those disease for which I have been vaccinated. The AMA and WHO recommend children breastfeed until at least 1-2 years or more whenever possible. I wish more mothers knew about these guidelines and the full extent of the benefits breastfeeding provides. Extended breastfeeding significantly impacts my decisions regarding vaccinations for my son. As does the fact that he is not in daycare and his older sister is home schooled, further reducing his chances for exposure. A wise approach to vaccinations takes into consideration lifestyle specifics and careful comparisons of the chances of exposure and the potential for serious effects if the disease is contracted against the efficacy and risks associated with each vaccine.
While the autism link is still debatable there are many known risks associated with EVERY vaccine sometimes including contraction of the disease itself and in some rare but serious cases brain damage and fatality, the very things parents are trying to protect their children from in the first place. To patently write off parents’ fears about these risks is not only insensitive but can be potentially dangerous. Parents should never excuse themselves from their responsibility as health advocates for their children and should never be pressured into doing so by anyone. That is a morally deficient approach to medicine.
I myself have major concerns about certain vaccines that are routinely given to babies and young children. Hep B is a sexually transmitted disease, the vaccine for which is routinely given at birth. I asked myself “How is a one day old baby going to contract a sexually transmitted disease? How would I be putting other children at risk by not vaccinated my daughter against Hep B?” The answers being “No” and “No” – I chose not to vaccinate her at birth. Chicken Pox is another vaccine about which I have strong reservations. The vaccine provides a finite immunity while contracting the disease provides lifelong immunity. Chicken pox is relatively mild when contracted in childhood. Adults suffer much more and those most at risk are pregnant women who contract the disease during their 1st trimester. Birth defects and miscarriage/still birth being the worst case scenario. My fear is that the chicken pox vaccine may actually increase the these risks. That the limited nature of immunity by vaccine would actually put women at risk when it is most dangerous. i.e. the vaccine could wear off during childbearing years. For this reason we chose not to vaccinate our daughter and allowed her to contract the disease naturally. We were very lucky she did as the virus is becoming rare in the wake of the prolific vaccination program. Most parents are also not aware that without exposure to the live virus the efficacy of the vaccine is limited. Meaning that the more effective the vaccine program, the less environmental chicken pox virus there is, the weaker the immunity obtained by the vaccinated population. Considering how irresponsible most adults are about getting vaccine boosters, we could find that an entire generation who had been immunized as children find themselves unwittingly vulnerable in adulthood, putting themselves and their fetuses at a much greater risk of fatality than they would have faced if they had gotten chicken pox as kids.
Vaccination schedules should be planned according to the specific needs of the individual child. Parents should make the decision by carefully researching the risks and benefits of each vaccine and disease. Parents who are empowered and take an educated approach to vaccinations should be applauded by their pediatricians and conversations should be a 2-way street, with the ultimate decision firmly in the hands of the parents. A blanket approach to vaccinations is not the answer.
MHDowns | 3 months ago
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To be immunized or not to be!
One must wonder with all the conflicting information or mis-information as the case may be,why if every one is getting vaccinated are we having these resurgences or out breaks that are so deadly. I personally have seen the effects in my family of what a bad reaction to foreign substances can do to children. I have a mildly autistic son and a grandson who is much worse than his father.Do I think that inoculation’s in themselves were the total reason ,no I must answer.However my son had such a bad reaction to his first set of shots he nearly died and it was my family Dr. who not only administered these ,but identified the reaction as being caused by them. What I now to be true is that heavy metals are poison. Pregnant women are told to stay away from to much fish during pregnancy for this reason. Why then would you inject an infant with the very toxic substance that the mother had done her best to stay away from all those months prior to its birth. For myself I chose after the first two not to immunize my third. Is he healthier? Smarter? whose to say? I for my part have peace of mind. If he had gotten sick even died from childhood diseases I would not have felt guilty. If he had died or been permanently impaired because I purposely exposed him to something he may have otherwise never have had to be exposed to I definitely would have guilt. Please remember and be honest,many people,including children, come down with the very things that the vaccines are suppose to prevent after they receive them
oria Lope | 3 months ago
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crazy?
Proof? there’s all sorts of proof. I know for a pure fact. My aunt used to work for a doctors office and, the doctors themselves, told that she should not have her kids vaccinated until they are ten, because it could lead to autism.
And I have an autistic cousin that could speak, walk, and communicate perfectly, hell he even was learning to use the restroom. He got the shots, the very next day, he lost all of it. Over a single night.
Still not proof enough?
Did you know…
autism was discovered AFTER vaccines were introduced with mercury in them in 1943 in the USA. Then the disease was not seen in Europe until 1950 after they also introduced mercury in their vaccines?
All vaccines that have mercury in them contain 100 percent more than they actually should.
Mercury is one of the most poisonous substances.
Kids get almost 32 shots between the ages of 0-1
1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism
1 in 94 boys is on the autism spectrum
67 children are diagnosed per day
A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined
autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
and there is no medical detection for autism [MEANING it isn’t actually genetics that causes autism]
Not convinced? then my reply to you: You’re the crazy ones for not opening your eyes.
Miss ethics | 3 months ago
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cfhsegfvktyeuigohuktyryljhgfdthrsuy | 2 months, 4 weeks ago
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research
And what kind of research did you do on this?
Amy Menor | 2 months, 4 weeks ago
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don't you realize?
Vaccines are a money making scheme. As for “no evidence against them,” why would the CDC highlight that? The CDC changes many things. They are in the business of making money, it is one huge circle. Vaccinations feed the pocket of politicians, of many things, it’s no wonder why they are pushed so strongly.
If you want to trust the people who make vaccines, look at how often they lie to begin with. They say that vaccines are responsible for bringing down the instances of infect and quote statistics from when the disease was at it’s peak. If you look at the disease just before the introduction of the vaccine, the rate had already dropped. This means something else, such as an increase of sanitation, was responsible. In some cases, the instances of the disease rose after vaccination. So they already lie and deceive you, why would you believe any thing that comes out of their mouth?
Also, people who are vaccinated often come down with the disease, so how effective is it? The CDC even puts a limit on the vaccination’s effects—often 10 years. Doesn’t this go against what is taught about immunity—that once you have a disease your body is immune and you can’t get it again?
Parents are 100% responsible for what happens to their child. Should an adverse effect take place (which they commonly do once you include a fever as being an effect too), the parents are responsible and they will feel the pain of what they allowed to happen. The doctor is not responsible, the company that makes the disease, cough, I mean, vaccination is not responsible, the government has taken that away for them. So if you’re the only one left to be at fault, doesn’t it say something? You should research and make a responsible decision. This world is a sketchy place, you have a responsibility to your child.
Marshia Gray | 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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