I vowed to myself that there would be a few topics I would not address on this blog, one of them being The Vaccine Debate. There are too many emotions, variables, and conflicts involved with it and I will honestly say that I am staunchly in the middle on this one. However, an inflammatory conversation, recently, on a message board I belong to prompted me to think about a bit more about my feelings and opinions of the subject.
If you haven’t been keeping up, take some time to view PBS Frontline’s “The Vaccine War”. While I feel that this program leans a little more toward providing vaccination information and focuses less on reasons not to vaccinate, it is worthwhile.
A Couple of Things:
-Because my husband and I were both teachers (read: in close contact with all sectors of the population), our son got vaccinated. However, he did not receive vaccinations until he was three months old and he was on a delayed schedule. We also refused a few vaccines. I will note that my gut always told me that the number of vaccines given to kids is wrong; this type of intervention goes against all of my philosophies about health. Fear won out, though, and Bear got his shots. In the meantime, I did more reading, and became fearful (again) that vaccines aren’t all they’re made out to be. At his 15-month appointment, I decided to refuse all vaccines. We are up in the air about where to go next: whether to finish out the doses he has received or discontinue altogether.
-Our pediatrician has always taken this stance, “I chose to vaccinate my daughter. However, my job is to provide you with information and my professional opinion. The decision, however, is ultimately up to you.”
-I do not judge parents who choose to vaccinate nor do I judge or admire those who choose not to. As I said, I’m staunchly in the middle. I understand the good of each decision.
The Story
I mentioned a message-board discussion is what prompted this post. The day the subject came to light, someone posted this article about an outbreak of measles in Utah which has been attributed to a non-vaccinated teen traveling to Europe, gaining exposure to the disease, and spreading it upon arrival to the U.S. This is not an isolated incident, as measles outbreaks have been reported in the past year.* The woman who posted the article accompanied it with a very inflammatory argument, asserting that those who choose not vaccinate are uneducated and irresponsible for endangering the health of the community/the population. Her response, like disease outbreak, is not uncommon; I have had many friends receive similar reactions from doctors.
I responded with a few arguments of my own and with a few links that were either scoffed at or ignored. I was tired of the discussion and didn’t have any research to back up my gut feeling. How can anyone do research on the effects of not vaccinating a child? There are too many variables, thus, there are no good statistics. Pro-vaxers like this. (I should mention that I am a non-believer in statistics. They are generally never accurate and can be skewed any number of ways. Statistics are like clay: pliable to shape as you see fit. Humans can never be accurately represented by numbers.)
The message-board discussion was abandoned by me. However, the emotions I have about the subject were still coursing through my (vaccinated) veins. Why was I so fired up about one person’s opinion?
*Measles seems to be the only disease that is having unusual outbreak patterns. If you investigate the CDC website, you will find that outbreaks of all other diseases are “common” and it is admitted that vaccines aren’t “perfect” and not always effective.
It Comes Down to Personal Choice
Here’s why I was so angered by this person on a message board: IT’S MY CHOICE. I don’t care about “herd immunity,” especially not now when the doses of vaccines given to children has reached an astounding number.
I tend to stay away from any activity involving “herd;” it’s never a good outcome: herd stampede, following the herd (which leads to mob mentality). I also tend to shy from situations that resemble the novel 1984, which is why we do not get flu shots/H1N1 shots/Gardasil or any of the other number of marketed, and sometimes mandatory, “health” strategies in this country. Speaking of which, aren’t childhood vaccines essentially mandatory at this point? Unless, of course, you lie about a religious or health reason, and fill out the appropriate paperwork, your child will not be admitted to public schools or other federally-funded programs. I’m just uncomfortable with deeming something “good” for my child’s well-being when 1)someone else gets to decide the ingredients and 2)the number of vaccines and doses keeps increasing. One could argue that the questionable ingredients in vaccines are administered in such small doses that their effects are negligible. But what happens when children are given multiple doses of these small amounts of potentially dangerous ingredients? That is the question that scares most non-vaxers and delayed-schedule vaxers, I would ascertain.
Technology is Never Without Consequence
Whenever one seeks to improve upon the natural world, it is met with consequences. For a small example, take acetaminophen. You might pop one or two if you have a headache. Voila! Headache gone. But what happened to the acetaminophen? Ingredients placed in the body don’t just disappear. Acetaminophen has been known to cause liver failure. I’m not suggesting that a little white pill could lead to major health problems, only that acetaminophen is considered a “safe” drug, administered to children often, and it clearly has side effects. There are no substances that are foreign to the natural world that are “safe” to allow into the body.
One of the largest debates concerning vaccines is whether foreign ingredients in and the increased doses of vaccines are leading to rising levels of autism. I can’t say I’m completely on board with that argument, but it has been proven that artificial coloring has a direct link to ADHD, so why wouldn’t it be possible that other substances given at critical developmental periods might cause a different neurological disorder? I’m not a lab researcher so I don’t know have the answer. But these are the types of questions that revolve through my mind.
My philosophy about health is simple: put in good; get good output. Put in unrecognizables (chemicals, GMO’s, artificial substances, etc.), expect a bad output now or later down the road of life. Use only naturally-derived interventions when an intervention is necessary (like drinking more water or using essential oils for a headache). Modern, western medicine only to be used in extreme or emergency cases.
You can see that vaccines (unnatural, chemical-laden interventions despite being preventative) are a clash of my beliefs, especially when vaccines have oftentimes failed or caused negative effects on their hosts when they were originally deemed effective and safe.
Beliefs & Ethics
The pro-vaxer from my message board stated outright that she would not let her child play with any child who has not been vaccinated, due to the health risk. I understand that sentiment, I suppose. What I don’t understand is the animosity many have towards those who choose not to vaccinate. Here’s what it comes down to: vaccinations (as well as any other medical advances like prescription drugs) are just a suit of armor in Survival of the Fittest. Without these advancements in science, we would be subjected to whatever hazards we were dealt. And even vaccinations are proving to be ineffective against outbreaks.
So, exemptions from vaccines include religion (“I don’t believe in interventions other than those from God”) or health (“I’m allergic to eggs and this vaccine will cause me issue”). Is this acceptable from the pro-vaxing community? Why is “I’m just not sure about this and would like more information,” or “I’m uncomfortable with the number of vaccines my child is getting” NOT acceptable? Do we not have an obligation to look out for the best interest of our children? Pro-vaxers do not get to decide what is best for my son just because they have studies, funded by Big Pharma, to back up their reasoning.
I don’t buy the argument that we all need to vaccinate for “the greater good” of the population. If anyone was concerned with the greater good of the population, she should be fighting for GMO’s to be eradicated from our grocery store shelves, campaigning for chemicals and petroleum by-products to be eliminated from our cosmetics, and standing up for natural, drug-free births. These three issues have caused harm to public health and will inevitably cause harm to future generations–to the point of altering DNA and natural functions of our bodies.
Essentially, it seems that issues of public health that are not readily seen aren’t as anger-inducing as issues of public health that are more immediate. Before the measles vaccine, 5.7 million people died annually from measles (worldwide). “In 1920 [before the measles vaccine], the United States had 469,924 measles cases and 7,575 deaths due to measles.” The number of deaths dropped to virtually none after the implementation of vaccines. Now, let’s compare this to heart disease, not quite as flashy as measles, but a killer nonetheless: in 2009, 26.8 MILLION Americans were diagnosed with heart disease. The number of deaths? Over 600,000. (See these stats and more on the CDC website.)
Now, I said I am a non-believer in statistics. However, if we’re just looking at a pure number of cases, it seems that heart disease is killing more Americans than measles ever did. And consider this: children are getting fed the same way their parents are eating. Where’s the vaccine for convenience food addiction?
What’s a Parent to Do?
Despite this slanted argument I’ve just spewed, I’ve got to say that discontinuing vaccinating my son concerns me. It becomes an issue of “what’s the worst that can happen?” with each disease versus its immunization. The side with the least amount of risk will win out. Most likely, we will elect to have The Bear receive certain vaccines and discontinue others.
Everyone should be informed about immunizations from both sides of the story and no one should be judged for her decision (or choice NOT to make a decision and vaccinate as per the CDC recommendation).
Let’s play nicely, now. What’s YOUR choice in the vaccine debate? How do you handle those who don’t agree?
Many of the images in this post came from the press kit for the documentary The Greater Good. Check out a screening of the film available at Mercola.com on October 3oth! I’m very interested to see the conversations this film may bring to light.
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Sarah @ MindfullyFrugalMom says
Whatever side of the vaccine debate one is on, it is important to remain non-judgmental of those who take a different stance. I think the primary issue here, and one you’ve outlined well, is that each family makes an educated (read: considered and not government-mandated) choice for themselves.
Lots of stuff to think about here. I’ll definitely be sharing this post!
Sandra Jean says
Thank you for putting this together. This mirrors many of my thoughts exactly.
HealthfulMama says
Glad I could put words to some of your thoughts 🙂 Thanks for dropping by!
Jenn says
A) It isn’t your “choice”. Your kid has to live with the consequences for your actions, right or wrong. What happens when he can’t go to public or private school because he isn’t vaccinated? Now you are efffecting him, not you. What choice did he have in that?
B) Herd immunity exists whether you care about it not. Contrary to popular belief, just because you don’t care about something doesn’t mean it goes away. This also goes for “not buying” an argument.
C) People don’t let their kids play with unvaccinated kids because they don’t want them to GET SICK, not because they are “prejudice”. Assuming anything else is simply not understanding the medical facts of the siutation.
D) What if your son dies from a 100% preventable disease? Why are you willing to take that chance?
E) Do you know how vaccines work?
F) What every didn’t vaccinate against the diseases you don’t? What would the population look like then?
HealthfulMama says
Jenn, thanks for the comments.
A) By not having a choice, you are essentially saying it is okay for the government to dictate what happens to our bodies. That makes me uncomfortable. And, yes, we have considered the issue of public schools barring our son’s entrance. As a former public school teacher, I know there are other options for education beyond the ones the government provides.
B)Would it be possible for herd immunity to exist without vaccines? Yes. Vaccines just speed up the process. I guess I’m just questioning whether this is a good reason for everyone to vaccinate.
C) Nowhere in my post did I use the word “prejudice.”
D) The likelihood of death from most of these diseases is quite low. And if you read the beginning of the post, you would have seen that my son has had most of his immunizations thus far; the question is whether to continue.
F) I suppose the population could be smaller if everyone didn’t vaccinate, but I don’t know. Do you have a proven answer to your own question?
This post was not about why not vaccinating is correct nor why vaccinating is correct, as evidenced by the title. My point was to explain why people would like options. I can only assume you didn’t read the entire post.
anotherreader says
if your kid is vaxed, and they are so fabulously preventative, why would you be worried about them playing with someone who might possibly be carrying something they are already ‘protected’ from??
oh, thats right. because vaccines have very questionable success rates compared to the risk of their ingredients.
Amara Russell says
“…Is Herd Immunity Real?
In the original description of herd immunity, the protection to the population at large occurred only if people contracted the infections naturally. The reason for this is that naturally-acquired immunity lasts for a lifetime. The vaccine proponents quickly latched onto this concept and applied it to vaccine-induced immunity. But, there was one major problem – vaccine-induced immunity lasted for only a relatively short period, from 2 to 10 years at most, and then this applies only to humoral immunity. This is why they began, silently, to suggest boosters for most vaccines, even the common childhood infections such as chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella.
Then they discovered an even greater problem, the boosters were lasting for only 2 years or less. This is why we are now seeing mandates that youth entering colleges have multiple vaccines, even those which they insisted gave lifelong immunity, such as the MMR. The same is being suggested for full-grown adults. Ironically, no one in the media or medical field is asking what is going on. They just accept that it must be done.
That vaccine-induced herd immunity is mostly myth can be proven quite simply….” read the entire article here:
file:///Users/amararussell/Desktop/Vaccine:Parenting%20Research/Herd%20Immunity/%20%20Herd%20Immunity%20Blaylock%20Forced%20Vaccinations,%20Government,%20and%20the%20Public%20Interest%20%7C%20International%20Medical%20Council%20on%20Vaccination.html
Rick Neubrander says
Your link is to a file on your desktop not out on the internet for us to see. Do you have a working link to your document?
Amara Russell says
Sorry for the non-functional link…yes here is Dr. Blaylock’s findings on herd immunity:
http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2010/01/29/forced-vaccinations-government-and-the-public-interest/
Amara Russell says
C)”People don’t let their kids play with unvaccinated kids because they don’t want them to GET SICK, not because they are “prejudice”
”You can’t vaccinate believing that your children are protected and then feel that your children are not protected because somehow, some non-vaccinated child is carrying some secret organism that no one else is carrying. It just doesn’t make any sense.””…”…Vaccination does not stop people from carrying bacteria & viruses in their nose, in their throat, in their intestines, or in the airway, on the skin or on the body; or from transferring it to others. The public (has been) made to believe that if vaccinated, one won’t carry viruses and therefore others will be ‘protected’ because one is vaccinated. That’s not even possible and is definitely not true….”
— Dr. Larry Palevsky, pediatrician
Amara Russell says
International studies showing that non-vaccinated children have much better health than vaccinated children; so few because the legal drug trade knows what to show (studies done, real or fabricated) and what to hide (no studies done to investigate the question) to make their products appear more desirable to the markets:
German (International data; ongoing) Study 2011
http://healthfreedoms.org/2011/10/14/big-study-vaccinated-kids-2-5-more-diseases-than-unvaccinated/
AND
USA Cal-Oregon 2006
http://drtenpenny.com/vaccinated_vs_unvaccinated_survey.aspx
AND
Denmark Roosendaal 2004
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60166949/Roosendaal-study-of-vaccinated-vs-unvaccinated-children-in-the-Netherlands-Results-Survey
AND
Referencing Home First and Pennsylvania Amish Community
http://mdvaccinechoice.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/vaccinated-vs-unvaccinated/
AND
USA Miller & Goldman 2011 http://vactruth.com/2011/05/05/infant-mortality-rates-increase-with-vaccines/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3170075/
Amara Russell says
“Let truth be your authority, instead of allowing authority to be your truth.” (Anonymous)
Jenn – every child – many more hundreds of thousands, millions worldwide, than you obviously can imagine – damaged by the chemical assault of vaccines lives with the consequences of having been vaccinated, obviously. What happens when your child can’t go to public or private school because they’re permanently brain damaged? That you don’t ‘see them’ does not remotely evidence that they don’t exist, in startling numbers.
Every parent who allows their child to be vaccinted risks injury, permanent damage, and death for their child…whether they are conscious of or understand this fact or not. These risks are listed on every manufacturer’s vaccine package insert, and there is no way yet to predict which children will experiences any degree of adverse reactions (that question has obviously not been assigned importance by the governmental/pharmaceutical/medical complex). The account of how many children are damaged & killed by vaccines is not accurately documented by any organization, institution, corporation, or agency in the US – or anywhere in the world in point of fact – so the risks of vaccine damage and death are, quite literally, *incalculable*. Parents sign the permission forms allowing vaccines to be injected, thereby taking responsibility for the outcome. Children in custody of the State are usually subjected to court ordered vaccination without the benefit of parental right to exemption protection, even though parental rights must be rescinded first…most parents don’t know that they can still claim exemption from vaccination for children removed from their custody unless parental rights are removed…they abdicate their authority unwittingly as a result of the misinformation & disinformation propagated by the family court system. I learned by experience through helping a friend successfully prevent the court-ordedrd vaccination of her son through CPS vigorous & repeated petitions.
Furthermore, no manufacturer, agency, institution, organization or individual vaccinating professional can be held legally or financially responsible for damages or death incurred by the governmental recommendations & mandates imposed on parents (coersion) to accept injection of vaccines into their children. Ever. No one, on any level.
Exemption waivers are the law in every state, and thus the singular ‘buyer beware’ clause of the paradigm…the only option for parents who decline to accept the risks for their child(ren) is boycott. We do still have a choice; that right to choice is worth defending vigorously.
http://nvicadvocacy.org/members/Home.aspx
No parent who discerns that the risks are too great, that the myriad “unknowns” inherent in the vaccinationist paradigm also presenting additional nebulous, unidentifiable, and therefore unacceptable risks, and who thoughtfully chooses an entirely different applicable paradigm and philosophy of creating, maintaing, and supporting optimal development, health, and integrity is anything but prudent and wise.
On the other hand, parents who only know what the international legal drug trade, who manufacture & creatively market vaccines for profit, with the help of the interested government agencies(interested = profits from the activity) ostendibly dedicated to overseeing the health of the citizenry tells them are miseducated, uneducated, uninformed, misinformed, misdirected, and tragically misguided. Not a judgement, rather an observation from a perspective not encouraged by the relentlessly vocal & propagandist vaccine manufacturing industry.
Parents are responsible for their decisions made on behalf of their children – both the decision to truly educate themselves & discern the risk/benefit reality, and also for the decision to decline to become truly educated and thus let vested interests with a different agenda decide for them.
Liz says
“What’s YOUR choice in the vaccine debate? How do you handle those who don’t agree?”
My choice is to vaccinate my son. Today’s parents never had to experience losing a sibling or a friend to diseases like polio, whooping cough, or HiB. They don’t seem to “get” how serious these diseases are. YOUR CHILD COULD DIE without these vaccinations. That’s not fear-mongering. That’s truth.
I will not allow my son to play with children who are not vaccinated. Like previous commenter Jenn said, it’s not prejudice. It’s protecting my son’s life. God forbid he be part of the minority whose vaccines don’t “take,” or worse, he become immuno-compromised and cannot receive vaccines.
I will, with 100% confidence, risk even a “severe” side effect (week-long fever, etc.) rather than my son’s death.
HealthfulMama says
Hi Liz,
Do you have any links I could see about the likelihood of death from any of the diseases we vaccinate against? Much of what I found seemed as though death occurred only in small numbers of those affected. As I noted, death from heart disease seems more likely but it frustrates me that heart disease doesn’t illicit the anger I sense surrounding vaccinations. I understand that heart disease isn’t contagious, but the culture, eating habits, and genetics associated with it certainly can be.
Rick Neubrander says
Wow. My child could die. Also they can die from a vaccine. http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/
Search DTap for the year 2010 for Death. 11 children died.
Search MMR for the year 2010 for Death. 250 children died.
Search Hep B for the year 2010 for Death. 750 children died.
Search DTap for the year 2010 for Death. 90 children died.
Why did I pull this up? YOUR CHILD COULD DIE >>> WITH <<< these vaccinations. That’s not fear-mongering. That’s truth.
MinorityView says
Hi Healthful Mama, thanks for putting together a thoughtful post. I want to point out (not to give you a hard time), that the number of measles deaths in 1920 is not relevant to what would happen if we stopped vaccinating against measles. The vaccine became commonly used in the U.S. in 1967. At that point, measles deaths in the U.S. were between 400 and 500 per year and total cases were about 4 million per year.
HealthfulMama says
No offense taken at all. I’ll be revisiting a few things in this post, for sure. THANK YOU! 🙂
Amara Russell says
In all 50 states , the right to choose exemption from vaccination is the law. Every school on every educational level, from day care to college/university, that accepts government funding in any proportion is obliged to follow the law and accept vaccination exemption waivers. *No* child “has to be” vaccinated to enter public school – anywhere. The fact that so many people are waking up to the false assertions of the vaccine makers explaines why more parents are choosing to question, and decline altogether, the implausable paradigm of artificial immunity. Check the news lately, those who collect heavy profits from vaccines & vaccinations are screeching like banshees about it; the histrionics exposes their fear of the evaporating mass-hypnosis about the benefits of vaccination. Your child probably plays with and sits by never-vaccinated children every day. Vaccine-free children are overwhelmingly more robustly healthy in comparison to fully vaccinated children (I posted some references). Parents who decline vaccinations are loathe to discuss their lawful choice with one who’s attitude is that of your own(misinformed, superstitious & reactionary as a result of pharmaceutical mass-marketing campaigns rather than factual education), so you are probably interacting with them regularly & frequently unaware.
The Good Wife says
It is your right not to vax your child. It would also be within my right to sue you, should your unvaxed child cause my child to get sick and die.
Your actions have consequences beyond your family and you choosing to ignore them in favor of your gut is shameful.
I agree with the other posters that I would never allow my child to play with or socialize with an willfully unvaxed child.
I also think it is selfish ignorance and fear not to vax your child so they are not at risk for disorders your gut – not science – tells you they might get, when they could very well die from measles. It’s all fun and games until your kid ends up in an iron lung.
And I am as hippy, homestead, return to our roots as you can get but I love science beyond anything in this world and our family will get vaxed with everything there is to protect it against your family.
Sarah @ MindfullyFrugalMom says
“It would also be within my right to sue you, should your unvaxed child cause my child to get sick and die.”
First, HealthfulMama never said her child was unvaxed. Second, that is a HUGE leap.
The Good Wife says
Her child might not be unvaxed but there are growing numbers of unvaxed kids now. And if one of them were to get my child sick, I do have every right to sue them.
Sarah @ MindfullyFrugalMom says
I respect your right to feel that way. I’m not sure why you are calling HealthfulMama shameful, selfish, and ignorant. That type of inflammatory language certainly doesn’t bolster anyone’s credibility.
The Good Wife says
It is shameful, selfish and ignorant that nonvaxers would rather have a child dead or suffer brain damage than deal with autism, ADHD, or any other supposed side effects from vaxes. There is no other way around that. When you prefer a dead child over one with ADHD, then something is very wrong.
HealthfulMama says
Hi there Good Wife!
1) Sarah is correct in noting that I made it clear that my son has had most vaccinations up to this point.
2) I would argue, then, that if your case is for the greater good of the population, you’re saying you prefer a risk of a adulterated gene pool to losing lives. You have criticized non-vaxers for endangering the population, but, considering the potential and known side-effects of some vaccines, could it not be said that you are requesting the same endangerment?
3) I’ll reiterate that the title of this post is “Neither Side is Correct,’ and that no one in the comments has yet to voice an opinion for choosing not to vaccinate.
LoopyMom says
Yes, she did. She said she opted out of the 15 mos vaccinations, which means they aren’t vaccinated against MMR.
Amara Russell says
None of those infections, naturally aquired, pose any threat to her healthy child; lifetime immunity will result and her choice not to vaccinate for those strengthening, milestone immune system developmental challenges is the wiser one. Vaccination disrupts development; prevents the immune system from developing into an appropirately fully-functioning microbe processor.
The Good Wife says
“You have criticized non-vaxers for endangering the population, but, considering the potential and known side-effects of some vaccines, could it not be said that you are requesting the same endangerment?”
And these would be?
The Good Wife says
So if we just pull out the MMR vax, you will see that “MMR vaccine side-effects
(Measles, Mumps, and Rubella)
What are the risks from MMR vaccine?
(http://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/overview.html)
The Good Wife says
I appreciate the need to you to censor my posts so I keep this one brief:
~side effects for MMR vax – 1 out of 3000 might have a seizure AND less than 1 out of 1,000,000 might have something worse
~side effects for measles – 1-2 out of 1000 die
Heidi says
…and what are the stats on the CHANCE of getting measles in today’s society? I’d say those numbers are pretty crucial to this discussion.
Liz says
The more people like you who refuse to vaccinate, the higher the risk of contracting measles.
Rick Neubrander says
http://www.measlesinitiative.org/mi-files/Reports/Treatment/West%20Nutr%20Rev%202000%2058(2)S46.pdf
Why is measles a killer? Could it be vitamin A deficiency?
Amara Russell says
The chance of getting measles is not as good as it used to be, due to vacicne-induced immune supression – but the chances of an otherwise healthy child dying from measles is nil. The lifetime immunity following natural infection is still 100%. This is also a pertinent consideration.
Jen says
http://www.cfr.org/interactives/GH_Vaccine_Map/#map
Amara Russell says
The risks from MMr vaccine are right here; this is a more comprehensive collection – 180 published papers – of documented risks from MMR vaccine; and also a collection of statistics – 90 published examples – showing documented vaccine failure = the ineffectiveness of MMR vaccine:
http://www.novaccine.com/specific-vaccines/vaccine.asp?v_id=22
When researching vaccines, vaccination, and diseases, please use these among your other resources:
World Assoc. for Vaccine Education:
http://www.novaccine.com/
(select specific topics in the red box)
National Vaccine Information Center:
http://www.nvic.org/
Please do take advantage of this site’s vaccine ingredients calculator to find out how much mercury, aluminum, and other toxic ingredients your child will be injected with in one visit or in any time period that you plan to allow vaccination; also check the “Ask 8” page for identifying the contraindications to vaccination and the signs of an adverse vaccine reaction; you can also report an adverse vaccine reaction from this site under the tab “Vaccine Reactions”. Please.
International Medical Council On Vaccination:
http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/
worth your time to view their videos and read their articles written by seasoned medical professionals – like Paul Harvey used to do, they tell “The Rest Of The Story” on vacines, vaccination, and restoring & maintaining health.
for starters.
Sarah @ MindfullyFrugalMom says
“When you prefer a dead child over one with ADHD, then something is very wrong.”
I feel like we are not even reading the same post. Please point to where it says that.
The Good Wife says
ADHD was listed as a concern. You are correct in that no vax causes ADHD. Vaxes *can* cause fever and soreness and maybe, once in a blue moon, a seizure.
But those rates are lower than the death rates of the diseases people are scared to vax against.
So my question is what are you afraid of that is more damaging than death? ADHD, autism, fever, seizure, ingredients, the gov’t? What is more scary than a dead child?
To me, nothing is scarier and that’s why I vax.
Sarah @ MindfullyFrugalMom says
Again, please point to where the author states that she fears something “more damaging than death?”
Otherwise, your statements are merely fearmongering.
Amara Russell says
Good Wife wrote: “…ADHD was listed as a concern. You are correct in that no vax causes ADHD. Vaxes *can* cause fever and soreness and maybe, once in a blue moon, a seizure….”
Please do a (preferrably a thorough)review of these documents:
http://www.novaccine.com/reactions-conditions/
31 pages of links to published papers on vaccine-induced ADD/ADHD alone…please spend some quality time interacting with all the links on this entire page to better inform your own body of knowledge about vaccine adverse reactions and vaccine-induced disorders & disabilities. I’m observing that you are underinformed in your assertions about vaccine adverse reactions in general, and specifically ADD/ADHD as a result of vacination. Which indicates that you are underinformed about the risks of vacinating your own child(ren).
Children will always benefit from – and thank parents for -learning and knowing more about what we impose upon them. Have you noticed that the parents here who are saying they have researched more extensively, are also saying they’ve decided to selectively vaccinate or to decline to vaccinate altogether? There’s a reason for that:
The old saying “When you know better, you do better” is hardly ever more applicable than to this issue.
Rick Neubrander says
To sue, you would have to meet the burden of proof that a SPECIFIC child gave the disease to your child. Which would mean your child could not have met ANY other person during the incubation period or been to any place that another individual would have been able to contaminate a surface your child came in contact with.
I understand your emotion but there are some issues that also need to be addressed.
1) NO vaccine is 100% effective. You could have had exposure from a vaccinated person with vaccine failure.
2) People use herd immunity but as of yet this is a theory. No disease has ever been wiped out by herd immunity. The current DTap in outbreak in California is a good example. The unvaccinated outnumber the vaccinated. Also the CDC estimated there are 600,000 cases a year of Pertussis but most is undiagnosed. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17296469
3) Live vaccines “shed”. You can catch the disease from a live vaccine.
4) A Canadian study shows that vaccines increase the risk of Asthma. Asthma also kills. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1079259/A-vaccine-given-babies-increase-risk-childhood-asthma.html
5) The H1N1 vaccine has been linked to narcolepsy and seizures.
My point is, why are you able to force me to take a risk. If you are vaccinated your risk should be low but if I am forced to vaccinate I assume all risk without choice. Seems a bit unfair to me.
Christine says
On #2…
um… have you ever heard of Smallpox?
Rick Neubrander says
Please check your facts on smallpox.
1. It is not easily transmissible and is not airborn
2. They quarantined and ring vaccinated at the same time. You can say the vax stopped it. I can say the quarantine stopped it. In reality it may be both. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2649583/?tool=pmcentrez
Only 13% of the worlds population was vaccinated at the time it was eradicated. Which lead one to believe that a quarantine was an effective measure.
http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2010/02/26/smallpox-vaccine-origins-of-vaccine-madness/
Amara Russell says
GoodWife wrote:”…I also think it is selfish ignorance and fear not to vax your child so they are not at risk for disorders your gut – not science – tells you they might get, when they could very well die from measles. It’s all fun and games until your kid ends up in an iron lung….”
Iron lung? From vaccine-induced polio, you mean; please read the book “Fear of the Invisible” by Janine Roberts.
http://fearoftheinvisible.com/books/fear-of-the-invisible
Scroll down to “Contaminated Vaccines” on the left to read some chapters, take in the polio information to get the rest of the story.
The measles deaths you read about – the death statistics are worldwide numbers to make the disease seem scarrier to wealthy first-world vaccine buyers – do occur in poverty-stricken, malnourished, profoundly unwell people. Poverty increases the death rate from all diseases, because the squalor & deprivation that goes with poverty disables the human immune system, decreasing resistance & increasing susceptibility prior to infection. Inappropriate &/or improper support during infection makes survival even less likely. *Very few* measels deaths in first-world countries. Deliberate statistic trick to deceive & coerce vaccination sales.
Any mother not listening to her mother’s intuition – her gut instincts – and only taking the word of ‘science’… more accurately, corporate-science’s for-profit industry marketing departments… is one who’s doing her child(ren) a disservice. Not using all aspects of the entire human intelligence system to make one’s important life-altering decisions is, in a word, foolish. Trusting ‘science’ to make your parenting decisions is one of your simpler options, however. Science is limited and consistently inferior to Nature. Living in harmony with Nature: learn Nature, respect Nature, cooperate with Nature, and thrive supported by Nature. It’s *way* older, more consistent, & more reliable than ‘corporate vaccine science’.
No vaccinated child – or adult – is ever, nor can ever be, “100% protected from disease” because artificial immunity is not really immunity, and not reliable either.
There is truly *no such thing* as a ‘vaccine-preventable disease”, as is clearly illustrated by this quote from the CDC:
In the CDC (Centers For Disease Control) publication MMWR (December 1, 2006 / Vol. 55 / No. RR-15) there occurs the following clarification regarding “vaccination” and “immunization”:
“Vaccination and immunization. The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from vacca, the Latin term for cow. Vaccine was the term used by Edward Jenner to describe material used (i.e., cowpox virus) to produce immunity to smallpox. The term vaccination was used by Louis Pasteur in the 19th century to include the physical act of administering any vaccine or toxoid. Immunization is a more inclusive term, denoting the process of inducing or providing immunity by administering an immunobiologic. Immunization can be active or passive. Active immunization is the production of antibody or other immune responses through administration of a vaccine or toxoid. Passive immunization means the provision of temporary immunity by the administration of preformed antibodies. Although persons often use the terms vaccination and immunization interchangeably in reference to active immunization, the terms are not synonymous because the administration of an immunobiologic cannot be equated automatically with development of adequate immunity.”
In other words, vaccination, as a rule, does not lead to developed immunity. Connected to this is the issue of whether antibody production equates to protection from disease. We will cover this in other articles, since vaccines are marketed on the basis of their “efficacy” in generating an antibody response. So there are two issues: a) Does being vaccinated lead to the conclusion that one has developed immunity? b) Does generation of antibodies lead to the conclusion that one has been protected from the disease?
The answers to both these questions is no.
http://www.vaccines.me/articles/ucpbx-vaccination-is-not-equated-automatically-with-development-of-immunity.cfm
Sarah Jane says
Thanks for this post. My husband and I have chosen to vaccinate our daughter, especially since I’m a RN in a major metropolitan area, but I DO NOT think vaccinations should be forced. Parents should be reading and educating themselves, and it is the PARENTS’ CHOICE to do what they believe to be BEST for their child. I am frustrated that health and religious exemptions are permitted, but nothing else.
I know and worked with a family who have suffered because of vaccinations. Their, now 27 year old daughter, was born healthy APGAR score was 9, but between 6-9 months she received a vaccination and developed a fever and seizures as a result, which left her in the infantile state she is in now. Needless to say, their younger son was not vaccinated. Thankfully this situation does not occur frequently, but when it does, it’s sad. This girl is four months younger than me, and I was caring for her when I was in nursing school.
Why do we have to immunize just because the AAP says we have to? Why do we have to give birth in a hospital, have continuous electronic fetal monitoring, have an IV, etc. just because ACOG says we have to? We alone are responsible for decisions. It’s up to us, as parents, to make the best choice regarding vaccinations for our children and not judge others for doing differently (I know you weren’t judging). And yes, my daughter has played with non immunized children, and I have no problem with that.
HealthfulMama says
Thanks for your comments! 🙂
Sarah Jane says
Thanks for your willingness to post this. I plan on going back and reading the links that people gave, especially those who decided not to vaccinate or to give limited vaccines.
One thing that I am also frustrated is that at the hospital I work at, the flu vaccine is REQUIRED where I work. If I chose not to receive it, I would be fired from my job. Yes, fired.
HealthfulMama says
Sarah Jane, the mandated vaccines for healthcare workers are scary. I can’t say I’d know what to do in your situation.
Heidi says
First of all, let me say that I love this article. You are informed. You are not ignorant. You are searching out the answers for your own family. Kudos to you!
I’ll jump in here for the other side. After doing DOZENS of hours of my own research, we have chosen to stop vaccinations for our older children (who had been selectively vaxed up until last year) and not give our newest baby any.
If I can find a pro-vax doctor who has also done DOZENS of his own hours of research on vaccinations (that’s PERSONAL time, NOT the time spent studying “the books” in school or listening to the CDC, an organization KNOWN for directly and indirectly receiving huge monetary gains in the advancement of vaccinations), I’d be surprised to find one who agrees with vaccinating.
Vaxers saying that they won’t allow their kids around unvaxed kids to play is just goofy on so many levels, namely these two:
1) If the vaccines work, then why are you worried?
2) Do you ask everyone you come into contact with if they vaccinate their child? If not, you are unknowingly around these children ALL THE TIME. And even more “important” than the children is all the parents who are not up to date on their own vaccines. (And most adults aren’t.)
I could go on all day and refute all the other arguments posed, but I won’t. 🙂 I just wanted to say….thank you for an article well-written! The government should have NO say in what I put into my or my child’s body!
HealthfulMama says
Thanks for your take on things, Heidi. You bring up some great points. I appreciate your input!
Nicole says
We choose not to vaccinate. Like you I was on the fence it took me more then a year to to choose which side I was really on. After almost 2 years of research I decided the risk of vaccines was not worth it. As you stated the likelihood of death is rare. Not that my child cant die from whooping cough, but who is to say that my child could not die from the vaccine. I just have to trust GOD to keep my children safe. I would be devastated if something happen to them but I cant put faith in a vaccine that is man made. I am very upset by some of these comments. 1) For those that are saying they dont let their children play with unvaccinated kids. I ask them this question. When you take you kids to the park to you ask the parents of the kids there is they vaccinate? I know I dont. I dont know anyone that does. The reality is out in the community you do not know who is vaccinated or not. 2) If vaccines work and are so great what you are worried about? If your child is vaccinate then why are you so concerned about your child playing with unvaccinated kids? HUMMMM 3) To the woman that was saying it her right to sue. REALLY!!!! I see by that comment you have dollar signs in your eyes, and I can tell you that you can sue but I am 99% sure you would lose. There have been lawsuits like that and they have lost. Thank you for writing this article. I had the same thoughts more then a year ago. My two boys have had most of their vaccines but will have no more and I am pregnant now and the new baby will receive none.
pixy says
I like how 2 years of online research mitigates hundreds of years of vaccine development.
Amara Russell says
Pixie let me show you this documentary outlining and time-lining the hundreds of years of vaccine development you refer to, from the 1600s to present day… Here’s the documentary for your consideration, heavily referenced with vital statistics records, military records, vaccine patent documents, ingredient facts, and international historic documentation:
Lethal Injection; The Story Of Vaccination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hITYIT02rA
When one chooses to reference ‘the hundreds of years of vaccine development’, and compare a highly motivated mother’s 2 years of diligent internet research of facts unfavorably, having the facts straight first about vaccine development would make the commentor at least seem credible. This documentary will inform your body of knowledge of vaccine development facts to a significantly higher degree. 2 years of internet research is enough to uncover the truths and unknowns which are hidden by the for-profit industry of vaccine manufacture, absolutely. Being able to discern credible evidence & information from vaccine marketing propaganda is a skill worth developing…it really maters a lot.
pixy says
One more thing to address #1 in your post, since in your 2 years of research you’ve failed to understand how vaccines work (I’m copying this from someone else):
Because vaccines are not 100 percent for every single person, depending on the person’s genetics and their un-vaccinated immune system. Vaccines are only effective when they are in tandem with STRONG herd immunity, which is precisely why it angers people that there are those that are destroying herd immunity. Your child can also have an immune system problem develop later, be it from something temporary (like having a common cold or the flu that is taxing their immune system) or something much more serious (a permanent immunodeficiency syndrome) which will increase their risks of a vaccine failing.
The idea that it’s simple prejudice and not hard mathemathical, scientific fact that having your child, vaccinated or not, play with and interact with non-vaxed kid markedly increases your child’s risk of getting a lethal or incredibly damaging disease is absurd to me.
Rick Neubrander says
Please show me ONE study in which it has been proven herd immunity works.
So far, it is only a theory. But one most people believe in with no proof to support the belief.
Nicole says
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/303/10/943.full?home
Rick Neubrander says
All I see is that it is 61% effectiveness. There was no comparison on breaking the transmission. Even by the Herd Immunity Tables http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_immunity 61% does not equal the 80% generally needed to stop the theoretical herd immunity.
In 1980, only 15 percent of elderly people in the US received flu vaccination. Today, the rate has increased to 65 percent. Yet two studies published in early 2009 – in The Lancet and American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care both noted that there has been no decrease in deaths from influenza or pneumonia during the period.
In 2004, a study in The New England Journal of Medicine concluded that vaccination against pneumonia does not reduce the risk of contracting the disease.
In 2006, scientists conducted a large-scale, systematic review of 51 studies that involved 260,000 children, age 6 to 23 months. They found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo in children. This was published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
So in light of this, your study is in direct confrontation to other studies showing the ineffectiveness of a flu vax.
Now lets skip the flu. Pertussis. California had the largest outbreak in the last 2 decades despite having their supposed vax rate at over 90% (80% estimated to achieve herd immunity, seems like the herd immunity calculation failed for pertussis) And this was only the reported cases. Even the CCDC concedes that over 600,000 cases of pertussis happens each and every year.
Amara Russell says
Rick – The vaccinationists have plenty of “studies”…the best corporate science money can buy…’officially’ asserting whatever sells vaccines. Here’s the funny part:
(quoting)”…Because vaccines are not 100 percent for every single person, depending on the person’s genetics and their un-vaccinated immune system. Vaccines are only effective when they are in tandem with STRONG herd immunity…”
Herd immunity in the only true & realistic sense of the concept only comes about when about 68% of the population **has contracted the infection naturally** and then enjoys lifetime immunity (see my reference to Dr. Blaylock’s article in a reply above). The vaccinators are literally preventing herd immunity from being achieved by vaccinating to supress the immune response to infection – vaccines are designed to curtail the spread of disease, and disable the body’s natural house-cleaning mechanism, the sweat/purge/fast detoxification process; the process by which disease is spread naturally. Vaccinationists remind me of the Keystone Cops. Not spreading infection does not equal ‘herd health’, obviously because there are more sick, unwell, disease-disabled and chronically ill people than ever before. The only way to have a healthy ‘herd’ is to create fully-functioning, robust immune systems in all individuals.
But there’s no profit in that for the drug dealers. Here’s a cartoon that illustrates the point really well:
http://www.naturalnews.com/028789_pharmacies_health_food_stores.html
Amara Russell says
Please consult Dr.Paul King for actual “hard mathmatical scientific fact” regarding vaccines & vaccination; his body of work is extensive & growing continuously, so read anything & everything in your interest, archived on the ‘Documents’ page – his papers are a potent mix of easy-to-understand facts, professional insights, and math & figures (check his credentials page to understand his extensive background)
I submit this one example of his prolific work…so you may consider the relevance of his teachings on vaccination…he is really good at spelling it out & presenting the facts clearly.
http://dr-king.com/docs/20110330_VaccinesAndAutism__TheWrongArgument_corr1a.pdf
(this is found by selecting ‘Documents’ > Publications(by year) > 2011 (#2). Please explore the rest of his archives. *Very* educationsl.
Gloria says
From Nicole – “you stated the likelihood of death is rare. Not that my child cant die from whooping cough, but who is to say that my child could not die from the vaccine. I just have to trust GOD to keep my children safe. I would be devastated if something happen to them but I cant put faith in a vaccine that is man made.”
I simply can not get behind this kind of “logic.” So you refuse to put your “faith” in vaccines because they are man made. How many other things in your life do you trust to keep you safe that are man made? I bet you don’t fail to buckle your safety belt or strap your children into their car seats, do you? But those are man made devices. Why not just trust God to keep your kids safe in the event of a car accident?
Cindy says
Why on earth do people think vaccines will prevent their children from coming ill? Nothing is a guarantee. Children who are vaccinated can still catch the disease they are vaccinated for. They will not be 100% immune, don’t kid yourself.
Considering the diseases that vaccinations are made for, so few of them are actually fatal.
I like the author, stopped vaccinating my first son (I have 3 total) around 15mos. Why is it that parents who choose not to vaccinate or delay/space out vaccinations don’t care if other parents vaccinate their children fully? If you want to compromise your child’s immune system and put them at risk for the side effects of vaccines – go for it. I don’t care. Yet parents that vaccinate attack those who choose not to, or those who even delay vaccinations. It is silly to think that letting a vaccinated child play with an unvaccinated child would cause the vaccinated child to become sick. If you believe this to be true, you obviously do not understand how vaccines work. I urge you to read Dr. Aviva Romm’s book on vaccines.
There are many ways other than vaccines to prevent and treat diseases.
You can take your chances with the vaccines and the disease; I’ll take my chance with the disease. Thanks.
pixy says
No, they’re not fatal. They’ll just leave you twisted and broken, and maybe living in an iron lung. We’re so cavalier about the consequences of disease because we no longer have to witness our loved ones fighting for their lives. I rarely hear about mothers who had a baby with whooping cough who says that she will not vaccinate the rest of her children. Hey, the kid didn’t die, right?
The Good Wife says
I’ll second Pixy here. I have an aunt and close family friend that were disabled by polio before there was a vax and it would be a slap in their face to not vax my children for some supposed fear.
Heidi says
My guess is that your aunt and close family friend also had no access to the wealth of antibiotics available today?
Cindy says
Exactly!
Its also important to know the immunity each vaccination provides for a disease, yet the CDC recommends more vaccinations of the disease in spite they cant give any more immunity. It makes no sense at all.
pixy says
Heidi – there is no cure for polio. Zero. None. No antibiotics, no treatment, no cure. Just a vaccine that has virtually eradicated the disease so no one has to contract it.
Cindy says
Pixy that is correct. But only 3 polio shots give 99% “immunity”, can you tell me why MORE shots are recommended? Its pointless to get more beyond the 3.
Amara Russell says
Polio risk is *very* small:
8% of cases are entirely asymptomatic (without symptoms)
90+% present as simple GI viral infection; slight fever, vomiting, headache, malaise, sore throat, looks like flu, symptoms last 3-5 days following exposure, resolve in 24-72hr., result in LIFETIME IMMUNITY
Less than 2% of all exposures become parylitic polio; there are 3 types:
1) 79%= Spinal(a limb is effected) 2) 19%= Spinobulbar,
3) 2%= Bulbar (2%of 2% of all exposures)
Only Bulbar effects the brainstem/breathing, making breathing assistance needed
Aftermath of parylitic polio events: of the 2% (of 2% of all polio cases) in 50+% paralysis is temporary = FULL RECOVERY; functional loss improves over 24 months, the level of paralysis @12mo. is usually permanent. IMPROPER TREATMENT can worsen symptoms and delay recovery.
Source: Tenpenny: Vaccines; The Risks, The Benefits, The Choices
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OORHqEedtUY
At the height of the polio epidemic, from 1952-1956, allopathic medicine was stumped; however Homeopaths, Naturopaths and other natural medicine practitioners successfully used (and had been for many years) treatments that the allopaths did not- or *would not* use – like mega-dose vitamin C – and effected the cure in their patients within 96 hours.
http://vitamincfoundation.org/www.orthomed.com/polio.htm
Allopathic medicine has turned its back on nutritional & other effective medicines and therefore, on healing.
Your belief that there is no cure for poliomyelitis is an incorrect one, and you loyalty to the allopathic paradigm is misplaced, sadly. The paradigm of healthcare dominated by allopathic medicine is a disease & symptom management paradigm, rather than a healing paradigm; when a mainstream dr. says “there’s no cure”, s/he means that allopathy has no cure…the cure always exists eleswhere in another paradigm or healing philosophy. Always.
Rick Neubrander says
The iron lung comment I believe means you think the vaccine stopped polio. Maybe you should do a little reading.
http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2010/05/26/polio-2010/
http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2010/09/07/polio-causes-and-effects-part-i/
http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2010/10/10/polio-causes-and-effects-part-ii/
http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2010/06/02/polio-and-acute-flaccid-paralysis/
http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2010/07/01/polio-and-sanitation/
LoopyMom says
It’s so funny that you should mention this Pixy. My dad, who is 80, was just talking about this with me last night because I was telling him the Nick is fussy from his 4 mos vaccines. He was saying how many mothers would have given their right leg when he was a child for vaccines. He said, people really don’t understand what it was like. In ’41 there was a polio outbreak in his town and everything was closed: pools, playgrounds, parks… Even if they’d been open, parents would have been too scared to let their kids go hang out with other kids. And then the school year would start and there’d always be a desk or two that was unexpectedly empty. Kids would be like, “What happened to Betsy” or whatever, and the teacher would say, “She passed away from Diphtheria” or some awful disease that today should be effectively irradicated in this country, but isn’t. The lucky kids just ended up with brain damage, lung damage, or heart damage as a result of their run in with measles or pertussis.
These experiences are too far removed from us these days. I’m sure no one here refuses to put their child in a car seat because the straps are uncomfortable, or because there have still be cases where car seats failed to save a life, or because in a very serious car accident, the straps can cause bruising or broken bones. Why? Because the reality of children dying in car accidents is more tangible to us. So we play to the odds. Odds are, your car seat isn’t defective. Odds are if you’re in an accident, it will save your kids’ life. And you’ve balanced the potential harm against the reality you know, which is that children who fly through windshields in 60 mph highway accidents generally do not survive.
But no one remembers Polio, or HiB, or German Measles. So suddenly, it seems like the risk isn’t worth the benefit. That’s shortsighted and naive. And sort of willfully ignorant. Things that would be just fine, if they didn’t impact the larger society. Which they do.
Light reading: http://www.amazon.com/Panic-Virus-Story-Medicine-Science/dp/1439158649/ref=pd_sim_b_2
Amara Russell says
Serious reading on the same topic, for those looking for facts rather than propaganda (light reading):
http://mdvaccinechoice.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/vaccine-epidemic-video/
Amara Russell says
Here is a talk by the editors of the book “Vaccine Epidemic;How Corporate Greed, Biased Science, and Coercive Government Threaten Our Human Rights, Our Health, and Our Children by Louise Kuo Habakus and Mary Holland (Hardcover – Feb 28, 2011):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZfPXaBmbiU&feature=related
An *excellent* talk…it’s worth your time.
MinorityView says
Heidi, There is something most peculiar about the measles stats. I quoted above that the death rate from measles in the 1960s was 400 to 500 out of 4 million cases of measles a year.
And yet nowadays the CDC and the AAP are quoting 1 or 2 deaths out of every 1,000 cases?
Something does not compute.
Heidi says
Peculiar indeed.
Meagan says
I selectively vaccinated my son and stopped at 15 months. My daughter has not been vaccinated at all (she is 15 months now). All I know is that we live an incredibly healthy lifestyle. My son has suffered many illnesses and has a terrible time kicking them. My daughter once in a blue moon catches the same illnesses and kicks it in 1 -2 days, but rarely catches anything my son does. Personally, I don’t want random chemicals and heavy metals being injected into MY children. I don’t judge other families for their decisions AS LONG AS they have educated themselves before hand. If my kids grow up and decide they want to have these vaccinations, more power to them. By the way, I am planning on homeschooling, and I don’t think I am robbing my children of Public and Private schooling. In fact, I think they are blessed to learn from someone who focuses entirely on THEIR education (no judgement against other forms of schooling…we moved to our community in order to utilize our schools and changed our mind last minute). Thank you for this post. I agree with you whole-heartedly in that there is no right and wrong answer. The only RIGHT answer is what you feel is instinctually right in your family.
nsees says
We vaccinate on a delayed schedule (although don’t do any flu); however, this is a favorite blog of mine. I wish I could find the original post that details the specifics of what happened to her oldest son when he was vaxed but here is a related post that I thought you would find interesting. It’s been a hard decision for us and stories like this really make me question and worry after each doctor appt.
http://naturemoms.com/blog/2010/09/30/when-doctors-try-to-blackmail-parents/
Healthful Mama- I think I shared this blog with you before but I think you would enjoy it if you don’t already follow.
Gretchen {Lolliandme} says
Ouy…. this is a great post. I agree with you about neither side being right.
A couple years ago, we let nurses give our daughter 5 shots at once…while she had a cold. I was young and naive then, but I knew something was up. How could any child fight off all of that??
So we’ve stopped vaccinations until I am comfortable and have all the facts. Since we’ve stopped, our daughter, seriously, never gets sick. Not from kids at school. Not from her cousin who goes to a (nasty) daycare.
I’m like you… I have this nagging feeling in my gut that says something is not right about the number of vaccines and the junk that goes into them.
It IS our right as parents to decide what we feel is best for our children, whether it turns out good or bad. That is the decision we must all make and live with the consequences of.
I don’t have much to contribute to the debate as far as solid facts go, but I’m enjoying reading everyone’s opinions.
Posey says
Personally, I avoid anything for my family with chemicals. Have you looked at the ingredients in vaccines? Full of chemicals. No thanks, not for my tiny baby. Their bodies are way too small for so many chemicals.
Rick Neubrander says
So tell me, if “polio” was the culprit back in the day, then why is it we have the same amount of flaccid paralysis as polio. Could it be because no we test for polio DNA where back in the day we did not but called all paralysis “polio”? Could it be that the definition of polio change at the same time the vaccine was released?
It would be nice to be sure that the vax stopped the “polio” epidemic but from the research out there testing for “polio” occurred after a vax campaign started not before. Acute Flaccid Paralysis rates increase at about the same levels as polio levels decreased. So did the vax wipe it out or was it simply properly classified and the proclaimed to the public how effective the vax has been against polio while never mentioning that acute flaccid paralysis is increased.
http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2010/06/02/polio-and-acute-flaccid-paralysis/
Amara Russell says
“…What’s YOUR choice in the vaccine debate? How do you handle those who don’t agree?”
I’m a mother, grandmother, and Vaccine- Transparency Advocate. I ‘handle’ the issue(s) by offering factual information that is documented, verifiable, unimpeachable, and indisputable. I hope my contributions to this thread are valuable to everyone. Thanks for bringing this topic up for discussion with the high degree of integrity that you have.
Alex says
We have been involved in Polio eradication since 1985 and todaywe have less than 1% left of polio in the World.
Vax do work but bringing them to the children that need them is not that easy.
If you want to help us and be part of the people that made possible the total eradication of polio in planet Earth please visit http://wgmeal.com for more info.
Thanks