Stressed Neurotic Mom Warning

[dishappy]

I have 4 children. My first son had a regular reaction to Chicken Pox. My second son had a very severe reaction. He was scheduled to have tubes put in his ears when he came down with CP and I was told to watch him very carefully. CP and an ear infection together could cause permanent hearing loss. They put him on an antibiotic until his tubes were in. My last two children have been vaccinated - obviously. Trust me - it is not worth the trouble to have a bad case.

 

[ntengwall]

One last thing---you need to realize that most of the diseases we vaccinate against are supposed to be childhood illnesses. Contrary to what we have been told, most of these illnesses are not life-threatening (especially in this day and age). When these illnesses were deadly a looooong time ago, it was more because of life-style factors. Cleanliness, not having antibiotics, numerous families living in close quarters with eachother etc...

I can't believe the bs that doctors are telling parents about the chicken pox! They truly want you to believe that it is a deadly disease. When I took my kids to their old pediatrician, I could not believe the posters all around about how "deadly" chicken pox is. Come on...how many of us know kids who have died from chicken pox?? I am just soooo tired of the drug companies and their money making schemes. At the end of the day, it's all about $$$$
Stepping off my soapbox now

 

[ntengwall]

Dishappy-
Just curious--was you son breastfed? I ask this because it is very rare for a child who was breastfed to a year or more to have severe ear infections/problems. This has a dirrect correlation to the safety of not vaccinating. A huge factor when deciding whether or not to vaccinate is breastfeeding and how long it is done. My naturopathic Dr said he would NEVER recommend someone not vaccinting if they were not breastfeeding well past a year! The child is then not getting natural antibodies from their mother and it places the child at a much high risk for illnesses. So it's not just a simple "do I vaccinate or not?". There are lots of other factors to take into consideration (like breastfeeding).

 

[maisymom]

I find all the different facts that posters have interesting! I wonder where everyone gets their numbers? I have one who had the illness & after seeing how sick she was there was no way I would not have had the other 2 vaccinated! I fully anticipate that within the next year or two - after the health departmants track the cases for awhile - there will be a booster! They are doing boosters for pertussis now! Herd immunity does protect those children who are not vaccinated, but with all the international travel & immigration I would be afraid for my children not to be fully vaccinated. Just because we haven't had these illnesses in the USA doesn't! mean they are gone. I fully believe every parent should & can make these decisions for their children! HAving seen these some of these illnesses first hand is just very scary! Just make sure you are getting reliable info!

I totally agree that there should be a booster shot. I think it is only a matter of time before that happens

 

[maisymom]

I have 4 children. My first son had a regular reaction to Chicken Pox. My second son had a very severe reaction. He was scheduled to have tubes put in his ears when he came down with CP and I was told to watch him very carefully. CP and an ear infection together could cause permanent hearing loss. They put him on an antibiotic until his tubes were in. My last two children have been vaccinated - obviously. Trust me - it is not worth the trouble to have a bad case.

I agree with you , in Massachusetts you have to vacinate to go to school but even if that wasnt the case, I would still do it because I would feel horrible if my child got horribly sick and i could have prevented that with the vacination.

 

[Idroveallnight]

I agree with you , in Massachusetts you have to vacinate to go to school but even if that wasnt the case, I would still do it because I would feel horrible if my child got horribly sick and i could have prevented that with the vacination.

My thoughts exactly! Pertussis (whooping cough - horrible illness) is on the rise esp. in school age kids! Thus the booster shot. No that is not bs or a rumor - actual patients! I could not stand to watch my child coughing until he/she couldn't breathe in a hospital for days on end knowing I could have easily prevented it! Yes, autism is more common now - but is it more common or do we have better educated parents who are connecting to one another thanks to all of our technology. They find each other & help one another. Doctors are better at diagnosing it too. There is so much more research & needs to be more!

I don't think that most parents make the decision to not vaccinate easily! Some do, but I believe they are the minority.

 

[goobsmom]

"What you need to realize is that one of the reasons vaccines are not even close to 100% effective is because of HOW you contract the disease. In nature, you would contract almost all of these diseases through the air and through your nasal passages. This is VERY different from having something injected into your bloodstream.
The other thing that Goobsmom mentioned about polio and other illnesses being irradicated is that Japan did NOT vaccinate for polio at the time when they USA started to and their rates dropped at the same rate as ours did. THis is because almost all illnesses have a natural life-span. Also...most diseases that are supposedly irradicated will usually return at some point in time and be re-named. I believe one example of this is the Monkey Pox. It is VERY similar to AIDS.
The bottom line is that choosing to vaccinate or not is a very personal decision and one not to be made hastily or spur of the moment. I have spent the last 7 years researching, reading books, studies and watching videos to make my decision not to vaccinate my boys. Do I have doubts...yes. Would I have doubts if I vaccinated? You betcha! I teach natural childbirth classes and have seen, firsthand, babies who have had adverse reactions to the vaccines. Some mild, some not so mild. And I have also studied the incredible rise in auto immune disorders in children (asthma, eczema, Crohn's disease etc...) Not to mention the 300% rise in autism in the past 5 years"

Ntengwall,

You say you have seen adverse effects of vaccines- have you ever seen a child with whooping cough or tetanus?

I agree with you about the benefits of breastfeeding. I breastfed both of my children for about 18 months. They have been remarkably healthy. They are also fully vaccinated. I think I tend to trust that medical scientists are trying to save lives when they develop vaccines. I am a biologist, and my husband is a doctor. I share your mistrust of drug companies and their financial motives, but all vaccines are rigorously tested.

Vaccines are injected intramuscularly, not into the bloodstream. The muscles drain into the lymph nodes. The lymphatic system's functions include immunity.

Polio has been around for thousands of years; since ancient Egypt. It had not met its "natural life span" as you say. The vaccine, without a doubt, has led to its near eradication. Why else would polio only exist now in nations that are inadequately vaccinated? I don't know much about Japan's polio history, but they are an isolated island nation. In the 1950's, Japanese did not have much contact with the rest of the world, so it is dangerous to make assumptions based on their polio levels. Consider this:

"In 1988 the World Health Organization began a global vaccination campaign to eradicate the disease [polio]—which continued to paralyze hundreds of thousands of children each year—by 2000. Although the date of eradication was later pushed back to 2005, by 2003 there were less than a thousand new cases of polio worldwide. In 2003–4 the campaign was temporarily slowed when Muslim states in Nigeria refused to use vaccines they believed would sterilize women, leading to an increase in cases there and in neighboring countries and to the reemergence of the disease in 16 countries including Yemen and Indonesia."emphasis mine

This shows how quickly this disease can come back when people stop vaccinating.

Monkey pox is not similar to HIV. It can be treated with HIV antiviral drugs, however. It is somewhat similar to small pox, however far, far less lethal. Older citizens who were vaccinated for smallpox decades ago are probably immune to this disease.

I'm not even going to get into the autism debate. It's not worth it.

We'll probably have to agree to disagree. I can give you several mainstream sources for factual, scientific information if you would like. Here is a good one: http://microbiology.columbia.edu/pico/Chapters/History.html

Now lets get back to Disney!

 

[dishappy]

ntengwall -

I did not breastfeed my DS with the ear infections. My three DS each had an increasing milk allergy (got worse with each one). So, I breast fed my DD (my last child). I had never made the connection between their CP illness and breastfeeding.

 

[MommyPoppins]

It causes the exposure to be a much milder case even though they can still get the disease. This is very important especially in young boys because chicken pox can cause sterility.

Of course it's going to be 100 times worse when they get it as adults because the vaccine doesn't work anymore. I sure hope they come out with a booster for all of our children who have been vaccinated against such a "horrible" illness and end up getting it as adults when it actually becomes a real danger.

 

[MommyPoppins]

VARICELLA - CHICKENPOX VACCINE
Chickenpox is a highly infectious disease that is caused by the Varicella Virus. In most children, chickenpox is common but not serious infection and the majority of Canadian children will have had the infection by the age of 15 years. (In British Columbia chicken pox results in the death of 1 - 2 people per year) The symptoms of the illness include a mild sore throat, fever and tiredness followed by the appearance of a blister-like rash. (Click here to view an image of the chickenpox rash) The incubation period for chickenpox is 14-21 days.

In a small number of children, chickenpox can cause a more serious infection including scarring of the skin, secondary skin infections, ear infections and pneumonia. Very rarely, chicken pox can result in a form of encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or can allow the entry of aggressive bacteria into the skin resulting in flesh eating disease. (This is due to an invasive form of the group A Streptococcus bacteria)

In older children and adults, chickenpox is a much more serious infection. The symptoms of the infection are more dramatic in older individuals and chickenpox can result in inflammation of the body organs, severe headaches and in adult males can result in sterility. Chickenpox infection in a pregnant mother can result in birth defects involving the baby.

The Varicella vaccine is recommended for all children of one year or older who have not had chickenpox and for all adults who have not had the infection. In this clinic we offer the Varilrix vaccine. The vaccine may prevent illness if administered within 5 days after exposure to a confirmed case of chickenpox.

The Varilrix vaccine is very safe. Approximately 1 out of 20 people who receive the vaccine will develop a mild rash one to two weeks later. The majority of will have no side effects at all.

The varicella vaccine is best given at 1 year of age at the same time as the MMR vaccine. (Click here to see the ideal paediatric immunization schedule). The vaccine cannot be given during pregnancy. For an adult woman it is advised that she no become pregnant for one month after receiving the vaccine.

Source

So, yes it can cause sterility, but that is when adult males get it. Which of course is when all of our children might get it, if the vaccine doesn't last and they don't make a booster. Which is why I hate the chicken pox vaccine, and prayed for someone I could use to expose my children too before they turned 1. But, no such luck, they all are vaccinated. Hopefully they get on the ball, so we don't have a bunch of adults running around with chicken pox like we're seeing new cases of whooping cough.

 

[Idroveallnight]

The vaccine is there, just waiting on AAP to say let's do a booster! The booster is probably on the way soon at the 4-5 year check when they get their 2nd MMR. There is now a combo vaccine of MMR and Varicella - so only one shot.

 

[annameg]

The afternoon before we left for our trip in October, my DD6 was not feeling well, which is unusual for her. Sure enough, strep throat. Doctor said to bring in DD3 because she had been exposed. Sure enough, strep throat. They got a mega shot and we went home to rest. The doctor told us to go on the next day. No more fever and they felt great. DH got it on the 2nd day there. Oh well. You can't avoid some things. We still had a blast. The doctor had given us medicine "just in case", he was much better the next afternoon. Don't worry about what you can't control. Go have fun.

 

[Sammie]

My youngest son had chicken pox at 3 months. Older brother brought it home from pre-school. 2 year old sister was covered and miserable. Couldn't eat for pox on her tongue had them on her head, eyes, private parts you name a spot and she had spots there. The baby had 3 spots that I could find. Dr. said he may get them again. At age 3 he had the shingles and that was horrible he was in so much pain. I did not know until then that the chicken pox virus is where shingles come from. Now I just pray that he doesn't have to go through shingles again.

Shingles is one of the main reasons you don't want to expose your child if you can help it.

 

[daisyduck123]

Haven't read this entire thread, but....if chicken pox were going around my son's class....I'd probably keep him home from school until the little "epidemic" is over.

That's how important the trips to Disney are for me.

 

[mousemeat]

I can't imagine the stress of worrying about your kids coming down with chicken pox when you have Disney reservations. There was an outbreak of chicken pox in my community last summer. Several of the 9 - 10 year olds that I know who had received the vaccine got a mild case of chicken pox. BUT the younger siblings (between 5 and 6) did NOT come down with chicken pox, including my daughter. My friends and I are suspecting that the vaccine, which was brand new 10 years ago either may have been less effective when it was first given, or that it may lose effectiveness as time goes by. Let me stress that we are just guessing!!

 

[nigel-bigel]

Well, I know something about this because my 2 DDs, DH and myself all had the chicken pox one summer.

I still don't know when we were exposed, but DD5 and I woke up with the pox on the same day. (I was 35 and never had the chicken pox. I had chosen not to vaccinate my girls.). DH starts worrying because he's never had them either (age 41).

The tricky thing about the chicken pox is that you are contagous 24-48 hours before you have any symptoms, so we exposed him and DD1 before we had any signs of being sick.

Anyway, DH goes to his doctor who gives him the vaccine even though he has already been exposed - she double checked with the CDC. Exactly 10 days after DD5 and I got lesions, both he and DD1 wake up with lesions.

Because he had the vaccine after he was exposed, he didn't get nearly as sick as I did. One a sickness scale of 1-10, I was a 9 1/2 and he was a 3. I took 8 times as much medication (Zovirax) as he did!

Sooo, if you are really concerned, call your pediatrician about getting the vaccine. If she's not sure, have her check with the Center for Disease Control.

If not, I still think you are okay. Let's say your son does get sick. My experience is that he'll get symptoms 10 days after exposure, and he'll be ready to party 7-8 days later. That gives you another 3 days as a cushion before you go. He will be covered with scabs, but will feel fine and not be a risk to others.

 

[Schmeck]

I got the chicken pox as a young adult, and twenty years later I'm still recovering from the nerve damage. I was seriously ill for 2 weeks (new lesions appeared over a span of 7 days) was light sensitive for months later, and still get an "electric shock" feeling over my entire body when I'm startled.

Of course, the pox scars on my forehead can be taken care of with plastic surgery, but they blend in well with the worry wrinkles I've got up there now, so why bother.

Flying with a child who has chicken pox that have not crusted over puts everyone on the plane at risk. There should be guidelines you could check on the airline websites about health concerns and policies.

 

[CleveRocks]

And I have also studied the incredible rise in auto immune disorders in children (asthma, eczema, Crohn's disease etc...) Not to mention the 300% rise in autism in the past 5 years.

So what does that have to do with vaccinations???

What you are citing is called a CORRELATION. A correlation means things co (pause) relate to each other. Correlation is NOT cause and effect. For example, schizophrenia usually starts in the teenage years. Teenagers are in school, whether it's in a large institution or at home. Does school CAUSE schizophrenia? Of course not, it's just a correlation. In a good school (as opposed to a school that's way too easy), kids who study hard for tests almost always score higher on test scores than kids who don't study; usually, more studying equals higher grades. Studying CAUSES higher grades. That's not correlation, that's cause and effect.

To say that vaccines CAUSE autism and other disorders is junk science at best, hysteria at worst. How can anyone who says they do "research" blame ONE out of MANY possible factors? What about increases in pollution? In pesticide usage? In hydrogenated foods? In processed foods overall? In hamburger and french fry consumption? In the radiation from radio and television broadcasts (I'm talking old-school, not even our modern bombardment)? I can argue that autism has risen at the same rate as incorrect usage of apostophes in the English speaking world. Both problems have risen at about the same rate. Does one cause the other? No, they are correlated.

I think there's a risk anytime we introduce anything into our bodies. But as the father of 2 small kids, I decide for my family that vaccines are more than worth any risk they may pose compared with the illnesses themselves. My pediatrician wife agrees, obviously.

Similarly, you make a choice you feel is best for your family. I am glad that schools require vaccinations, so I know my kids are safe from at least one thing, a group of diseases. But I'm also glad that vaccines are a requirement for SCHOOL and not for EXISTENCE. That way, you are free to choose not to vaccinate your kids, and part of that choice, indirectly or directly, leads you to homeschool your kids.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

 

[mama22]

Cleve Rocks,

Thank you!
These vaccines are actually advances in modern medicine which will/have reduced illness and lead to healthier lives. No amount of modern day antibiotics can do anything for the majority of illnesses children are vaccinated against if you were to get the disease.
Chicken pox virus epidemic once started in a NICU I was working in and we lost some babies. It is not such a benign disease as some presume.

OP, hope everyone stays healthy!

 

[Idroveallnight]

The afternoon before we left for our trip in October, my DD6 was not feeling well, which is unusual for her. Sure enough, strep throat. Doctor said to bring in DD3 because she had been exposed. Sure enough, strep throat. They got a mega shot and we went home to rest. The doctor told us to go on the next day. No more fever and they felt great. DH got it on the 2nd day there. Oh well. You can't avoid some things. We still had a blast. The doctor had given us medicine "just in case", he was much better the next afternoon. Don't worry about what you can't control. Go have fun.

That's the one good thing about strep - 24 hours after you start antibotics you are not contagious! Lucky you that your doc gave you meds for DH, too!