Vaccinations

[DisneyPhD]

Did your mom use any of the prescription drugs recommended for the rash? That sounds horrid!

Brandie

Yep she did, it was better after starting them, but it still hurt for a long time.

 

[LadyShiva]

Yep she did, it was better after starting them, but it still hurt for a long time.

Yikes! Poor thing!

I guess the good news is she probably will only get them once...? *crossing my fingers for her!*

Brandie

 

[kdibattista]

I hope you're not jumping to the conclusion that those of us who vaccinated our children on scheduled didn't ask questions or do research. Just because we agree with the medical community doesn't mean we just blindly went along with what they told us. For me personally my DH and I asked our dr lots of questions including what he did with his own children. We also read things on our own. We've known our dr for years and trust that he gives it to us straight.

Not at all... I would just appreciate the same respect while I'm researching, even if I come to a different conclusion.

Not on my LIFE will I start a thread on circumsicion or breastfeeding. I've had my fill

Oh yeah... I'll definitely take some cake

 

[KariC]

abcnews...doing a vaccination thing on autism and mercury righ tnow...a jama article today?

 

[DisneyPhD]

Not at all... I would just appreciate the same respect while I'm researching, even if I come to a different conclusion.

Not on my LIFE will I start a thread on circumsicion or breastfeeding. I've had my fill

Smart woman!

Do give mothering.com a look over. I don't consider it both sides of the story though. Not by far. Still it does give you some food for thought and interesting perspectives.

 

[KariC]

Not at all... I would just appreciate the same respect while I'm researching, even if I come to a different conclusion.

Not on my LIFE will I start a thread on circumsicion or breastfeeding. I've had my fill

Oh yeah... I'll definitely take some cake

We breastfeed and circumsize...

 

[ChrisnSteph]

I haven't read the whole thread (lost the will to live after about 5 pages to be honest) but just wanted to say a couple of things. The Doctor who first 'suggested' the link between MMR and Autism is pretty much a laughing stock here in the UK. Even his colleague who worked on the so-called reseach projct as since come out and said that Wakefield had used 'dubious' research methods and was just out to make a name fo himself.

Secondly I have a good friend who's 10 month old baby is being tested at present to see how badly her hearing has been damaged since contracting measles at the age of 3 months. She caught this from a child who was friends with her older sister and whose parents had chosen not to vaccinate their child as they didn't 'believe' in vaccinations!

Interesting links......
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/2703/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5070670.stm

Thanks for sharing, however I don't think it matters how much evidence, non-biased research, data or personal stories you can come up with to support vaccination, those who are convinced that vaccines are dangerous will never believe otherwise.

Honestly, if we weren't a nation of travelers, I think I would agree with not vaccinating. However, we live in a country where thousands of people travel abroad every day. Heck, I live in a state where thousands of undocumented people make their way here every year. THOSE are the people who I worry about.*All it takes is for one person to bring something into this country and start another pandemic, which could very well happen if everyone goes the route of not vaccinating. Since I live in a state full of illegal aliens, I'm not taking any chance.

Nothing in this world is without risk. Not riding your bike, in a car, getting a tooth pulled, having surgery....it's life. Same thing with vaccinations. I find it fascinating that so many people on this board know someone who almost died from vaccinations. I belong to two moms groups, I volunteer at my kids school and talk with many other moms, I'm involved at my son's preschool, I know many people with many kids, and the only time I've heard of a bad reaction to a vaccine is from a mom whose child is autistic (she blames the vaccines).

Both sides of this debate have made some good points, but now it's just getting ugly. Fact is, both sides are taking a risk - risk of reactions, risk of catching a disease. So either decision carries some sort of risk, and neither decision makes you a better/worse/more educated/less educated parent.

Can we all agree to that?

 

[tedhowe]

Both sides of this debate have made some good points, but now it's just getting ugly. Fact is, both sides are taking a risk - risk of reactions, risk of catching a disease. So either decision carries some sort of risk, and neither decision makes you a better/worse/more educated/less educated parent.

Can we all agree to that?

I'll agree with that.

But I do believe that one side is of this debate represents the more responsible members of society.

Sorry if that bothers the anti-vaccine side, but that's what I feel.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

Not on my LIFE will I start a thread on circumsicion or breastfeeding. I've had my fill

Oh yeah... I'll definitely take some cake

Vaccinated both, Circumcised (the DS ), and Breastfed both!
Pass me a piece of cake please!

 

[Wonderlandmom]

How timely! Did anyone just post this from today? It was on my yahoo headlines as I was getting off the computer!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_he_me/vaccine_safety

it begins...

Study fails to link chemical, brain woes

By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer2 hours, 51 minutes ago

A mercury-based preservative once used in many vaccines does not raise the risk of neurological problems in children, concludes a large federal study that researchers say should reassure parents about the safety of shots their kids received a decade or more ago.

However, the study did not examine autism — the developmental disorder that some critics blame on vaccines. A separate study due out in a year will look at that issue, said scientists at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who led the latest analysis and published results in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

They found no clear link between early exposure to the preservative thimerosal and problems with brain function and behavior in children age 7 to 10. The results are in line with past research that found no connection between vaccines and neurological problems or autism.

Thimerosal (pronounced thih-MEHR'-uh-sawl) has not been used in childhood vaccines since 2001, although it is still in some flu shots. The new findings apply to children immunized before then, or exposed to the preservative through shots their mothers received while pregnant. Thimerosal was put in vaccines to prevent contamination from bacteria.

Some doctors say the CDC study should reassure parents worried about the safety of vaccines.

continued in above link.

 

[Nikel]

Not at all... I would just appreciate the same respect while I'm researching, even if I come to a different conclusion.

Not on my LIFE will I start a thread on circumsicion or breastfeeding. I've had my fill

Oh yeah... I'll definitely take some cake

Well I'll continue to buck the trend. Breastfeed and NO circ, for males or females. And unless it's cheescake, I'll pass on the cake.

 

[Geoff_M]

How timely! Did anyone just post this from today? It was on my yahoo headlines as I was getting off the computer!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_he_me/vaccine_safety

it begins...


continued in above link.

One section of that story speaks volumes about the anti-vaccine groups:

The panel included one vaccine opponent — Sallie Bernard, executive director of the consumer group SafeMinds. Although she had a role in planning the study, she asked to be listed as a "dissenting member" because she disagreed with the study's conclusions.

The whole MO of groups like SafeMinds is that childhood exposure to mercury causes autism. Anything that challenges that assertion must not be acknowledged. Even though she was involved in the study design, when the results don't match her preconceived notions, she simply "dissents". In the end, no amount of research will be enough do overcome what she "knows" to be true. That's not how science is supposed to work. You design an experiment or study, you execute it per the protocol, and you then let the chips fall where they may. If you have problems with the study methodologies, you work to address it upfront instead of waiting to complain when the results aren't to your liking.

 

[TinkInPink]

Yes we are beginning to take a step backwards in science (the general public) People are basing what they pass off as scientific facts on emotion and beliefs.

see in the 1700s we had this little thing called the ENLIGHTENMENT where people started to use intelligent reasoning and cause and effect and the scientific method.
But hey lets just Ignore this whole science thing, a proven method that we have worked hard to achieve. Your opinion is much more factual and scientifically accurate than a group of people who have studied the field for years and large world approved and backed organizations.

 

[katerkat]

Ever wonder how they have eradicated small pox? Or shouldn't we confuse the hysterics with facts.

If small pox has been eradicated, how come my husband still had to be vaccinated against it?

(Breastfed, circed, cloth diapered, minorly-selectively-vaxed (he's currently lacking one vaccination if you don't count the Rotavirus which I didn't even know existed again until my friend's baby got it last week.))

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

I didn't read through everything, just skimmed, but the preservative that was believed by the anti-vaccine movement to cause autism is not even used anymore. It was removed from vaccines several years ago.

Part of the reason autism does not show up in kids until after their vaccination, is because timing of the vaccines and timing of the disorder becoming apparent are similar.

The main villian, vaccine-wise, is the DTaP. But pertussis is making a comeback. The name whooping cough sounds so benign, doesn't it? I have seen babies and small kids with pertussis. It is horrific.

My kids had or are getting all the early vaccines. My teens are getting the meningococcal vaccine. Guy I went to high school with died of that in college.

While I support the right to a choice for vaccines, I can't help but wonder.....my little guy has not completed his vaccine schedule. He has some breathing problems. Pertussis could kill him. What if one of my older children's friends is not vaccinated and brings it into my home? Some diseases can be carried.

I certainly would want to believe that if your child is not vaccinated that you let other parents, who may have young, not yet vaccinated children at home, know it. Or they may have immunocompromised family members...my husband is. I will be in the near future. I would definitely want to know if someone in one of my kids' classes was not vaccinated. Maybe not specifically who, but like when they send home those generic letters "We have had a case of meningitis...blah, blah."

 

[mickeyboat]

Please pass some cake over here!

 

[KariC]

mmmm....i have leftover b-day cake in the freezer (from costco). i frozen cake

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

If small pox has been eradicated, how come my husband still had to be vaccinated against it?

(Breastfed, circed, cloth diapered, minorly-selectively-vaxed (he's currently lacking one vaccination if you don't count the Rotavirus which I didn't even know existed again until my friend's baby got it last week.))

I don't think they have done the smallpox vaccine in many years. I could be wrong though. It was the vaccine that left the weird mark on everyone's upper arms...was this recently?

 

[Deb in IA]

Yet another, large, well-designed, SCIENTIFIC study that found no link between autism and thimerasol:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Germs/story?id=3655803&page=1

Mercury-Containing Vaccine Vindicated
New Research Clears Thimerosal; Some Vaccine Efforts Say Ban Was Premature
Research shows that federal regulators may not have needed to pull vaccines containing thimerosal from the market. (PhotoDisc) By CARLA WILLIAMS
ABC News Medical Unit
Sept. 26, 2007

As federal health officials offer more evidence that the mercury-containing vaccine preservative thimerosal is safe, many vaccine experts say in retrospect that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision to remove it from childhood vaccines may have done more harm than good by raising public fears.

And still others argue that research and funds still being spent on exploring the risks of thimerosal could be directed to more productive enterprises.

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine concludes that early exposure to thimerosal does not cause any neurological problems. Thimerosal, used in vaccines since the 1930s, has been a topic of controversy since the FDA banned it in 1999.

Some claim that the additive causes autism and other brain development disorders in children. But the latest study joins a growing body of literature that shows thimerosal is safe and causes no long-term negative effects on children's health.

Although no concrete evidence at the time showed that thimerosal was harmful, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics pushed for its elimination to quell the fears of parents who might otherwise not get their children vaccinated.


Do you have questions about vaccines? E-mail us here and the ABC News Medical Unit will get you answers.


But in an editorial published alongside this new research, Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, argues that this move was likely unnecessary -- and it could have ended up causing even more alarm among parents.

"Critics wondered how removing something that hadn't been found to be unsafe could make vaccines even safer," Offit writes.

Several vaccination experts agree.

"Thimerosal was removed from vaccines as a preventive measure, even though there was no indication that it represented a health risk," Mark Slifka of the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute and the Oregon Health and Sciences University says.

"However, it is easy for a skeptic to see this change in policy and jump to the conclusion that because thimerosal was removed, there must have been something wrong with it. The conspiracy theorists will continue to claim that thimerosal removal is 'proof' that a health danger exists and the negative impact of these individuals will be difficult to reconcile."

"The removal of thimerosal created the impression of risk, where none existed," says Dr. Paul Krogstad, professor in the departments of pediatrics and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "This well-intended effort sent a mixed message, and we will be facing the repercussions for years to come."

Still, others say the widespread fear over thimerosal forced regulators into a corner.

"The decisions were made in a setting of less information than we now have, and thus the precautionary steps felt prudent and responsible at the time," says Dr. John Modlin, chairman of the department of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School.

"Saying or doing nothing might have provoked more or different suits," says Dr. Joseph Zanga, assistant dean for generalist programs at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in North Carolina. "This was a no-win situation engendered by our society's desire to have the perfect child, perfectly cared for. Most do not realize that we cannot protect children from all the dangers inherent in life, and by trying to do so we protect some while putting others at risk."


A Legal Mess
Most often, these repercussions have taken the form of legal battles. In his editorial, Offit describes how 4,800 parents of autistic children have taken their message to federal the Vaccination Injury Compensation Program.

And some say there could be more legal battles to come.

"There will be more, and more complex suits as we continue to develop more vaccines promising a life free of disease," Zanga says.

"Consider, for example, the HPV vaccine. If we immunize all preteen girls years before most are sexually active, what happens when they have their sexual debut after the vaccine protection has waned -- as most seem to these days, and the HPV vaccine is said to be protective for five to seven years?"


Misdirected Resources?
Others note that continuing to fund research to prove the safety of thimerosal instead of using funds for more productive purposes, such as determining the real cause of autism and how to cure it, is counterproductive.
"I am saddened that many families with autistic children continue to chase false causes when ... we should be placing our energies and resources into researching the real cause(s)," says Dr. Michael Muszynski, dean and professor of Clinical Sciences at the Florida State University College of Medicine.

In the most recent study funded by the CDC, researchers evaluated more than 1,000 kids between the ages of 7 and 10 who were exposed to various levels of thimerosal as babies.

Researchers tested the children extensively, assessing the children in 42 different areas of neurological functioning and making almost 400 different statistical comparisons. They found that for the vast majority of tests, children with high levels of thimerosal exposure performed equally well compared to children with low exposure levels, indicating that thimerosal has no effect on brain development.

"On the whole, the results are very reassuring," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, in a press conference earlier today.

"The findings add weight to the preponderance of evidence that vaccines are safe and should be provided to infants and children," says Zanga. "The alternative, not immunizing and leaving the child at risk for disease, makes little general sense."
The study did find a small correlation between high thimerosal exposure levels and the presence of tics in boys. A couple of other studies have found similar results -- that tics, abnormal movements that look like twitches, are associated with high thimerosal exposure. The CDC says it will devote further research to the issue.

But Slifka says the weight of the evidence backs the safety of vaccines.

"This is yet more concrete proof that children's vaccines are safe," he says. "It is similar to multiple studies performed by highly reputable independent laboratories in several nations; there is no link between vaccines and autism."

 

[Nikel]

I don't think they have done the smallpox vaccine in many years. I could be wrong though. It was the vaccine that left the weird mark on everyone's upper arms...was this recently?

You'd be correct. From the CDC:
"Routine smallpox vaccination among the American public stopped in 1972 after the disease was eradicated in the United States. Until recently, the U.S. government provided the vaccine only to a few hundred scientists and medical professionals working with smallpox and similar viruses in a research setting.

After the events of September and October, 2001, however, the U.S. government took further actions to improve its level of preparedness against terrorism. One of many such measures—designed specifically to prepare for an intentional release of the smallpox virus—included updating and releasing a smallpox response plan. In addition, the U.S. government has enough vaccine to vaccinate every person in the United States in the event of a smallpox emergency. "
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/vaccination/facts.asp