re: Vaccination: Researching the Issue

Quoting Maverick's Mom {{BBC}}:“ that really breaks my heart for you. its my worst nightmare. i feel so lucky to be blessed with such a healthy little boy... i cant imagine watching him change before my eyes”

It is heartbreaking, and that is why I am so passionate about this issue.

Kellie! Great sticky.
I'll share my story here:
I have family with Asperger's and Autism. When I brought my son to his two month appointment, I told the doctor I wanted to delay and be selective on Alex's vaccinations.
The pediatrician completely agreed with me. I was so surprised. He said that although he doesn't believe that vaccines cause autism, he can't say whether or not it can trigger autism and other neurological disorders.

It is widely accepted among the medical community that Autism is a mitochondrial defect.http://cdc.gov/NCBDDD/autism/mitochondrial.htm

It is merely a THEORY that vaccines "cause" autism.
A more likely theory that is backed by the medical community is that children with the mitochondrial defect linked to Autism have the defect triggered by a fever. http://www.umdf.org/site/c.dnJEKLNqFoG/b.3616911/apps/s/content.asp?ct=5087517
In other words- the children would more than likely develop autism due to a fever later on caused by illness or infection.
There is a scientific motto that I try to live by "Correlation does not imply Causation"

With zero medical proof that autism is caused by vaccines- (and there is NO conclusive proof that I have found in any medical journal) IN FACT- THERE WAS NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE EITHER WAY!I would really encourage parents to not just accept that vaccines cause this medical problem.
DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST. TALK TO YOUR PEDIATRICIAN.
Look at the list of illnesses and the rates of infection according to the CDC.
Weigh the risks of infection or exposure against the risk of not getting the vaccines.
Decide for yourselves what is the most healthy way to go.

Keep in mind that in the world we live in today- our children are NOT safe from deadly diseases consider the countries that have little medical care whose citizens are passing through our borders each and every day. The rates of infectious disease are on the rise across the western world. Places that these diseases had been thought to be eradicated are now flaring.

The medical community is not our enemy. Without the vaccines that they have developed and the care that they have issued to our families for generations- many children and adults would have been lost.

I am not saying you must vaccinate your children- but make an independent unbias decision. One that filters through the propaganda! There is propaganda on BOTH sides and it is VITAL that you learn about who your researchers are.

It is very clear that Emma Grace is passionate about the subject and has her own agenda.
MAKE YOUR OWN AGENDA.

Keep in mind that if your child is to attend school in the future there are rules on vaccines to attend!
you can find a state by state list of requirements here
http://www.immunizationinfo.org/VaccineInfo/index.cfm

You may also find that many daycare centers will want to know that your child is vaccinated to lower the potential exposure rates.

There is no RIGHT or WRONG to this subject.

Quoting MerryDeath Eats Babies:“ It is widely accepted among the medical community that Autism is a mitochondrial defect.http://cdc.g ... [snip!] ... want to know that your child is vaccinated to lower the potential exposure rates. There is no RIGHT or WRONG to this subject.”

My son has been tested for a mitochondrial defect....he has none. And several ASD specialist do not agree with this theory.

And how much later would you ecpect these children to develop ASD? A child has to show all signs by the age of 2 and 3, if these are not shown by this time there is no ASD.

And talking to the pediatrican? Many are now saying delay.
And how many generations of children had this many vaccines? Well I am only 27 and only had 11, my ASD son is 6 and has has 32.

ANY child in all states except 2 ( Mississippi and West Virginia) can attend school and daycare as long as the have a medical or religious exemption, which is nothing more than signing a paper at the pedi's office.

You are correct that there is no right or wrong, it is a personal decison, one you have to live with either way.


Yes, you are right Kellie has an agenda, information.

meri... you have an agenda as well. PRO-MED!!

Quoting MerryDeath Eats Babies:“ It is widely accepted among the medical community that Autism is a mitochondrial defect.http://cdc.g ... [snip!] ... want to know that your child is vaccinated to lower the potential exposure rates. There is no RIGHT or WRONG to this subject.”

Since your motto is "Correlation does not imply Causation" then you must agree that just because a disease decline correlated with vaccinations, this does not mean that vaccinations were responsible for the decline.

There is NO conclusive scientific proof that vaccines erradicated any disease.

There is also NO conclusive scienfic proof that vaccines do NOT cause neurological problems.

What we DO know is that there isn't a whole hell of a lot proven one way or another about vaccines. However, there is a ton of scientfic and anecdotal evidence of harm...which deserves some serious consideration. Most of the diseases are very easily treatable and are mild in most healthy children. We can't say the same about neurological damage.

Jenny McCarthy will be on Oprah today...for anyone interested.

Quoting brendaruth:“ meri... you have an agenda as well. PRO-MED!!”

Wrong- I am PRO INFORMATION on BOTH sides of the issues.

I never said that all autistic children have the defect- but MANY do.
There is a medical link that is proven though medical journals.

I do believe in science. I have a BS in Microbiology and I worked heavily towards a specialization in Epidemiology.
One of the focus classes that I had to take was human genetics.

CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION.
You cannot say that just because a child has autism that it is caused by vaccines- there are many environmental factors OTHER than vacccines that are not being as heavily explored.

It is negligible to suggest that people not trust their pediatricians or the medical community.
Who do you think you will turn to if your child develops one of these diseases?

Quoting EmmaGrace:“ Since your motto is "Correlation does not imply Causation" then you must agree that just because a ... [snip!] ... the diseases are very easily treatable and are mild in most healthy children. We can't say the same about neurological damage.”

There is conclusive proof that these vaccines PREVENT these potentially FATAL diseases.
And they did eradicate many of these diseases in LARGE portions of the world where the vaccines were common place. They cannot prevent the spread of disease to areas that do not receive them- common sense.

And no there is not conclusive proof that they don't cause neurological disorders just like there is no conclusive proof that they do cause them either. ITS A NEUTRAL POINT.

People should be smart and crack down on the research themselves. If they don't trust their pediatrican enough to take their advice into consideration- perhaps it would be wise to find a new one that they can trust.

Quoting MerryDeath Eats Babies:“ Wrong- I am PRO INFORMATION on BOTH sides of the issues. I never said that all autistic children have ... [snip!] ... their pediatricians or the medical community. Who do you think you will turn to if your child develops one of these diseases?”

you may claim that you dont have an agenda... but i have always seen you stand up for medicine and the healthcare community. i have NEVER once seen you stand up for the other side. therefore, PRO-MED. that is how i drew my conclusion.

Parents need to make their own decisions based on what they feel is right and research that they have done. No one should just blindly follow their pediatrician, no one should be blindly following anyone. (our nations leader, anyone?) Blinding following their pediatricians is what made some of these ladies so against vaccines in the first place, because their children had reactions!!

Quoting MerryDeath Eats Babies:“ Wrong- I am PRO INFORMATION on BOTH sides of the issues. I never said that all autistic children have ... [snip!] ... their pediatricians or the medical community. Who do you think you will turn to if your child develops one of these diseases?”

My child did, he sees a large team of docs who all say the same thing...vaccine injured...

Quoting MerryDeath Eats Babies:“ Wrong- I am PRO INFORMATION on BOTH sides of the issues. I never said that all autistic children have ... [snip!] ... their pediatricians or the medical community. Who do you think you will turn to if your child develops one of these diseases?”

Good point

Quoting brendaruth:“ you may claim that you dont have an agenda... but i have always seen you stand up for medicine and the ... [snip!] ... pediatricians is what made some of these ladies so against vaccines in the first place, because their children had reactions!!”

What you have seen has been me telling the boards that there is no RIGHT or WRONG way to do things as long as the decision is informed.
I am sure you are referring to the thread about natural birth where I said there are risks to both sides and that I didn't particularly appreciate the names that the OP glued to those of us who opted to go with the medical community over natural birth.
As I said in that thread "I support women who want to have and are able to have a natural birth, but there are risks involved just as there are risks involved with an epidrual."
In this case I support women who choose to not vaccinate their children, but it should be a well informed decision. One made from several different resources. INCLUDING the pediatrician who attends to the child's health.
IF you take your child to a doctor you don't trust, what does it say about you as a parent?
IF you disagree with your pedi's stance on vaccinations, then perhaps its better to discuss it with them and come to an agreement or move on to a pedi that better suits your needs.
But to be distrustful of a doctor you CHOOSE to take your child to? That makes no sense to me. Particularly since this is a person you would run to if your child is sick or worse- dying.

I PERSONALLY decided after lots of research from various medical journals, speaking with several pediatricians and even conversations with 2 neurosurgeons (one being my cousin) that I was not worried about autism.
HOWEVER, I opted to go with a doctor who would space my daughter's immunizations. I did this because from what I found in my own PERSONAL research it reduced the occurance of fevers and adverse allergic reactions based in all the independent studies that I found.

Is that purely holistic? No. Is it medical standard? No. But I didn't just take anyone's word for it. I made an educated choice.
And from there I found the doctor who best suited my needs- a conservative treatment for illness and a vaccination schedule that I felt comfortable with and a well respected degree and position to go with it.
I have absolutely NO reason to distrust the medical professional that I found.
Why do you think I should?
Why do you think YOU should distrust YOUR doctor?
Why not just research and pick one that you know and trust? Why not encourage other people to do the same?

I don't expect everyone to delay immunizations or to get them at all. But I also disapprove of spinning the facts. The studies are inconclusive. The neutrality of the situation should be a starting point for people to make their own decisions.

Wow, I was thinking about delaying my daughter's vaccinations, now I'm thinking about not getting any done (perhaps only polio and tetnus). Seriously, I would rather have a round of chicken pox or whopping cough than have a child that is permanently disabled with something like Autism. My littlest brother is Autistic, I wouldn't wish that on anyone, especially my child.

Small (kinda uniformed) rant coming:
Why do they make us vaccinate our children for so many things? Chicken pox? Goodness me! I remember chicken pox, I got it from my cousin because my mom took me over to her house to be exposed... on purpose! Why would you get a child vaccinated for chicken pox if it is only effective for x number of years and puts your child at risk for it later in life when it can develop into more serious symptoms than just itchy spots?

HepB... damn why do they vaccinate babies against this? What baby is going to be using dirty needles or having unprotected sex? If there is a chance of vertical transmission from the mother during birth... vaccinating directly after birth will do more harm than good. the virus is already present! I got my shots for hepB in grade 6... my daughter isn't getting them any sooner if at all!

And all those people that say the disease is worse than the "chance" of negative side-effects. Ponder for a second, Scarlet fever used to be horrible... when my step-son had it when I was pregnant I thought my baby and I were at risk (I remember the velveteeen rabbit). Then I looked it up... Strep! A couple hundred years ago it could have killed both my baby and I, now that idea is almost laughable. If they tried to force a Scarlet Fever shot on my child I would laugh at them.

Modern higyne, diet, medicine... all these things make childhood diseases less threatening. Why can't we just be happy with the fact that if our child catches this disease that they will more than likely get through it... and then be truly immune. I'd rather risk that then be responsible for giving my child the vaccine that destroys them.

Bugger, vaccinations have me pissed off right now.

Quoting Nimlorel (Litia's Mommy):“ Wow, I was thinking about delaying my daughter's vaccinations, now I'm thinking about not getting any ... [snip!] ... then be responsible for giving my child the vaccine that destroys them. Bugger, vaccinations have me pissed off right now.”

What about meningitis or pneumonia?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071113165636.htm