My neighbor up the road doesn't vaccinate her two kids, ages 2 and 4. My kids are up to date on their vaccinations and play with them occasionally. Is there any reason for me to have any concern over this regarding my own kids health? I'm assuming not so long as everything is up to date. My husband had the mumps in middle school because one of his vaccinations wasn't given at the right time...it just got me to thinking.
There are tons of families that don't vaccinate and then there are some with alt. schedules etc. As long as your kids are healthy and their kids are healthy, there really isn't much of a concern. If your kids are more predisposed to illnesses/disease, then I would be a little cautious. But-----in this case, don't worry!
She has more of a chance of getting something from your kids than her kids have of giving something to yours.
My kids are unvaccinated. My friend who has 3 kids and all are vaccinated are constantly sick. My kids play around hers all the time and NEVER have caught anything from her fully vaccinated kids. Two of her kids had whooping cough last year and my kids were around hers and my kids did not catch it. Vaccines do not equal immunity and artificial immunity cannot protect you against the real thing (IMO and my doctors). And, how do you know that your husband caught mumps because the shot was not given at the correct timing? There is no way to prove that since so many people still contract an illness that they were vaccinated against. Don't worry about those kids. No offense, but they are probably healthier than your kids who are not shot up with chemicals. Anyone can get an illness, vaccinated and unvaccinated. Hope I didn't offend, this is just my opinion and I've done tons of research and talked to several doctors on this topic.
Just another thing to add. Every state has exemptions for vaccines. I know this isnt' in your question, but someone said that vaccines are required for school. That is NOT true. You can get exemptions.
None at all! If you are interested in learning more about diseases and how they are spread, how likely they are, vaccine shedding, etc check out www.thedoctorwithin.com . There are probably many more kids they will encounter at school that are unvaccinated or partially vaxed. It's only a threat if they get one of these rare diseases.
The school thing is wrong! All states have some sort of waiver to allow fully unvaxed children to attend.
Unless you are pregnant or have a small infant (or someone in your family is immune compromised), your family should be just fine playing with these kids. If those kids do get something like mumps, measles (going around), whooping cough (really going around!), there is a possibility that one of your children might be exposed. If your child's immunization wasn't 100% effective, they may "catch" the disease. But, it is likely that their response to it would be mitigated, and they wouldn't get as sick because their immune system has been exposed to it and knows how to fight it.
That said, there was a good response about making sure you and your husband have had your vaccinations as well. Since you've been preggers lately, you might be reasonably up to date. Your hubby should check into it, though. I would certainly suggest TDap (the adult version of DTap), at a minimum.
This is a great question, and one that many people don't understand. Not every kid responds to every vaccine with 100% of an immune response. So, her kids are likely to catch illnesses (for which there are vaccines) from other people they come into contact with. And, you have no way of knowing that your kids have had a complete response to every vaccine they've been given. Therefore, it is possible that if 1) their kids are exposed to something, AND 2) your child didn't have a complete response to that specific vaccine, your child could catch it and get sick.
This is a fairly low probability. But it is possible. For that reason, I would let my children play with these kids. However, if one of those kids gets whooping cough, or mumps, or whatever, then you should keep them away from each other until their entire family is healthy, and also keep a close eye on your children for symptoms of that illness.
Mom,
For more complete information, check out www.Mercola.com
Look up vaccinations. Read. Then read more. www.Naturalnews.com.
Good luck,
M.
Her kids are at much higher risk of catching something than yours are, but vaccines are not 100% effective. You can read more about it here http://www.immunizationinfo.org/parents/why-immunize. I don't know if it would be enough for me to stop having my kids play with hers, but if her children do get something like whooping cough, keep in mind that yours are not 100% protected just because they have been vaccinated.
Also, related to kids in school, I just wanted to point out that NY state requires most vaccinations in order to enroll your children in school.
I would not worry, she is the one who has left her kids vulnerable, not you. Vaccines are not perfect, but you know you did everything you could to keep your kids safe and that is all you can do. There are more and more kids that are left unprotected these days, and you will never know who most of them are, so you can't keep your kids sheltered. just be strong in the knowledge that your kids are less likely to get really sick or even die if something does go around.
For the most part, your children will be protected from the illnesses against which they are vaccinated. However, a certain percentage of the population never develops immunity against things the vaccines protect against; that is part of the reason people believe in the importance of "herd immunity" (enough people are immune that it prevents the illness from taking a foothold in the community, helping to protect everyone. There is a small chance your children are some of those who do not develop immunity post-vaccination, but it is very rare.
Also, her children are no more likely than any others to have any other illness (they are only more vulnerable to the vaccine-preventable illnesses), so you only need worry about measles, mumps, pertussis, etc., not things like colds and flus.
We all get exposed to different viruses and bacteria, the difference is how our bodies fight it off. We all are at the same risk to being exposed to different viruses and bacteria’s vaccinated or not. Vaccines are given to help the body build immunities to these different things, they are not 100% effective and they do not always work for everyone.
Her kids are not anymore of a risk to your kids then you or your husband would be. When did you get your last vaccine? And have you gotten all that they recommend now? I was born in 1970 and they only gave two at that time, I have not gotten any since I was a baby (other than tetanus).
As long as all the children (and parents) are healthy, eat well and have good hygiene then everyone will be just fine.
