Why Don't You Vaccinate?

I believe "autism" has been around for a LOT longer than vaccines. We just didnt call it that back 100 years ago, kids that had "problems" were institutionalized or left in a holding device all day at home until they finally perished.
So, I don't believe vaccinations are a link to autism. I believe they are a modern miracle that saves lives.

My oldest has some severe reactions to the recommended schedule, so we changed that schedule for my other kids. I only allow one multivalent shot at each visit, and didn't start vaccinating until after they were one year to 18 months old or later, each one is different. All of them have had the chicken pox disease. I did not allow the Hep B vaccine in my younger three children, they can receive it when they become sexually active if they choose. Giving a newborn, born into a stable clean home, an unnecessary vaccine "just in case" is bad medicine, as the risks at that point outweigh the benefits. I agree that many of these diseases are not lethal and many of them provide a life long immunity if contracted, Hep A is like that, so that's another they won't get.

We are lucky that in PA they allow for a philosophical/religious, and medical exemptions for school. I've never had a problem enrolling them, and the philosophical exemption allows me to alter the schedule and omit whatever vaccines I decide are a greater risk than a benefit. I am not anti-vaccine, I think that is oversimplifying a complicated and multifaceted issue, but I do think babies are vaccinated too young and there are too many shots given at once. I chose a more conservative approach.

Multiple reasons. I'm not writing to change your mind or anyone else's. We all take responsibility for our decisions - either way. I'm simply answering your question. We can agree to disagree.

First, my generation went from getting 10 vaccines to this generation getting 84, if all recommendation vaccines are done. This generation has so many more problems than my generation. I'm sure it's not just vaccines, but it's probably a cumulative effect. It seems like a mighty big jump to me.

Second, these diseases are not usually life threatening. Sure people die from them, but people die from vaccines, just check out the direct link with the Gardasil (HPV) vaccine and deaths that have been proven.

Third, most of these vaccines have not been studying for long term damage. The HPV vaccine was only studied for 2 years before "approval". What about infertility or cervical cancer 5, 10, 20 years down the road. We have no idea.

Fourth, most of the diseases are not killers for the average person and each disease strengthens the immune system. I never knew of anyone who died from chicken pox. We all got them. Now these kids will have an increase in adult death when it's contracted because that vaccine wanes after a few years and it's not the same time frame in every person, so the potential protection is not there. It gives the persona false sense of security. My kids got chicken pox and now I don't have to worry about them.

I educated myself on how each disease is contracted, if it's viral or bacterial and what the traditional means of getting rid of it is, as well as alternative - just so I have options. I know what the symptoms are and the incubation period is. I believe my kids are worth at least that much to educate myself on this subject, rather than blindly believing.

FDA approval is NOT necessarily a good thing. If you don't think there are pharmaceutical companies and our representatives sleeping together, you are not on this planet. Check out this timeline for Monstanto getting aspartame approved as a food additive. This is one of many FDA approval favors.

http://www.rense.com/general33/legal.htm

Now saying all of that, I WANT my kids to get these diseases. My oldest has had measles, rubella, influenza, chicken pox, hand foot mouth disease, and numerous bacterial "infections". We feed them whole foods, give them only water (no soda and rarely juice), go to bed on time and rarely any sugar. I'm upset that everyone is so vaccinated that their immune systems don't get a chance to be stimulated as much as I'd like. (I have a few degrees and one that required immunology, public health and microbiology. I've grown strep, etc in a micro lab.) We've also never used an antibiotics or any other drug, even in childbirth. There is a time and place for them, but we choose to stay healthy and manage our bodies naturally. I'm 37 and have never had an antibiotic or any other drug. I've had measles, mumps, influenza, strep, staph, rubella during a pregnancy, chicken pox, and probably a few more that were not diagnosed.

Fifth, there is a natural rise in whooping cough every 3-5 years and 80% of the people who contract it are up to date on their vaccines. This last "epidemic" in California killed 10. So, in 2010, 9,143 cases of pertussis were reported throughout ALL of California. I've done the math before, looking at the population of California and the deaths involved. I don't have time to do it right now, since I have to run off to work....but it was something like whooping cough deaths involved .###-###-####%. More people die in car accidents in the same time period, which could have been prevented if people would pay better attention. 10 people last year died from choking on ball point pen caps. (I have comments about that, but will keep it to myself.)

Did vaccines really get rid of disease?
Deaths from measles, pertussis, scarlet fever and other communicable diseases of childhood were mostly gone before vaccination. You may be surprised but two centuries of official statistics reveal that
while it is true that in the 19th and early 20th centuries childhood diseases caused great numbers of deaths, around the time of the 2nd World War and every year thereafter deaths continued to drop and drop. What lowered the death rate if it wasn't vaccines? Improved standards of living, cleaner water, better food, better sanitation and better plumbing improved the health and immune systems of children (and adults).

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/graphs/

Also, my dad had a reaction to a vaccine when he was 3 and it was bad. He never got another vaccine until he was in the military. My mom went into anaphylaxis following a tetnus shot. I was never vaccinated due to this and as you already read, got so many diseases...and I'm better off for it. I'm around sick people ALL day and I never get sick. It's all about choices.

We DO vaccinate, so I can't tell you why others don't.

But I can't help but wonder how much healthier kids would be, overall, if parents were as adamant about keeping crappy food (processed crud) OUT of their kids bodies, as they are about keeping tiny traces of additives in a vaccine!

There is NO factual research that vaccines are harmful.

After the last ten years can you blame parents for not trusting government recommendations? Can you blame parents for not trusting their peds when the peds have very little incentive to recommend AGAINST a vaccine, and plenty of incentive to push them (insurance companies and liability concerns, hello?). Neither doctors, nor pharmaceutical companies, have liability when it comes to vaccines. There is a $2 billion compensation fund, created from a tax on each and every pediatric vaccine, to pay for injuries - which can and do occur (hence the $2 billion). How safe would our cars be if the manufacturers didn't have to worry about liability (Ford Pinto anyone?).

Can you blame parents when we compare our vaccine schedule to our children's?

My kids had all their early childhood vaccinations. My most aggressively vaccinated kid (HepB series started before he left the hospital) has been my SICKEST kid. He struggled to breast feed. He has 41+ food allergies. We have spent thousands of $$$ (not covered by insurance), and man hours, bringing this child back from a plethora of problems. And guess what - he's HEALTHY! FINALLY! Even my pediatrician comments on it. And it's no thanks to him (and he knows it).

For YEARS, my mainstream, board-certified ped told me to wait on the meningitis vaccine until my oldest son went to college. Same with the flu. When the recommendations changed a few years ago, suddenly I'm supposed to jab my immune-challenged 12-year old with it (and the flu every year)! And he will STILL need it before he goes to college!

It is my non-medical OPINION that modern medicine has barely scratched the surface on how and why our immune, endocrine and neurological systems operate the way they do. We have little idea why some children are genetically more vulnerable to complications than others. We have little idea of what the entire vaccine schedule, in its totality, does to long-term health outcomes. We know, for a fact, that more and more of our children have asthma, adhd, allergies and autism. Have we traded one set of problems for another?

So . . . you'll have to forgive me for not swallowing the recommendations hook, line and sinker. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. It is a damn scary world we live in, and none of these decisions are easy.

I am not a health care provider of any type and this is MY MOM OPINION BASED ON SOME HARD PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

iansvoice.org (what HepB vaccine allegedly did to one baby)

I vaccinate my son for almost everything. We do not do flu shots, however. When my son was 6 months old he got a flu shot, and for the next several weeks he had a tic where his head would randomly twitch to one side. His then-ped acted like I was being crazy to connect this to the flu shot. I switched doctors and his current ped said children can in fact have neurological reactions to vaccinations. Luckily the tic subsided. When I am asked about his allergies now I always say "flu shot" and often (but not always) get dubious looks from health providers. It is hard to stick up for my son's experience when so many nurses and doctors act like I'm insane.

I still vaccinate him for all the big stuff. But I do it with a heavy heart and a leap of faith that it is doing more good than harm. I do believe that current formulations of vaccines carry neurological risks that haven't been proven yet.

Many drugs that were once thought to be safe are now considered giant mistakes. Google DES, Benedictin, or "withdrawn drugs" and you'll see that what the FDA approves (and doctors prescribe freely) today may be on the banned list in a decade. Think about things like electroshock therapy, which was used on psychiatric patients for years and now seems inhumane (not to mention pointless). We can't just trust the FDA blindly. They investigate these drugs after a large number of people report issues -- each case is a personal story that needs to be connected to others for it to make a difference. That is why I continue to talk about my son's flu shot issue even in the face of doubts from medical professionals.

My kids get vaccinated, but they don't get every single recommended vaccine. I see no reason to vaccinate against things like chicken pox (yes, they have all had chicken pox.)
I hate it when people turn vaccinations into an all or nothing issue (I'm not accusing you of that, I'm just saying!) Like anything else in life, you assess the benefits and risks and go from there.

My son has been selectively vaccinated until one year old and none since then. He is autistic. In all honesty I do believe that the Hep B vaccination given to him without our knowledge at birth may have very well played a role in his condition. Can I prove it? No, of course not. It's just a mother's gut feeling. No, I'm not blaming vaccines for autism. My 8 year old daughter is vaccinated as far as she'll ever be unless she personally chooses to get other boosters or vaccines as an educated teen or adult. I don't fully put faith in the FDA or any gov't entity and am completely open to any and all true information regarding vaccines. I have thought twice about possibly allowing my son, now 5, to get one vaccine at a time per certain vaccines but have not come to a decision on the matter as of right now. I've always had no issue with enrolling my children in school and will always do my own research before injecting anything into either of my children.

I vaccinate but choose to skip a few. There are so many more vaccines given now and I do not believe they are all necessary. I turn down the fluoride varnish my ped offers too. The Dtap my my youngest really out of it for 4 days. He was unresponsive and wouldnt make eye contact, I was terrified by it. Needless to say he hasn't had another Dtap. My oldest can't get any live vaccine because of meds he is on. Just trying to make the right choices for our families nd based on each individual child as well.

it seems to fall into categories of who has witnessed what tragedy. of course 'most' children who are vaccinated don't have issues, or if they have them we don't recognize them as such. 'most' children who are not vaccinated don't contract the diseases for which they weren't vaccinated, but that doesn't prove anything either.
i'm not a non-vaccinator but i'm a very very cautious one. the reasons are a) my spare son, who is brilliant, went through a terrifying period of grand mal seizures when he was an infant right after his scheduled vaccinations. if you've got a family member or close friend who's been vaccine-damaged, you're naturally more cautious about it. fortunately he's okay now, but we believe that some of his lingering issues stem from this. b) so many of the shiny new vaccines are lightly tested and hugely profitable. i find that terrifying. i do not trust the FDA by a long shot to keep us apprised of good information. they were bought and paid for a long time ago.
khairete
S.

Popular opinion, beliefs, philosophies, general consensus change, morph, sometimes about face from generation to generation.

It's unlikely our children will have the EXACT SAME popular opinion on the subject of vaccines (or any OTHER topic) as we do.

It is currently popular to question the safety and validity of vaccines. Whereas in my mother's generation it was considered fool-hardy to go against anything your medical professional suggests you do. It will be interesting to see how the NEW generation, OUR kids handle the subject.

Least that's my theory! Simple sociology.

:)

I was selective about the vaccines my daughter got - MMR, DPT - you betcha.
Chicken pox - nope. She had the actual virus, and got her immunity that way.
HPV - nope. She was a teen and I gave her the option on that one and she chose no.
Flu - never. The vaccine is based on the previous flu season's virus. The virus mutates from one season to the next, si a flu shot is a waste of money and immunoglobins.

Our daughter recieved all of her childhood vaccinations. She also has Sensory Processing Disorder, a form of Autism. Not saying the Autism came from the vaccines, but when she was 7 she tested Severe for Heavy Metal Toxicity. Read the labels on the vaccines and see how many toxic metals are in the vaccines. It's a lot.

It took years of eating whole foods, organic foods, cutting down on fast food, cutting out processed food, using reverse-osmosis water, eating organic/range-fed meat, and taking lots of supplements to get our daughter to the point she is now--functioning like a normal child and finally navigating safely through social situations. I am not interested in giving her any more vaccinations, and my daughter isn't interested in taking any.

Oh, and we also discovered that both her and I have a genetic liver mutation that doesn't allow our bodies to detoxify and metabolize correctly. Therefore, based on the genetic mutation, having vaccines and taking pharma drugs are not in our best interests. We use holistic/alternative healthcare as much as we are able, and that includes supplements when appropriate. We also have a variety of food allergies and intolerances, which the supplements help with.

We do vaccinate. My daughter is 17.5 and we followed the Dr. guidelines with vaccinations with no questions.

She did get the chicken pox vaccine shortly after it came out and by the time she was 10, she did have a mild case of the pox.

The ONLY vaccine we refuse is Guardasil. It is a personal decision. My OB did not vaccinate his 3 daughters so that played a lot on our decision as well. We hold his opinions very high because he saved my life and he is a very highly respected Dr. in the community.

Also, I believe if someone is proactive and gets routine preventative care, then this vaccine is not needed. It only protects some strains of HPV, not all. However, is there is someone who never sees a Dr. for routine preventative care, it might be a good option for that person.

I don't understand why some people choose not to vaccinate. I do believe we are seeing more and more childhood diseases come back because of some people's choices.

In the end, it is a parent's choice to do what they feel is right for them.

Our family vaccinated for all of the childhood diseases. The only thing I haven't vaccinated for is the flu virus. Why? Because if you get vaccinated you have a 20% to 25% chance of getting the flu from the vaccine. If you aren't vaccinated you have a 20% to 25% chance of catching the flu. Since the odds are the same or almost the same, I'll take my chances without going to the doctor's office where he treats all kinds of germy sick people.

Good luck to you and yours.

They don't vaccinate because they think there is ingredients in there that will harm their children. Such as thimerosal, which is a mercury derivative. Which actually is no longer in childrens vaccines. And formaldehyde, which there is a tiny amount of. There are a couple of other things they are worried about.
Honestly I don't get it either, I was vaccinated when mercury and everything else was in the vaccine, and I am a very healthy 38 year old.

We don't do the hep B vaccination or the flu shot. I've talked about it many times on here before, but I have a history on both my maternal and paternal sides of poor reaction: weeks long flu-like symptoms, psuedo paralysis, difficulty breathing- such bad reactions that the booster was not recommended. I also oppose this particular vaccine because my kids are NOT in any high risk categories- they do not attend day care, they are not sexually active and they are not intravenous drug users. The hep B vaccination is not effective into the teenage years- the time when I feel my kids COULD be at risk. If they choose to live in the dorms or become sexually active, then I will re-think the vaccine, but not until then.
I think the flu shot is useless. Never had a flu shot, never had the flu. My kids have never had a flu shot, never had the flu. My stepson gets it every year, he has had the flu.
I'm not going to say I'm a "fan" of all the vaccines that are required, but I don't have enough compelling research or personal experience against them to prevent me from immunizing my kids.
More likely than not, I will not do guardisil. Its too new to the market and there isn't enough research on long term side effects.

Why not the HPV vaccines?? I don't get it, there is finally FINALLY a shot that prevents a very nasty form of cancer and your reason for not getting it for your daughters is " research"?. Research for this goes back all the way to the 1970's for goodness sake. Isn't that long enoght?? 40 + years of is a long long long time and it is long enough for me.

My son is vaccinated, though his vaccination schedule was not what is recommended. He got his first vaccination at 7 months and only got one at a time. He got them every 6 months to 1 year until he was "current". We chose this option because I had many concerns. I worked for 2.5 years doing intensive in-home therapy with autistic children. I worked with families from several different states who had all moved to this area (or were from this area) for the Autism programs. Children had varying degrees of Autism or spectrum disorders. All families who told me their stories had the SAME story, and none knew each other. All said their children developed normally until they were 18 months old. Had social skills, language, etc. At 18 months, they received a series of shots and suddenly started to regress. Loss of social skills, most lost language, etc. That sent up a bunch of red flags for me. I don't know that I believe that vaccinations in themselves caused the autism, but I question if there's genetic/environmental factors present that, combined with the vaccinations, was enough to trigger the autism. One child I worked with had his level of mercury tested at one point and tests revealed numerous times the amount of mercury in his system than was "normal" or "safe". Also, many years ago, Eli Lilly pulled mercury out of vaccinations as a preservative, but still claimed that it was safe. If they were so sure it was safe, why not leave it alone? Why pull it? Raises some more questions for me. Also, there are studies out there that say that results are inconclusive. Yes, I know there are studies that say there's no correlation, but there's some that say it's inconclusive. More questions and concerns. I don't try to push my thoughts on anyone else, and my sister chose to vaccinate her children on the normal schedule. That was up to her and her children are fine. However, I just had too many concerns and saw too many children who would never have "normal" lives and experiences because of something that happened to them when they were tiny. We chose to delay vaccines and slow them down until his brain and system could develop a little more. We were called horrible parents by many, many people for the choices my husband and I made. I do not regret the choice that my husband and I made to delay and slowly get the vaccinations for my son.

What OneandDone said.

I do get the flu shot every year. My son had the flu shot one year and I believe it disrupted his sleep in an odd way for a couple of nights. I then read in a scientific journal that one company had been using a chemical in their flu vaccine that other companies didn't, and that this company's flu vaccine had a higher rate of side reactions in infants. So my son who had the reaction will not get another flu shot. I believe the company will change how it makes the vaccine.

My daughter had a reaction to the pertessus part of the DPT when she was 8 months old. After that she recieved only the DT shot. Her younger brother showed allergies early on so they felt since his sister had the reaction it would be safer to give him just the DT instead of the DPT. The doctor's reasoning was that he had more chance of a reaction to the Pertessus then actually contracting the disease. I was comfortable with this and then when he and his wife were having their baby, he had been having trouble getting his asthma under control. After his daughter was born and he went into the doctor yet again for asthma, I told him to mention to the doctor that he never had the pertessus vac. Sure enough a new born baby and he has whooping cough. We had to contact everyone (including the hospital where his daughter was born) he had been in contact with and warn them to take antibodics. Luckly his daughter didn't contract it probably because her mother had had her DPTs. You never know. Flu shots are a must for our family with the history of asthma and lung problems. If we skipped it we would all be sick all winter long. As for the HPV virus, HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases which at one time they said more then 50% of sexually active adults carried it. That is a big risk for our children, not to get it. Chicken pox virus saves them from a miserable disease or at least lessons it. My youngest son had chicken pox at 5 months old and it was miserable. The vaccination wasn't available then but was in the works. My grandchildren recieved it and are doing great. Shingles are a secondary disease from Chicken pox and my father in law and sister in law both have had it. It is even more miserable then Chicken pox, so if the vaccination helps stop that, I am glad my grandkids won't worry about those.

Some blame vaccinations for autisum which a link hasn't been proven. Back when my husbands cousin lost a baby to SIDS there were a group of parents who contacted her and said that they feel there is a link between SIDS and vaccinations. It has been proven since there is no link between them. Parents have to decide what is best for their child and I pray that they don't regret that decision such as the family who lost their daughter. I know that had we lost our granddaughter to whooping cough because my son didn't get vaccinated for it, I would have forever felt guilty for it, even though at the time it was the best decision.