One thing my sister and I have in common is that we can have pretty strong opinions about things. Sometimes Chris will have to tell me to tone it down when I'm on a rant. In my defense, I'm pretty choosy about who I share my opinions with because I don't want to offend someone and I would hate to hurt someone's feelings.
One issue that I don't have a strong opinion on is vaccinations. Since everything with Cam surfaced, I started to rethink vaccinations. While he isn't autistic (and there is much controversy linking the two), I still have found myself rethinking them and wanting to find out more about them. I'm reading a book which is anti any vaccine. Seems pretty extreme, but here are a few points that are made:
*Medical studies estimate that vaccines are responsible for 2/3 of all SIDS deaths
*There is no evidence that any disease has been eliminated by vaccines (despite propaganda claiming there has been). Diseases have declined for other reasons, previous to the vaccinations.
*Vaccinations for relatively harmless diseases (such as measles/mumps) prevent a child's immune system from developing enough to where they could later fight more serious diseases
I could go on with these arguments, but the confusing part to me is all the "research" I've also read that makes opposite claims. I've read research that says that vaccinations are necessary for our population to remain free from serious illnesses and have been responsible for the decline of such diseases as polio. If both sides have convincing research and their own set of "statistics", who are we supposed to believe (sigh)?
8 comments:
Kelly,
I love your blog and the wide range of topics you bring up for discussion.
Please allow me to try to put in my two cents without getting angry at the author of this book you describe.
I don't even know where to begin, except to say vaccines do work.
Some examples:
Polio- In 1916 6000 people were killed and 27000 paralyzed in the U.S. alone. Vaccination started in 1955, when the U.S. had about 20000 cases per year. By 1960 that number dropped to 3000, and by 1979 there were only 10 cases in the U.S. It is eradicated in the western hemisphere today. Does anyone out there think this happened because the virus just decided, "Hey, I don't feel like being virulent anymore, so i will just quit replicating and phase myself out." No.
I could keep writing, but this is already too long.
I will leave you all with this- they wouldn't have had to put Old Yeller down if he would have been vaccinated for Rabies.
Yes,I have to agree with Ross. When they say the diseases declined for other reasons, do you remember what the other reasons were? I do wonder, however, if every single vaccination available is necessary. And I would be for spreading them out more...not giving a baby several in one day.
After the last few months with Cameron, I do feel confused about the possible link between autism & vaccinations. And the uncertainty is not a comfortable feeling.
Hey Kelly, I enjoy all your different topics too - though I rarely comment. I am reading The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears right now. He is unbiased and presents both sides of each vaccine. He does give his opinion, though. I vaccinated both boys normally, but with Violet I'm going to follow a more alternative schedule. In this book, Dr. Sears does talk about the fact that kids with autism have the measles virus in their intestinal tract. Their siblings who also got the vaccines do not have it in their intestinal tract. Interesting. I could go on...but I better stop before this is a blog in itself :-)
carrie
You are right, it is so hard to know what the right thing to do because there are so many passionate people on both sides of the topic. I go back and forth on how I feel about it. And even now, as I'm pregnant with #3, I'm not sure if I will do vaccines or not. My first two have some, but not all of them. My doctor is very supportive either way and basically told me what ones he didn't think are completely necessary. I also only allow 2 to be done in a sitting... sometimes they want to do 4 or 5! I think I'll read the Dr. Sears book that Carrie mentioned. Let us know if you come to any conclusions. :)
Hi Kelly, this is Susan's friend Heather. This is a hard one... I'm doing Abby's the normal way, but I see your concern. What concerns me most, though, is that many parents are not vaccinating and they may be exposing my unvaccinated (due to age) daughter to some horrible diseases every time I drop her off at nursery, childcare etc. Eventually Abby will be vaccinated, but I know there are a number of medical issues that prevent certain children from ever being vaccinated. The parents of those children rely on the rest of us vaccinating our kids so that their kid doesn't get sick -- and with their medical issues a normally "harmless" disease could be life threatening. Just another angle to think about.
my sister-in-law isn't vaccinating my niece so I've given it a lot of thought over the last year. I guess I feel like the Lord has a plan regardless of our choices to vaccinate or not... if it's meant to be, it will be. oh, and my cousin who is a physician's assistant just had to do catch up immunizations before a 4 year old started kindergarten and she said it was a miserable experience because at that age, they REMEMBER! : ) it sure is an interesting topic, though...some people have incredibly strong opinions about it and can be quite aggressive!
Hi Kelly,
I do remember you. Didn't we work at Manhattan bagel together for a little while? I think I also ran into you at Coldstone in Beaumont last summer. It's fun to catch up on your life. Your son is really cute :)
Kelly - I'm glad that you brought this up as I'm particularly interested in the opinions of those where this issue has hit a little "closer to home". I haven't done much research, but I'm also confused by what each side of this issue claims as truth and how passionate they are about it. We are doing Aaron's vaccination on the normal schedule and our reason for this is largely due to our pediatrician - When Aaron was first born, we asked him what his thoughts were on this issue were and his answer was very interesting. He told us that his youngest daughter is severely autistic (his other children are not) so he is very passionate about finding answers about this disease and reads everything he can on it. He feels very strongly that it is still in the child's best interest to vaccinate normally and in the meantime, he feels that scientists are very close to finding some very important answers regarding autism (he felt we will know so much more in the next 2-3 years). Of course, this is yet another "opinion" but it is one that we have found comforting in our decision... I guess everyone has to decide what is best for their own children and trust God with whatever outcome prevails. =) Thanks again for opening this up....
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