Vaccinations Yes or No and at what age?

Question

I know that this is an on-going discussion, however I am just curious to know what parents really think. I realize that parents that have had children with no reactions are for vaccinations and parents that have had children with reactions are against vaccinations. Are all vaccinations necessary? What about Chicken pox vaccinations. I never had them when I was a child and got chicken pox, lived through it no problem. Stuff like that. Does vaccinations cause Autism in some children? Why is it that we cannot give everyone penicillin because of the reaction but we can give everyone the same vaccination? What about starting vaccinations at a later age like 2 when they are stronger. Opinions?

Answer 1

I wholeheartedly believe in vaccinating children especially because when we don't it causes outbreaks of very dangerous and deadly diseases.  Right now where I am there have been huge outbreaks of measles and people (including infants) have died from it.  Vaccinations are also great because you don't have to see your child suffer through the disease that could have been prevented.  It has not been proven that vaccinations cause autism.  I have actually seen twins that one has autism and one does not and the parents gave both vaccinations.  If you want to give your child vaccinations on a different schedule just talk to the dr. and get their opinion.

Answer 2

I vaccinate, because the majority have been helped from them. I believe doing it young keeps our babies from dying from simple diseases like they did in the old days. It was rare to have the majority of your children live back in the 17-1800's in large cities, you might have half and half. But i do not approve of getting vaccinated for things that aren't diseases, like cervical cancer...I don't believe thats something you can just *catch*.  Study up on them before you go in, and make sure that if it isnt state required, you find out why, and if you really even need it. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Penicillin is used to treat infections/illnesses. A vaccination is a virus that makes our bodies produce antibodies so we can't get the illness.

Penicillin isn't handed out for every illness because it isn't necessary.

Vaccinations are started early in life so a child doesn't have the possibility of catching the virus. An infant or toddler immune system is much weaker then an older child so if they caught measles, diphtheria, polio, etc, it would be harder for them to survive.

Also at the age of 2 a child would start to fear the doctors if they had to go every couple of months for a shot.

For the people who decided to not vaccinate I wonder if they are aware that the diseases are still out there. For instance this is an article about Africa - their death rate has dropped  90% since starting a vaccination campaign. This article is soley related just to measles. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/30/a...

Edit - The MMR vaccination does not contain mercury. And does not cause Autism. Mercury was taken out prior to 2001 yet there are still just as many cases of Autism. So please educate yourself.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles...

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concern...

Edit - Autism is not an illness that is diagnosed by a test. There is no way a child diagnosed with autism is perfect one minute then an hour later shows all signs of autism. Austism is noticed when child start to miss or decline in milestones. This doesn't happen one night.

Cervical Cancer - your right you can't catch cancer but the part that you are not understanding is that someone who has certain strains of HPV have a very high chance of getting cervical cancer. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. So by vaccinating yourself against HPV you greatly reduce your risk of gettting cervical cancer.

Answer 4

No, vaccinations do not cause autism.  Correlation does not equal causation.  They have never been proven in twenty years of study to cause autism.  

The same vaccine cannot be given to everyone.  If the child is allergic to eggs, then they usually find another vaccine for the child.  We can give everyone penicillin - it is just that a few are allergic.  Allergies do not equal autism either.

When the child is 2, they may have already contracted whooping cough, polio or a slew of horrible diseases.  Children before the age of 2 cannot communicate effectively, therefore the child may even die because it took doctors too long to diagnose.

Answer 5

Ask your doctor what his opinion is of the various ones.  Ask him if HE has HIS children vaccinated for the diseases that he is asking you to get your children vaccinated for.

Answer 6

the reason for vaccinations is that they are required. If your child is not going to a daycare and will not be around any sick people (which is not very likely because we all get sick sometime) then you don't need to vaccinate right away. However, its always best to follow the timelines for vaccinations. If you're scared of them, the best thing to do is to tell your doctor to separate the vaccinations so that your baby doesn't get so many at one time (that's usually what causes the side effects). As for autism, vaccinations are not a CAUSE, but there is a LINK. It hasn't been proven yet, but I know a few parents with children who were perfectly normal and then received their 1 year vaccinations (when they give the MMR shot) and found out that night that their child would never be the same. I believe its best to separate the shots, especially the MMR shot because it contains mercury or lead (not quite sure which one) and has been the most likely link to autism charactersitics.  

Answer 7

They made the vaccines for a reason. All 3 of my girls have had their shots on time more or less 2,4,6,12 and 18 months. Some reactions were worse than others. My youngest daughters first shot was HORRIBLE. She was not the same baby for 6 weeks. I would much rather take the small chance of something going wrong with the vaccine than her getting polio. If there is a known allergy, say to eggs or bee stings, then the health unit will give them a different vaccine that should be safer.

A friend of mine has chosen not to vaccinate her daughter untill she's at least a year old and that poor baby has already gotten the measles and a couple other really nasty illnesses in her 8 months here. That poor girl was so red and swollen and itchy and miserable. The 2 seconds it takes to get the shot and minute or 2 to calm baby down would have been a lot easier than going through what they all went through.

As for chicken pox, you don't have to get it although it is a good idea. There have been many case of the bumps going down the throat and closing airways off. Not everyone gets them the same. I had them and was fine, no lasting damage. My sister had them everywhere, it took a long time for them to go away, will have scars for the rest of her life because of them. My grandfather had to be hospitalized when he got them.  

Answer 8

For all those that said vax's dont cause autism. Look it up. A case was just won against the vax companies because it was proven that vaxes gave a little girl autism.

BTW if your child dies from vaccines, the govt will pay you 250k.

Answer 9

well if you plan to send your child to school..they are REQUIRED

and no, there is NOT enough proof for the autism connection..

If it were, it would be published in the scienfic communtiy peer review publications..IT ISN"T!

Answer 10

Vaccines are important because they provide a sort of blanket immunity. That way kids that are too weak or whatever to get vaccines are still generally protected from them. My daughter will receive all of the vaccines that I got when I was a baby which is all of them except for Chicken Pox because we think that kids still need to get sick with things that won't kill them. I would rather have Leyna alive and autistic than dead from a disease that I could have saved her from. That's just me, though. I know that if she got autism from a vaccine, I would probably say something different but being a parent means guessing what you think is right.

Answer 11

I am neither for or against vaccinations.  It is a very personal decision that a parent can make.  I only ask that parents go in to get their child vaccinated, if that is what they choose to do, INFORMED!...  Many parents are not informed (I know because I used to be that parent, and I have had many friends who used to be that un-informed parent as well), and this is very scary!  

Government leaflets about the vaccines your child will receive is not considered being 'informed'.  The leaflets provide biased information and not enough information on the actual vaccine your child may be receiving.  

A great website on information about vaccines is from 'whale.to'.  Here is the link:

http://www.whale.to/

We do not vaccinate.  And this is not solely because of my sons bad reaction.  However, it was my son reaction to his first lot of vaccinations that made me question vaccination for our family.  It caused me to educate myself on vaccines - Basic things like their ingredients and studies done with them, etc.  I then became the 'informed' parent.  I have many friends who blindly go into get their child vaccinated and they do not know a single ingredient in the vaccine they just let their child have...yet may know the basic ingredients in the food they give to their child.  I find this shocking.  

I am now going to copy and past what I have already put in my Blog - to save me having to type it all over again! hehe

We do not vaccinte. There are many reasons that went into this decision that I am about to go over but I first want to make it clear that this is our choice - it was an informed choice and it is what is right for our family. I am not 'anti-vaccine'. It is not my place to judge you for your choice. And you have the right to make your own choices.

Here is our story:

My DS has his first jabs at 3 months (not at 2 months simply because we were out of town the day they booked it and they couldnt get us in any earlier than that). This is the current UK vaccine schedule.

Our next child, when that times comes, will not be recieving any vaccines. I regret getting my son vaccinated (for the few that he has had), but as a parent who lives and learnes - I move on with greater knowledge and confidence in myself and my abilities.

I will start off by saying I blindly went in to get my son vaccinated. He was booked in like any other baby and I did not question it. I was given a leaflet on what the vaccines were for and what common side effects they could cause - which I read, but that was it. I have no doubt that this is what many parents do. Looking back now, I know this is not truely being 'informed'. I never bring up vaccines among my friends - its something we just dont talk about as there is no need for this sort of debating among friends (as well as many other ways we choose to 'parent')... But they have come up from time to time and my choices have been critisised and questions. I simply ask them to name only one ingredient in a single vaccine that they have let their child have...they can not name one. This is scary. So the first thing that led me to research more and actually question vaccination - instead of just blindly following - was this. The 'hey wait a mintue...' moment I suddenly had!...(the moment I acutally did start to wonder and question). I wonder how many parents, especially first time mums who have done the same as me - just went along with the flow. And I also wonder how many parents go along with the flow, against their gut instincts, simply to avoid the fear of being different. I have just got used to being different.

A few hours (after his first jab) later that day and the next, my son started screaming. It was an eerie high pitched horrible scream I have never heard from him. There was nothing I could do - and I tried it all. This was coming from a very calm, chilled, content and placid little boy. It was scary - I was scared. The scream was caused by swelling of the brain which was caused by the vax (particluarly the DTaP part) - and is known by the name of "encephalitic cry." (similar to encephalitis - but not necessairly the same thing) This also led me to research more and learn more. Sometimes this can cause notiable permanent damage. Sometimes the damage is not noticeable right away - or is not necessairly something you can for sure pin point was caused by the vaccine - Like ADD/ADHD - or SPD/SIP. My son has SPD/SIP (sensory processing/input disorder)... Maybe it was caused by this vaccine and maybe it wasnt - I will never know and millions of parents may never know.

Another reason why we do not vaccinate is because of the ingredients in vaccines. There are many nasty things, that have no safe level in a human body, that I simply do not desire to be in my own sons body. These ingredients in vaccines are poisons. This list is long and ranges from formaldehyde, antifreeze, aluminium, thimerosol, methanol, etc... The side effects of these and the potential da

Answer 12

vac's don't cause autism

give them when you GP recommends

here's an idea , doctors have been working on vac's for hundreds yes HUNDRED of years to avoid whole generations being wiped out have found out that vac's can stop this.

so a few parents who have done a little bit of research on the internet and think they know the ins and outs of this very long studied science doesn't hold much weight with me.

of course there are risks but for me they are deeply outweighed by the though of my child dying of some terrible illness which can be totally avoidable with a little jab.

also children who aren't vaccinated leave links open for new strains of disease to mutate and this leaves the vaccinated children open to the new forms of these diseases instead of just eradicating things like TB which was eradicated for many years now we have it reappearing in the uk because of ignorant parents and none vaccinated immagrants.

Answer 13

I think that vaccinations must be decided on an individual basis, depending on the child.

Answer 14

I choose not to vaccinate my children. My first, now 4, is vaccinated to 2 years, something I do regret but luckily he had no ill effects. My second, now 18 months, is completely vaccine free, as will be my future children.

I made this decision after much research, and my decision has nothing to do with the Autism theory(which I myself am not even fully convinced in). There is a lot more to concern over vaccinations than the Autism theory.

These are a few reasons I do not vaccinate:

A person would not normally contract 5 diseases at one time naturally, yet at 2, 4 and 6 mth. visits a baby is injected with five vaccines.

There is no proof that vaccines are responsible for the decline in certain diseases - improved sanitation, medical care and less crowding may also have contributed to the decline in certain diseases. Most diseases decreased by over 95% BEFORE the introduction of vaccines.

By vaccinating children, many cases of certain diseases (ex. measles, chicken pox) have now shifted to the adult population where the disease is often more serious and debilitating.

Vaccines have not been tested for any possible carcinogenic (cancer causing), teratogenic (gene altering) effects or their effects on the reproductive system (it says this right in the product inserts from the manufacturers).

Vaccines are not 100% effective so the child can still get the disease even if they are vaccinated and a child can actually get a disease sometimes from the vaccine if it is a live vaccine.

After researching many of the diseases(like measles, mumps and polio), I found they are not as scary as the media hyped them to be, especially for a healthy immune system. Example: Polio is 90% asymptomatic.

The same amount of vaccine that is given to a 4 yr. old is given to an 18 mth. old and a 2 mth. old, etc.

I beleive the chance of dying or getting a serious side effect from the actual disease is much less than the chance of dying or getting an adverse reaction from the vaccine. The dieseases are not dangerous or deadly in most people.

I believe that injecting my children with things such as formaldehyde, mercury (trace amounts), aluminium, paint thinner, coolant, anti-freeze, detergent phenols, MSG, plus dead animal tissue, aborted fetus tissue, mutated human and animal viruses, bacteria, antibiotics and animal, bacterial and viral DNA, is not particularly a good idea.

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I believe that every parent should research immunzations for themselves before they have them administered to their children. Research apart from their pediatrician. Pick a vaccine, research as much as you can about it and its respective disease. Then decide whether you want it given to your child or not. Biased information is hard to come by. Even the CDC has something to gain and lose from vaccines.

Http://www.nvic.org and "What Your Dr May Not Tell You About Childhood Vaccinations" by Stephanie Cave are good resources.

It is important to remember that vaccinations are not an all or nothing deal, you can pick and choose. It is also important to note that, while you can always go back and have them administered later if you choose, you can never take back what has already been given.

And children can go to school and daycare without vaccinations. All states offer medical exemptions, all but 2 offer religious, and many offer philosophical exemptions

**There have been NO deaths caused by the measles outbreak!! Seriously people, do you research before you talk junk!

Answer 15

I believe that vaccinations are necessary and I have given them to all my children who by the way are smart and healthy now...BUT that being said I dont know if I would think the same way if , god  forbid, one of my children did develop autism. I dont think there is enough evidence now though for people to say that vaccines cause autism but I do think alot more research should be done on the safety of giving so many at one time (that is the one issue I had with it) Before vaccines though millions of people were dying of all kinds of various diseases so I think they ARE necessary and I would never risk not vaccinating my children and then sending them on to school and put everyone else at risk also. It is a big debate and I look foward to hearing what other people have to say.

Answer 16

yes and at the ages the doctors recommend. my daughter as had all of her vaccinations apart from the MMR vaccine <still not too sure about it and i haven't received a vaccination date yet anyway> and she is really healthy, the most she's ever got is a cold and a tummy bug. <i'm in the uk btw>

there's a chicken pox vaccination??? wow. i got chicken pox 3 times and it almost killed me and almost blinded me as i got them in my throat and under my eye lids. my brother got shingles from chicken pox, it never leaves you and anything like chicken pox etc could kill him so it really is a vaccine worth having

my daughter is 15 months btw

Answer 17

Some diseases that we get vaccinations against are deadly diseases and can kill children.  There is very good reason to get vaccinations.  And if a child gets chicken pox that child can spread it to other children, unvaccinated adults and pregnant women.  Some people say vaccinations cause autism, but there is no definitive proof.  Children need vaccinations before two because they are exposed to germs before 2.  Before vaccinations and in countries that don't vaccinate the death rate in children is way higher than in countries that do vaccinate.