Why do parents vaccinate if the child gets sick from the vaccine anyway?

Question

Why do parents vaccinate their babies?

Vaccinations were invented during the great depression when people were getting sick from close living quarters, in-adequate food, water and often went to the bathroom in the same room where they ate.

Doctors are injecting a live (but milder) virus into a newborn baby. Babies immune systems are very weak and have a hard enough time fighting off common germs not to mention the virus from the vaccine they are injecting. And why do parents vaccinate when you get the illness/disease from the vaccine itself anyway? Why not take the chance of getting it naturally or never getting the disease at all, rather than injecting it right into the blood stream!?

I am 23 and have never been vaccinated. I have never had any life threatening illness. I rarely get sick and am healthier than the next person.

Answer 1

honestly, thats what my mum has always told me, but at the same time, you cant risk not getting vaccinated just because theres a 1 in a million chance of the vaccination affecting you more so than the actual virus would if you were to catch it. Ive personally gone through a horrific experience with my nephew who last year had the Measels and mumps vaccination done. Unfortunately it all went wrong, and as doctors are never allowed to really put a blame on the vaccination as it would kill the multi billion dollar business, they said he got it from something else, but there were many cases reported which linked it to the vaccination. my nephew developed a severe case of ADEMs disease, where a virus was lodged onto the left side of his brain making him lose function of his right side..he was also slipping in and out of consciousness, and lost his speech, and the doctors told us not to expect to take him home from the hospital. We were devastated, but the chances of that happening from a vaccination were 1 in a million and he happened to be the unlucky one at that time. Had he gotten the actual virus, he may not have made it the way he did, or may have lost his hearing etc. Youre right, theyre not the best options for us, but i guess its a matter of personal choice whether you want to take the risk, coz either way youll be taking a risk but i personally would have my children vaccinated despite my mum never getting any of us vaccinated whilst growing up either. just an input =]

Answer 2

I was never vaccinated either.

When I was 6, I got Rubella, a mild enough disease if you are lucky. It left me half deaf and I now have to wear two hearing aids thanks to there being no MMR vaccine when I was a child.

I will be vaccinating all my children (in fact our youngest had one today) She has had a mild reaction to one before, but I would rather that than for her to face one of these awful diseases and their side effects.

Answer 3

because a one day fever or a sore arm is better than polio, rubella, chicken pox, the flu, measles, mumps, tetanus....am I making a point yet?

Answer 4

Well I got vaccines and I am also very healthy. I am never sick and have never been hospitalized.

I get most of the vaccines for my children. But there are a couple I have questioned and turned down.  

Answer 5

Well, where did you go to school?  When I was 14, I moved states, and they wouldn't let me start school here until I got my HepB shot.

Now, I vaccinate my kids, they never got sick from the vaccine, except for an allergic reaction, and I praise God, because if he had gotten the disease, it would have killed him.  And I want my kids to go to school, and where I live, you have to have them to go to school.  On top of that, we have so many cases of Hepatitis in my community, I would rather be safe than sorry.  And if I had a daughter, she would definitely get the HPV vaccine, as I contracted HPV as a child, and now suffer from precervical cancer, and if I could keep my daughter from the same pain I have gone through, I would do it in a second!!!!!

Answer 6

well my daughter just got her chicken pox vaccine and she did get the chicken pox but only for a couple of days and it was VERY mild.  Now i dont have to worry about it for the rest of her life

Answer 7

many parents believe they are required by law to do so. most states allow a religious exemption from vaccinations so your child can attend school. us, as children back in the 70's and 80's only recieved about 10 doses. now we are up to somewhere near 40 doses. my question is when is it enough? do we just not allow our children to ever get sick because we have a magical shot? getting vaccinated does not nessessarelly mean you wont catch the virus and not get sick. reactions to vaccines are not as rare as you may have been led to believe. if your child does not have a compromised immune system, i cant see nothing wrong with allowing it to do what it was meant to. many parents choose to selective and delay shots as many are truly not nessessary.education and research is the key into keeping our children safe and healthy.

Answer 8

You are simply a lucky person.  And vaccines do not make the baby sick.  I vaccinate my children because I love them and care about them and I don't want them to die of a preventable disease.  The vaccines help build the immune system because it is a weakened or dead strain that is injected.  A live, fully active strain is what will hurt or kill the baby.  I'd rather my child build immunity through vaccines, not getting the measles, mumps, polio or rubella.  And the vaccines are not injected into the blood stream.  They are administered in the muscle tissues.

I'd rather know my child won't die or have life long effects from a preventable disease than to just let them acquire a God knows how strong of a strain of a certain disease.  Even with the autism bit, I'd rather my children have the risk of autism than to have a dead child.  Sorry but you are severely misinformed.

Answer 9

It's quite obvious to me that you do not understand the principles of how a vaccine works.  You have been lucky and have afforded good health as everyone around you have been vaccinated, giving you a nice healthy cushion from the true effects that these diseases wreck.  

Immunity from vaccination is the same immunity, same response, as having the disease - without the illness.  You don't get the disease from the vaccine unless you are taking immune suppressants to cope with organ transplantation or you have a compromised immune system.  Babies in general do not have a compromised immune system, and their immune system is able to deal with the vaccine and thereby not dies from nice diseases like pertussis (whooping cough).  

As for naturally avoiding the disease.  Are you s**+**ing me?  WTF?  You can not naturally avoid the disease unless you live on an island without human contact!  Heck, without any contact with anything living for that manner.  There are folks in our population right now that had the disease and are still shedding either the virus or bacteria, their whole life, despite being relatively well.  They will infect you if you come into contact with them.  

Ever hear of Typhoid Mary?  She was real, she was a cook and didn't clean adequately after using the outhouse - she killed many many families with her line of work.  She had a lot of water to clean with, she lived in large homes catering to rich families - and being human she wasn't as clean as we all ought to be.  The truth is that NONE of us are isolated, we are in contact with diseases that could kill us except we were very lucky or vaccinated.  I prefer my children living and healthy from dead and dying.

Answer 10

You rarely got sick because all the people around you were vaccinated against those diseases. The live, and milder, virus gives the baby the immunity to the virus...but does not actually give them the disease.  When you give a child a rubella vaccination, they don't fall ill with rubella.  If they get sick at all, it might be a little fever from their body trying to process the virus, but then they are immune to it and will not fall ill with a life threatening disease like that.  You need to make sue you do your research before taking such a strong stance on something.  

Answer 11

I wouldn't say it makes babies or children sick to be vaccinated. In fact Whooping Cough is making a comeback in the States because so many are now choosing not to vaccinate. College kids die every year from living in close quarters and they catch meningitis.

I have 4 children and they have been vaccinated for everything. Only 1 had a reaction to the DPT vaccine at age 18 mos (allergy to an ingredient) - so we haven't given her that same shot again. My children are extremely healthy and I can sleep at night knowing they will never contract polio, diptheria, meningitis, HPV, Hepatitis, tetnus, etc...

I would never NOT vaccinate - that would be irresponsible parenting.

Answer 12

My kids' have been vaccinated and they have never gotten sick from it. I would rather have them vaccinated then to have them die of a deadly disease.  

Answer 13

And you were raised here in the States?

How did u go to school without vaccines?

I think thats why disease thought to be "gone" have popped up again.

Answer 14

Just be ready to deal with your decisions. When there are out breaks, you need to be responsible and exclude yourself from being around people. You ALSO should be aware that some of your friends who have babies may decide for you not to come near them until they have received their updates...

Wouldn't you feel bad if you infected an infant with whooping cough... ever seen it? Google it. The babies can't breathe or eat or drink anything because they cough non-stop. They die.

Make that decision, but don't be insulted when your decision comes back to bite you in the butt.

FYI: my daughter has never had a problem with her shots.  

Answer 15

i really don't know, because i have only had one vaccine in my life, and that was when i went to the hospital cause a got a toothpick in my foot (n inch and a half in!) and i have never had one when i was a baby, or like anytime!

Answer 16

You don't get the illness from the vaccine; that's the whole point.  Many vaccines are inactive/dead viruses, and the rest are so weakened that while your system is exposed and can develop immunity, you don't actually get sick.  Look up some statistics -- you'll find that though a tiny percentage (and I mean tiny) are allergic to certain vaccines and can have serious reactions, the vast (and I mean vast) majority of people who get a vaccine suffer no adverse effects at all.  If you get an illness from exposure to the illness, rather than the vaccine, you're much more likely to suffer serious or even life-threatening adverse effects.  Yes, your chances of dying from measles are low.  Your chances of dying from a measles vaccine are far, far lower.  The benefits ultimately outweigh the risks.  It's great that you've avoided exposure to things that vaccines are for.  With world travel common, you're taking a risk, though, that many parents do not want to take with their kids.

Answer 17

The "I am 23 and have never been vaccinated. I have never had any life threatening illness." is a silly argument.

The reason you didn't get sick is that the rest of us were vaccinated so there was nobody carrying the measles, rubella, chicken pox... etc.

I bet you would have gotten sick if you lived in Africa, Asia or South America.

Answer 18

Because they're brainwashed by liberals, who believe in PC vaccines for everything imaginable, when many of those conditions could be prevented by moral behavior.

This is why we must not fund research for a vaccine that will cure AIDS when a moral cure exists. They're never going to find such a vaccine, anyway, those eggheads.

This is not to say that people shouldn't get basic vaccines, but not the vast mulititude beyond that.

Answer 19

Most parents don't know they have a choice.  They think vaccines are required for school or daycare. But they are not required--there are exemptions.

http://mothering.com/discussions/showthr...

Most parents are scared because of what their doctors and the media tell them.  Most don't bother to do more than a tiny bit of research.

Answer 20

Because IF you do get the virus after being vaccinated it is much milder than the full blown version if you hadn't been vaccinated. If vaccinations didn't matter then we would see plagues of deadly viruses going around.  They might get a little fever and soreness but it's way better than dying from Polio.

Answer 21

I'm not a huge believer in constantly vaccinating kids.  I think taking the kids to doctors for every little thing is a bad idea.  Like if a kid gets a cold, fever, whatever, let their body fight it off and don't see a doctor unless it's over a certain period of time.  Cold medicines do not cure colds anyway.  They only minimize the symptoms.  The parents can do a lot by making sure their kids eat wholesome foods.  Not the stuff bought at a store, but stuff they either grow themselves or get from a farmer's market type place.  The fruits and veggies bought from grocery stores really are nutritionally void and have been gased.

As for the flu shot, that is total c**p.  I think a lot of people think they are going to avoid a cold that way, only to find out they are the ones getting the worst of it.  I have never gotten a flu shot, and never will.  In most cases it's not even the right strain of flu they are injected with, anyway.

I got the chicken pox, or so mom said, but really wasn't affected by it.  Not the vaccine, but the chicken pox itself.  Some things you really don't need to be vaccinated against.

Edit: I will say I get my dog vaccinated every year.  She has never gotten any of the diseases that other dogs get that aren't vaccinated.  People say a dog can't get parvo if it's over a year old.  Total c**p.  Those are the ones who's 4 yr old dogs are getting it and dying from it.  All four of my dogs had vaccinations every year and never had a problem, unlike those dogs who didn't get vaccinated.

Edit: To the thumbs down person.  I didn't say I was against childhood vaccinations.  I said I was against vaccinating against every little thing, like the flu.  I'm not a big believer in running to the doctor for every little thing.  I believe in letting the body heal itself and not using artificial means as much as possible.

I am very much against the government deciding what families should and shouldn't do for medical care for their kids.  

The teen below has went through chemo once, only for the cancer to come back.  He decided to do a more natural form of healing, and his parents are backing him up.  His parents were taken to court due to medical neglect.  The teen was supposed to be removed from their custody and forced to undergo chemo again.  Last I heard, a judge overruled that.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006...

Now, please tell me why parents should be forced to do something they don't agree with?

http://www.angelfire.com/az/sthurston/ab...

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/06/cherrix-...

Answer 22

My girl have both been vaccinated and have never had any reactions, let alone illnesses.  I have a good friend who contracted rubella when she was pregnant.  Her child had to be delivered at 27 weeks and has severe disabilities because of it.   I don't think it's worth the chance to not vaccinate, I would never want my girls to go through anything like that.   I  also agree with the other posters, if most people in this country were not vaccinated there would be more illnesses.  

Answer 23

the reason you haven't had any major diseases is because so many other people DO vacinate. Do some research because most of what you stated is untrue. I have 4 kids who have all been vaccinated and none of them have ever been sick from a vaccine. I hope you will do some research and base your own opinion on that rather than what your parents have led you to believe.

EDIT: I'd also like to add that my younger half sister is deaf because my step mother was never vaccinated as a child and when she was 3 months pregnant she had the german Measels (Ruebella) and this affected the development of my sisters hearing and she was born deaf. If my step mother had been vaccinated then my sister would not be deaf.

Answer 24

I vaccinated my children due to their doctors recommendations, state law and public school.  The issue is that in the United States most of the immunizations that the children get are for illnesses that we no longer see here but they do exist in other countries.  Sanitation issues like you stated were a major cause of spreading illness, but not all communities in the US have sewers believe it or not. I personally felt that the risk involved with the immunization were minimal compared to the disease they could have contracted. One of my children did get measles and couldn't receive their vaccination for it when due because they had already gotten the disease, how he got it was a mystery, he had been in a nursing home, around three people who never got vaccines, and one child who had just received their MMR.

Normally the only side effect to an immunization is a slight fever and soreness in the injection site.  I know there is now studies going on to see if Autism is caused from immunizations, I can say if I would of had that listed as a possible side effect I might have signed paper to refuse but that is not explained to parents, you are pretty much told you have to immunize your child or they can't go to school.

Sounds like you had parents that were well informed and most likely did not feed you prossessed foods, We have several people in our area who do not vaccinate their children, homeschool, and feed their families only organic raised foods.  I have a world of respect for them and what they have accomplished with their children.  But most people are very trusting of the medical community and the education system.

Answer 25

you rarely get sick with any of these diseases because the rest of us are smart enough to vaccinate our kids for them, and keep them down.  sure most of these diseases have been all but wiped out in this country, BECAUSE WE VACCINATE. as far as im concerned kids should NOT be allowed to go to school without vaccines, (they cant here, waiver or not)  millions upon millions of  kids get these shots every year, you can count the number on one hand that have any adverse effects, and those are due to allergies, not the vaccine itself. so we will keep getting our kids vaccinated so YOU can stay healthy since you choose not to protect yourself.

Answer 26

For one the virus they inject are not always live.  You do not get the illness or disease from the vaccination. My kids have been vaccinated for Polio and they didn't get Polio. You don't know what you are talking about.

The more parents that take on this attitude the more we are going to see diseases coming back that we had thought we had gotten rid of.

Modern medicine is a good thing and sorry but I am not taking chances with my kids' lives and health when there is a vaccine that has been around 50 years that I have the option of giving my child. I am not going to wait and just see if they get it naturally.

You must not have gone to public school or you didn't get vaccinated for religious reasons if you did attend public school, because in order to attend public school you have to have had your shots. Or maybe you just have lazy ignorant parents. Either way, just because you are healthy isn't because you weren't vaccinated.

Answer 27

You must of have been vaccinated because in order to attend school a child must have their required vacines.

Answer 28

Most kids do not get sick from the vaccines.   Mine were fine. Some schools demand to see Vaccination Certificate before allowing kid in. Glad you are in good health, of course most of the people round you will have been vaccinated and that will be a buffer for you.

Answer 29

You should really do some research on this - you are at great risk for contracting childhood illnesses even as an adult. While the incidence of diseases such a polio, whooping cough, etc. are much lower in the U.S. (because of widespread vaccinations), these diseases do exist elsewhere and can be easily spread as people travel.

I've had my son vaccinated according to the AAP's schedule, and he hasn't had a single reaction to any of them - reactions are RARE. The risk that is taken by parents who choose not to vaccinate it much higher than the risk of some kind of a reaction.