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MyHealthNewsDaily
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As cases of a disease decrease, people can start believing the risk from the vaccine is more than the threat of disease.
Vaccine scares, which lead portions of the population to forgo vaccination, could become more common as more diseases are eradicated, researchers say.
That's because, as cases of a disease decrease, people become complacent about their risk, and the threat of vaccines — whether imagined or real — seems greater than the threat of disease, said Chris Bauch, a professor in the department of mathematics and statistics at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
"High vaccine coverage is inherently unstable," Bauch said. Unless vaccination is mandatory, "I think we'll see more of this problem in the future," he said, referring to vaccine scares.
Vaccine scares are a problem because, when vaccination rates drop, preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough can make a comeback. However, there may be ways to soften the blow of these scares.
Bauch and colleagues have constructed a mathematical model to predict the course of vaccine scares, including when they will peak and how long they will last.
Such models could one day be used to test the effectiveness of public health campaigns that aim to increase vaccination rates, Bauch said. For instance, the model could determine what type of campaign will work best: one that emphasizes the safety of the vaccine, or the danger of the disease, Bauch said.
To test their model, Bauch and colleagues used real data from two vaccine scares in the United Kingdom — the whooping cough vaccine scare in the 1970s and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine scare in the 1990s.
The researchers found their model could explain the rise and fall of vaccine coverage, and could also predict the vaccine scare outcomes.
One factor crucial to the success of the model was the inclusion of social learning, meaning the way in which people learn vaccinating behaviors from one another, Bauch said.
The model explained why it took four to five years after the start of the vaccine scares for vaccine coverage to reach its minimum. If threat of disease and the perceived threat of vaccines were the only factors that played into vaccination rates, one would expect vaccine coverage to dip significantly after people heard news reports questioning the safety of the vaccines.
However, because social learning plays a role, this was not the case. Declines in vaccine coverage take time because non-vaccinating behaviors have to "spread" from parent to parent, Bauch said.
The study will be published in the April issue of the journal PLoS Computational Biology.
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Vaccine scares, which lead portions of the population to forgo vaccination, could become more common as more diseases are eradicated, researchers say.
Vaccine scares are a problem because, when vaccination rates drop, preventable diseases such as measles andwhooping cough can make a comeback.
Ok so either diseases are eradicated rendering vaccines unnecessary, or they only get reduced in terms of number of infections, they cant be both eradicated and still exist at same time. I know that diseases cant be 100% eliminated I was just pointing out a stupid contradiction in this report. My main point is dont write a report about a subject if you dont actually know what you are talking about.
dude why to people constantly troll MSNBC saying they don't have any idea what they are talking about. They are as reliable as any other major news org. Which is to say, mostly OK, but definitely flawed.
We eradicated smallpox, and are on track to wipe out other diseases. However, new diseases pop up, and we will hopefully develop new vaccines for existing diseases, like an HIV vaccine.
I have two comments...We are always led to believe that the current vaccine schedule is without any repercussions and why can't we go back to the pre-1988 vaccine schedule. Of course I am pro vaccine but we have more than quadrupled our vaccine schedule.Just an observation that vaccines trigger human immune response and our auto immunne diseases have also ballooned.
Yep, sorta reminds me of the H1N1 "shots" scare.
DSHS initially limited the folks who could receive the shots, and eventually, "threw in the garbage" thousands of expired doses, just like the 27,000,000 flu shot doses thrown away last year.
And just how much did this cost the taxpayers ?
Is it really scare tactics, or is it just plain mis-management by DSHS ?
Yeah, Mr. Obama is going to search high and low for Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in our government agencies. Time to start the "search" at DSHS.....which will be a day late and a dollar short.
What they are talking about is the tendency for people to attribute more importance to the crackpots than the prevention of disease. Pasteur was right on with cow pox and most if not all vaccines have prevented a lot of disease. Yeah, I am in the pocket of big pharma - not. I read about germ theory when I was ten and my daughter thought I was crazy when I cooked. When she entered nursing school, that changed abruptly. Now I am to blame for her intolerance of any sloppiness in food handling. She will likely live longer not having to fight the usual food borne germs though. The harder your immune system has to work, the sooner you fall prey to something you should have been able to fight. Staying healthy has a lot to do with the quality of life too. Large infections take their toll, while immunization largely prevents them. True, there are deaths associated with vaccines, more due to allergy to the growth medium than any other cause. A simple skin patch test might greatly reduce those and boost overall confidence a lot.
A country that ensures all it's citizens are vaccinated, is wasting their time if they do not control their borders. Tourist and Immigrates that have not been vaccinated, just spread the diseases...
Ask CA about their whooping cough, also known as pertussis, out-break and the demographics of the infected/deaths...
Or the USA, about why TB has not been eradicated. Obama opened the US borders to HIV/AIDS infected people...
What they mean is that a disease can be irradicated domestically but not world wide. Travellers, be they legal or not, can easily bring infections across borders before showing symptoms. For example - Polio in the US. Once very common in the 40's and 50's widespread vaccination has eradicated naturally occuring polio in the United States.
CDC-The last cases of naturally occurring paralytic polio in the United States were in 1979, when an outbreak occurred among the Amish in several Midwestern states. From 1980 through 1999, there were 162 confirmed cases of paralytic polio cases reported. Of the 162 cases, eight cases were acquired outside the United States and imported. The last imported case caused by wild poliovirus into the United States was reported in 1993. The remaining 154 cases were vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP) caused by live oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV).
A vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of poliovirus that was initially contained in OPV and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally-occurring virus. This means it can be more easily spread to others who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or oral secretions (e.g., saliva) of an infected person. These viruses may cause illness, including paralytic poliomyelitis. In 2005, a VDPV was found in the stool of an unvaccinated, immunocompromised child in the state of Minnesota. The child most likely caught the virus through contact in the community with someone who received live oral vaccine in another country 2 months prior. Subsequently, seven other unvaccinated children in the the child’s community were shown to have poliovirus infection. None of the infected children had paralysis. For more information specifically related to this case visit (exit) In 2009, an immunoncompromised adult developed vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP) and died of polio-associated complications. VDPV was isolated, and the infection likely occurred where her child received OPV 12 years prior. VDPVs can cause outbreaks in countries where vaccine coverage with OPV is low. Long-term excretion can also occur in people with certain immunodeficiency disorders. Because OPV has not been used in the United States since 2000 and vaccine coverage with IPV is high, it is unlikely that any vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) seen in the United States would become widespread. Also, polio vaccination protects people against naturally occurring polioviruses and vaccine-derived polioviruses.
Basically, hardly anyone in America has experience with Polio. They don't know anyone who has had it, they don't know any children paralysed from it. It's an old disease that our grandparents had that doesn't really exist anymore. It's eradicated. But from CDC data occasionally it can come up again. Either from people getting a live vaccine in another country, or going to areas of Asia or Africa where wild polio still exists. If large groups of people refuse to vaccinate their children for Polio, believing the vaccine to have more risk than benefit at this point, all it would take is for one infected child to spread the disease to the unvaccinated population causing an outbreak. Does one parent opting not to vaccinate pose a risk, not really. Does 10,20, 30% of the population choosing not to vaccinate pose a risk? You betcha.
It's good to see more people on here than usual with their heads screwed on straight. The anti-vaccine nuts are usually out in force when one of these articles hits the stands.
They're currently consumed in the article about obese mothers and autism.
I believe once an illness fall within a certain low number of infected people it is considered no longer a threat to the population at large - within an area or a certain country. Yet, this does not insulate you from infections coming from other outside sources, which is why vaccinations must continue as scheduled and as in the past. In today's global communication model where people are free to travel world wide, we've seen many cases where illnesses were brought in to infect more people. This is why we need to be vigilant and while we've been tremendously successful with eradicating many illnesses that in the past caused entire populations to be affected, we all know there is always a danger of becoming complacent, stopping regula vaccination schedules and then having to retake the fight once diseases return.
Vaccines are safe and effective for most of the population, regardless of what certain politicians tell you, if you grew up in the 30's, 40's and so on.... you know how much this has benefited us all. Take care of your children and vaccinate. Prevention is much better, cheaper and benefits the society as a whole. Be a good citizen, vaccinate.
While vaccines have prevented may deaths, know what you are taking and/or giving your children. And KNOW what the warning signs are, what to do, and how to get the needed HELP...
Make sure you have the needed vaccines and they are up-to-date. But do not receive them all at once, because it is convenient to you & the Dr...
A child is not like the Military Soldier that is told to get in line and receives shots in both arms, cheeks, and swallows a few pills. Then is told to do sit-ups and pull-ups, to keep the swelling down...
Until you have had YOUR child go into antipathetic shock, because she was allergic to a common shot. You will then understand...
All vaccines are not created EQUAL...
A prime example - TB vaccination USA version or Asian version. The Asian version is more virulent, but then you lose the ability for using the skin-prick test, which also checks the entire body for TB infection(not just the lungs) & other diseases. And now requires you to receive a chest X-ray, because the skin-prick will test POSITIVE...
I'm sure that, since you're giving out advice, you know that it is anaphylactic shock and not antipathetic shock.
Opps, Damn that spell check... Ha! Ha!
Thanks
I grew up in the 50's. I had mumps,measles, and chicken pox. As an adult, I have excellent health, and no evidence of any autoimmune disease thus far. I think we ought to give our kids the chance to experience the childhood diseases, in order to strengthen their immune system. The supportive medicine for these diseases is greatly improved, and deaths should be minimal. At age 50+, I still have positive titers for mumps, measles, and chicken pox - No boosters needed!
There have been several studies that indicate the increase in asthma is due to children not being exposed to the natural environment. Farm children having lower rates that city children, as one example...
Though in my experience with asthma (a country Doctor said it was chronic colds) & I grew out of it. With my daughter it was Asthma with inhalers and many visits to ER & she grew out of it. IMO - Medication happy Modern Doctors are making things WORSE...
I'm 63 and take NO medication, have NO medical issues, and same weight now as I was at 21 after USMC boot camp...
Never had the mumps, though my mother a RN exposed me intentionally, and few of the other childhood diseases, either. I also avoid the annual flue shot, unless I'm going outside the USA, then ALL my shots are up to date. Though I did skip the bird & swine flue shots intentionally. BTY - I haven't had the flu in decades...
Until children begin dying again from illnesses like Whooping Cough or face life in an iron lung due to Polio, selfish, overbearing, ignorant parents will continue to deprive them of potentially life-saving medications. Shame!
Death due to whooping cough is not a realistic fear and polio has been given to innocent children from the experimental live polio vaccines. How selfish of parents to experiment on their kids or put them at risk of death from a disease that is not automatically life threatening.
Buffy, it is exactly because of people like you that pertussis still exists. Prior to the current Washington/Oregon outbreak there was a terrible outbreak in Marin County. Ever seen a baby die of whooping cough? Trust me, you don't want to...
You cannot eradicate whooping cough. You can control it and a limited vaccine is not the only solution. It may be yours but not mine...
Dear big ian, According to our medical experts pertussis is making a comeback because our vaccine coverage wears off. As children we received our last booster at age five but it is now known that everyone, including you, needs to be revaccinated.
Obviously vaccines are not an exact science as we have found.
Plus I personally had 4 MMR vaccines as an adult before I was considered "immune". (Given after pregnancy and for nursing school.). Losing confidence in the info being given to us. Believe it is skewered.
I've been revaccinating new moms who want it and in our state all incoming 7th graders were revaccinated.
I dare you to go get the TDap!
Grandleymom....yes, there you are completely correct, and I suspect not many people realize that immunity wanes. This seems to be part of the problem recently in Oregon where Moms directly infected their babies. The half life of the B-lymphocytes that secrete the specific antibodies after initial vaccination last maybe 10-15 years after which they drop to a frequency where those that are left cannot expand in time.
Also, immunity wanes, but it also wanes if someone gets the disease naturally. Since we live longer now, we now know that lifelong immunity is a misnomer. Immunity lasts for a while, but it can wane due to age or different circumstances.
I've heard a lot of people say that vaccines "don't work" because they don't last forever, but so few realize that getting things naturally has a limited timespan too.
Buffy, don't get near any kids I know. We have had a whooping cough epidemic here on the west coast because of ignorant people like you!
How many vaccinated versus non-vaccinated people got whooping cough, that is what I would like to know. There are just too many vaccinations being given.
Individuals at greatest risk of getting pertussis are children who have not received pertussis vaccine (usually given in the DTaP/Tdap shot), or who have not been fully immunized. Children whose immunizations are up-to-date can occasionally get pertussis, but they are more likely to have milder symptoms. The effectiveness of pertussis vaccine decreases over time so teenagers and adults who were fully immunized as children do not have full protection from pertussis. Anyone who has definitely had pertussis is well protected from getting it again.
Do vaccinated chilren have to fear the unvaccinated? I had a daughter become critically ill following her first dpt, and she has never gotten the injection again.
What a useless article. The intent was to scare people again but the entire argument of was a huge fail. Rather, it should be comforting that, based upon the article, we should all rejoice that disease is being eradicated!
Though without any help from you. Pertussis kills 1/100 of the smallest infants who get the disease and 1/200 of older infants. These infants can only be protected by vaccinating the community around them, as they are too young to get the vaccines themselves. Even if the child survives, the cough from pertussis lasts 100 days and can lead to pneumonia and seizures.
Before I say what I need to say I must confess to urging vaccination upon newly delivered mothers as part of my job description:
Now the rest of the story, I have began to question the vaccination rate. I've read the research out of Europe that contradicts what we're told about the safety of our vaccines and it's made me wonder why we've seen a rise in certain childhood problems. One of the theories is the increase in required vaccines. I remember the vaccines I received, then the few more my children received and now it's even more. Perhaps there is a connection?
Plus I am amazed at my medical cohorts "head-in-the-sand" attitude to vaccine reactions. Is it because they don't wish to report them? I've seen two in two weeks. One to the MMR and one to the chicken pox. Both were textbook descriptions as described on the CDC website and still... Get this, the doc that saw the chicken pox reaction said, "You're allergic to something in the vaccine, not the vaccine." OH!! The MMR was worse. The child had such swollen glands in his neck that all he could do was look straight up (as described by CDC). After test, parents were told it was a "virus". Well, it was. The mumps virus in his vaccine. Oh, this was a "mild" reaction".
Please...look elsewhere...do research. Question. From someone on the inside.
My second son had such a frightening reaction to the MMR vaccine, I took pause and spent several years reading what other parents had to say and I was in for quite an education.
Who have you guys been talking to? Dr Wakefield?
Can you not challenge me without invoking Dr. Wakefield? Come on...
Dear ian, I honestly don't know who Dr.Wakefield is. I read a report out of Germany of an ongoing study. Even though I strongly believe in home birth and all that implies I was indoctrinated in standard western medicine ideology where the doctor and the research are never wrong, never questioned. Just started to emerge a few years ago after I became disgusted with the way women are treated in traditional labor and deliveries.
If you are a doctor that never read the very highly publicized studies by Dr. Wakefield, then your research skills are seriously lacking, and it calls into question the veracity of your posts.
Concern Trolling is not bringing much to the discussion.
Buffy, you are an idiot. I pray your children survive you ignorant parenting! AND that they do not infect someone else...
It constantly amazes me that people get so incredibly worked up about this, to irate and irrational levels.
Either vaccines work . . . OR . . . they don't.
If you've had your child vaccinated for the illnesses YOU want prevented, (My kids have had some vaccines and not others) Then supposedly your kid won't get that illness even if they are around someone else that is currently contagious.
Why scream "you're a bad parent" at people you don't know, who make decisions for their kids based on their own moral philosophies. People who do not vaccinate have a variety of reasons for doing it and they are raising their kids - not yours.
My experience with the medical community reveals a "it's best to vaccinate the herd - the loss of a few is worth the health of the herd" mentality.
Its amazing looking at the graphs of measles cases in the 20th century...usually these graphs are measured in the hundreds of thousands per year ...that is, until the 1960's, when it nearly flat-line after the vaccine was introduced.
If you look at the chart a different way you see that deaths due to measles declined before the vaccine. It was the incidence of the measles that decreased after the vaccine was introduced.
Yes deaths from measles were dropping before the vaccine. As was the case with many diseases, polio included. That's because medicine got better at treating the disease and staving off the serious complications. But it took the vaccine to make the whole issue moot by significantly, and almost completely, obliterating the incidence of the disease.
Remember although those diseases were killing less people, they still caused life-long injuries in people who survived them.
One measles-caused condition that could lead to long-term injury is encephalitis. The MMR vaccine also can cause encephalitis. But look at the relative risks:
-- 1 in 1,000 measles cases (I've also seen 1 in 5,000) leads to encephalitis. (http://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/complications.html)
-- Before the vaccine, almost everyone in the U.S. got measles by the time they hit their teens.
-- Between 1 and 10 in a million people receiving the MMR vaccine develop encephalitis. (http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2138&page=125)
At the worst, you are 20 times more likely to develop encephalitis from the measles than from MMR. At best, it's 1,000 times more likely the measles than the vaccine.
So I think the data clearly shows that if you have the choice of getting the vaccine or getting the measles, the vaccine is the less risky move.
But how sure are we? I received all MMR as a child and still was not immune. Had to receive four more as an adult. The pertussis wears off. Used to tell us to get tetanus every ten years. Theyve lowred it twice Where is the guarantee? There is none. Neither is there a guarantee of getting the disease or having a reaction. Each must decide his own level of acceptable risk.
Grand: That's why scientists do studies--to get an idea of the risks and effectiveness of the vaccines.
The reason why booster shots are suggested is because there is no way for vaccine developers to know if the effects will last 20 yrs, 30 yrs etc. The only way to know that is to wait 20-30 yrs.
Look, the risk of getting the measles in your lifetime before the vaccine was almost 100%. In the U.S. almost everyone got the disease by the time they reached their teens. Meanwhile, as I showed above, the complications from the vaccine are rare. So what other pieces of information do you want?
Nothing in life is perfect or 100% risk free. But some choices (ie getting vaccinated) are less risky than others (ie taking your chances with the disease).
Actually what would be refreshing is someone in "authority" in my own country to admit that "yes, the vaccines can cause problems" as the research in Europe is showing. Maybe it's just the amount of vaccines or the schedule that is problem.
I'm not saying to throw the baby out with the bath water. The research actually shows an increase in problems as the amount and frequency went up. Perhaps some dialogue with our neighbors and some revamping instead of grandstanding and name calling is in order.
P.S. I believe you, trip, were behaving quite well.
But the problem is there is no research showing that vaccines are causing increasing problems. All the research shows that vaccines lead to some serious side effects, but only in rare cases. And there is no scientific data to support a connection between vaccines and the increased incidence in autism.
That's not the gov't telling us this. It's scientists telling us this--here in the U.S. and in Europe.
I know there is a lot of buzz on blogs that there is a connection. But when you talk to real scientists who have studied these things longer than either you or I have combined, they all say similar things: no evidence for an autism-vaccine connection.
In the end, we all are free thinkers and come to whatever conclusion we want. But all I am saying is that the scientific community continually says that there is no evidence to support the autism-vaccine conclusion.
Parents around the world are reporting other side effects too. Having extreme allergies is a burden for any child and when a parent makes the connection to an immature immune system reacting to the onslaught of early vaccines it is worthy of research, which is lacking.
There are few subjects in medicine MORE studied than vaccines. Just do a search on google scholar, or pubmed, if youre feeling academic
True encephalitis isn't the only side effect. But most serious side effects are as rare as encephalitis. That's what research into vaccines shows us.
I'll echo eric's comment: There is a ton of research that goes into vaccines, both before they're sent to the clinic and after. Go to www.clinicaltrials.gov. It's a searchable database of all clinical trials going on in the U.S. When you search for the keyword "vaccines," you get 4,000+ hits.
And then there are reviews of the scientific literature by bodies like the National Academies of Science and the Institute of Medicine. They have consistently found, after reviewing the available research, that vaccines have rare serious side effects.
I know if you go searching around the web, you'll find plenty of stories of parents talking about vaccine side effects in their children. But remember two things: 1) Not every story a parent tells is a definite vaccine side effect. They may believe it to be, but that doesn't make it a side effect of the vaccination. 2) You are bumping into report bias. Of course, if you search for vaccine side effects you'll bump into a bunch of stories about them. Who writes a blog post about the vaccination that had no side effect? "Went to the doctors today. Billy and Sally got their shots. Nothing happened." So you're bound to see blogs and sites out there with side effects stories.
That is why we must rely on the scientific literature. These studies and trials are designed to avoid those issues. And what you'll find is that that literature repeatedly shows vaccines to be largely safe and effective.
Buffy, you idiot! If you think your child's "immature immune system" has a bad reaction to vaccine, how do you think that system would handle exposure to the actual DISEASE!?
The problem is the research is funded and supported by pharmaceutical companies who have a vested interest in the outcomes. Check here: http://www.naturalnews.com/conflicts_of_interest.html . Much of the "research" we read about is biased and unreliable. There is also much evidence that the drug companies have undue influence on the FDA.
But the scientists who review this literature are not funded by drug companies. They're independent reseachers. They do not see a problem with these studies. Also Natural News is a biased source. They are already against vaccines. So I do not trust any article they write.
grandlymom
First, if you've not heard of Wakefield (from the tread above this one) it really does call your credibility into question. Second, you speak of studies being done in Europe but only reference one yet to be completed study done in Germany. That too is highly questionable. Reputable scientists do not release the results of incomplete studies unless there is overwhelming evidence that withholding that information could cause harm- and yet there has not been a peep about it in the news. I'm not finding your line of reasoning credible.
And Barry Merchant-
Using Natural News as a source actually pretty much tanks any credibility you may have. Mike Adams delusional rantings have been debunked by pretty much anyone who has bothered to look into them from Discover Magazine to the Skeptic Society. To claim that "Big Money Pharma" is cooking the books on vaccine studies to keep the cash rolling in when: 1) more and more drug companies are getting out of the vaccine business because there's not enough profit in it to the point that the government has had to step in and ask them to either continue or even restart their vaccination production capabilities and 2) and the overwhelming majority of vaccine studies are conducted by government institutions (such as the NIH & CDC) is patently absurd.
I love needles and chemicals and foreign biologicals and McNuggets and diet energy drink supplements and snorting polyglycerol polyricinoleate while dipping my sex organ in a bucket of Splenda to the point that I create massive run-on sentences without even being near a computer.
I have read too much on the danger of vaccines and try to never take them. The last time I took a flu shot 17years ago...I was in bed sick for days...no more. The media hype over the last flu scare never materialized. Why does the gov't push flu shots and vaccines? I don't trust the government and doctors. Don't forget the nuclear testing in Nevada years ago that gave Americans cancer? They are always trying to experiment on our bodies. I think autism is caused by very bad vaccines. There is some reason this disease is epidemic in America and very little known years ago. So tragic.
And Faux News commentators led the way into convincing their politically conservative and religious-right-wing American viewership, that vaccines might cause autism in children and sets the stage for other diseases like diabetes ...claims that have been repeatedly debunked by doctors and scientists, worldwide.
Vaccine analysis further debunks autism and diabetes links
An IOM review of more than 1,000 studies finds that vaccinations have few side effects, which are either short-term or readily treated.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/09/05/hlsa0905.htm
Eradicated means to destroy or get rid of something completely, so that it can never recur or return. If diseases are eradicated, how do they come back?
As a parent who lost her son to a potentially vaccine-preventable disease, bacterial meningitis, it really scares me that people are becoming complacent about vaccines. In the snap of a finger, your child can be gone. There is no getting over the loss of a child. To honor my son's memory and to raise awareness about meningitis and other vaccine-preventable diseases, I became one of the founders of the National Meningitis Association. Please visit our Web site and read stories of those affected by this disease. Thanks you.
You had this tragic loss in your life. As a child, I almost died of measles and had a second cousin who spent half his life in an iron lung from polio. People like Buffy and Yeshua are just scary. Their ignorant beliefs put us all at risk.
We had more than one child die last year, in our state, from bacterial meningitis from kids that had received the vaccination. The vaccination is not a gauruntee.
I always love these conversations. I can just picture telling my mother. I am not sure I should get that new polio vaccine. We don't know what the side effects might be. She would have grabbed my ear and dragged me to the public health vaccination station.
Oh and by the way. I still am friends with my childhood buddy, who I used to go read to while he was in his iron lung.
There are still things we do not know about some of these diseases, but we know they do work and without them, many of us would not be here.
Yeah these spoiled idiots who never experienced the diseases vaccines prevent somehow think the prevention is worse than the disease AND put us all at risk with this stupidity!
My 3 year old had a fever for three days and a rash that covered her body. At that time she was beginning to speak in sentences and was completely normal. After her reaction she stopped talking for over a year and had to re-learn to communicate with us. She has now been diagnosed with autism. This was the panel with chicken pox vaccination (among many others all squeezed in @ the same time). I recommend you stagger your infant's vaccinations. Don't let them do it all at once, and wait an extra year before doing it.
I specifically asked the doctor what the risks were and he said 1 in a million.. well I've been reading so many other's since then, I wonder what the real number is.
To those quacks out there that say I'm full of it, you can go phuck yourself.
I know if you go searching around the web, you'll find plenty of stories of parents talking about vaccine side effects in their children. But remember two things: 1) Not every story a parent tells is a definite vaccine side effect. They may believe it to be, but that doesn't make it a side effect of the vaccination. 2) You are bumping into report bias. Of course, if you search for vaccine side effects you'll bump into a bunch of stories about them. Who writes a blog post about the vaccination that had no side effect? "Went to the doctors today. Billy and Sally got their shots. Nothing happened." So you're bound to see blogs and sites out there with side effects stories.
That is why we must rely on the scientific literature. These studies and trials are designed to avoid those issues. And what you'll find is that that literature repeatedly shows vaccines to be largely safe and effective.
Your kid was autistic from birth... I am sorry, but the misfortune of this manifesting itself after vaccinations has nothing to do with cause and effect. I'm glad that early intervention seems to be working.
Everyone seems to be framing their arguments against vaccines based on personal stories, while the pro-vaccine people are citing scientific research. I, therefore, will submit to you a pro-vaccine personal story. In the early 1960s, my grandmother was exposed to the German Measles (Rubella, the "R" in "MMR") while she was pregnant with my uncle (mother's younger brother). The end result: he was born deaf, allergic to penicillian, bananas, and the tetanus vaccine (among other things).
I truly don't know what I'd do if some self-righteous, completely selfish, pesudo-scientific idiot who has the gall to assume that these very dangerous and highly-contagious diseases are no worse than the common cold gleefully and willingly exposed me or my newborn baby to something, BUT IT WOULDN'T BE PLEASANT!!!! Vaccines have the ability to save a lot of people endless heartache and trauma. You don't even need to be over the age of 50 to remember how valuable these vaccines are to humankind. Just go to a third-world country where vaccines aren't as prevalent and you'll see grown adults moving about on their hands and knees, their legs grossly disfigured due to the ravages of Polio.
If you don't want to vaccinate yourself or your kids, fine. That is your right after all (unfortunately). However, may I remind you that the rest of us also have rights. WE, the more responsible members of society, have a right not to be exposed and not to have our unvaccinated newborns exposed to diseases which are either deadly or cause serious health damage. WE made sure that the diseases which ravaged our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents are held at bay and eventually eradicated. WE are the reason you poo-poo the risks of having the measles or mumps or whooping cough (Pertussis), because responsible people like us recognized the seriousness of these and other diseases and decided to do something about it. YOU SHOULD BE THANKING US, AND INSTEAD YOU ARE BEGINNING TO WIPE OUT ANY SUCCESS THAT WE BUILT UP OVER THE YEARS.
In December 1963, the day after Christmas, a very sick little girl was admitted to the hospital with a severe case of chickenpox. After antibiotics, blood platletes, blood transfusions etc, on January 11, 1964, that little girl lost both of her legs from complications from chickenpox. Yup, it was me. I died twice, once in my fathers arms, and then on the operating table. So yes, there is pros and cons on the shots we give to our children. If you don't want your children to have them, then be careful and watch for signs of the diseases and keep them home. Chickenpox is not supposed to be a deadly thing, but as you can see, it cost me my legs. My children did get their injections. My oldest did have a reaction to the MMR injection, but it didn't do any major harm. She is a bright and very intelligent person today and has a baby of her own who is being vaccinated also. Just go to watch the kiddos and use your judgement, but don't pass that judgement onto other people either.
I was hospitalized in the 50's with measles. I was more fortunate than you in that I do not have lasting physical effects of this. People just forget how deadly these childhood diseases were!!
Supportive medicine has come a long way since the 50's.
Grandleymom, you raise a very very important point. Do not rely on studies that originate from this country alone. People, do yourself a favor and research these "medical advances" in different countries. You may be very surprised what you find out. Often times when researching medical products you will find the actual ingredients in studies that do not originate from this country. Because in those countries the power of pharmaceutical companies does not stretch as far as it does here.
There is no doubt that there are people who enjoy thinking of new ways to scare the public and vaccines are no exception. Of course deadly diseases such as polio need to be eradicated.
But I have often questioned the newer vaccines, especially the ones that are given to young girls to avoid certain illnesses later on in life.
There are a lot of ingredients in vaccines that are not known to the general public. And sorry, but I will not be one of the ignorant fools who will stumble into a doctor's office just because someone thinks I need a certain vaccine.
I do not think that some of them are necessary and I remember the scary reactions to vaccines that my son endured when he received his vaccinations. This is not an issue that can be explained away by a certain need of the population. Because people are not being told what ingredients are in the vaccines but they are supposed to blindly trust the pharmaceutical companies and introduce foreign substances into their own bodies and the bodies of their children without questioning it.
Does anyone else see the danger to such behavior? Simply following such advice without really looking into it? I surely can recognize that danger. If I would have followed "friendly advice" from entities that did not care about my health, or even worse would try to convince me to purchase certain products because it would be a profit to them, well then I know my health would be a lot worse of than it is today.
Value your own brain functions folks. Use that grey matter to your own advantage. Do not believe everything pharmaceutical companies try to convince you of. It is your health and the pharmaceutical companies, after they are done with their exhaustive attempts to lobby congress, will in the long run win if people just do what they want them to do.
BS...spoken like a person who never experienced polio, diptheria, whooping cough, measles, mumps or chickenpox....see above.
Schmetterling, you are correct. We vaccinate too young and too much. Let the children grow a bit...and the stuff they put in some vaccines - small wonder that autoimmune diseases are burgeoning.
This is just Darwin at work.
If kids are not vaccinated and they die from the disease then just view it as Darwin having worked. Their parents genes were less than adequate and they ensured the genes died otu.
Brutal but effective.
that's particularly short sighted. kids who aren't vaccinated are also a danger to those who aren't old enough, or too sick to be vaccinated. it's NOT just a problem with an individual child's parents, it's an enormous public health risk.
Child one was vaccinated on a alternate schedule but received everything until age 4yo except Prevnar (not available for her first 3 years due to shortages), Hep B, MMR, & Chicken Pox.
At 4.5yo she developed pertussis in spite of being vaccinated for it. No one we knew at either day care or among our friends ever had it (either before or after she contracted it). When I took her to the pediatrician I was told the reason for her chronic cough was allergies and there was nothing they could do for her. A month later "I" started coughing and we were finally diagnosed by MY doctor. I should mention that I was pregnant at the time with child number two!
I did my homework with vaccines both before and after child one and I contracted pertussis, but my threshold for when the vaccine is worthwhile vs not rose significantly after the pertussis. The DTaP vaccine was the one my child reacted to the most. She had a large, painful lump at the injection site each time and it got larger and lasted longer with every injection. This all was not worth it for her to only get this disease anyway.
I am much more critical than before and to be honest, I have yet to find a vaccine that is worth the risk vs the CHANCE of getting the disease. As a responsible, educated parent I cannot put my child at risk from the side effects of a vaccine just for a slim to none chance of protection from a disease she MIGHT get.
So don't paint all parents that educated themselves (not just on the internet but actual books, medical professionals, and peer reviewed medical journals) about vaccines and choose not to expose them to their families as crazy whack jobs. Like you, we feel that we are doing the right thing for OUR families. If you choose otherwise, that is your right...but my right is to protect my kids the best way I know and this is what I choose.
I'm not crazy, I know my research, and just because I feel that this is the right decision for our family doesn't mean it is right for everyone else.
Oh and to preclude the comments... no it is not MY job to protect YOUR children... it is MY job to protect MY children and that means I won't put MY kids at risk for the possibility of protecting yours.
You have never seen someone in an iron lung. You have never been kept indoors all summer because polio was rampant. You have never heard of someone suffocating with diptheria. You were never hospitlized with measles; or, as another poster states, lost limbs to chickenpox. Your child was lucky to be vaccinated for pertussis. While that particular vaccine is not 100% preventive, it does reduce the severity of the disease. (As a child I too had pertussis after vaccination; however, unlike the unfortunate child I contacted it from while living abroad, I was not seriously sick.) You are not "educated"; you have not done "research." You have found idiocy on the web supporting your bias and are telling yourself you are not a negligent parent. But you are. Live with it if your child or another DIES as a result of your ignorance! (And, unless you live on the moon, it IS your "job" to protect other people's children as much as others protect yours...you selfish witch!)
Oh; So American; It’s all about: Me, myself, and I!
That last paragraph is almost sociopathic in its complete lack of a grasp of what it means to live in society.
Old news!
It is hard to trust government when you read history.
And;
Big business is all about the bottom line.
Who knows where to turn for the truth.
I'm getting all my kids all their vaccines. At least I care enough to protect my kinds from preventable diseases and not have the "black helicopter" view of vaccines causing apparently everything from rashes to ebola.