Report: More Parents Choose Not to Vaccinate, says the Chronicle.
"ARGGGHHHHHHH," growl I.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: parents who refuse to vaccinate their children because of vague fears, something they read 10 years ago, or some random website their friend told them about, piss me off to no end.
I remember reading an article in the local weekly in college. Some earthy-crunchy Santa Cruz mom was quoted as saying basically, "I didn't vaccinate my kids. Why should I? They're perfectly healthy!" Even at the young age of 19, I knew that didn't make sense. Of course they were healthy — the diseases that could make them sick had been eradicated by... mass vaccinations. Duh.
Anyway, when it comes to immunization, my mind hasn't changed much in 20 years. Sure, when our daughter was born, we did opt for a modified schedule which called for fewer shots at each doctor's visit, but more frequent visits. This was something our pediatrician was quite happy to do, and it kept us on schedule. Nothing wrong with that. She still had her shots.
But when somebody posted to a mailing list I read asking about skipping vaccinations, and she got several enthusiastic responses ("I want to continue on this healthy path!" etc.) I couldn't take it anymore.
Yep, somebody was going to jump in at some point and say something - well, I'll be the meanie.I am all in favor of modified immunization schedules - in fact, we did one ourselves. (Figured that if our daughter had any bad reactions, it would be easier to identify the culprit.) But not do them at all? No way in hell. Sorry, unwilling to risk my kid's future health, and perhaps more to the point, I am unwilling to risk the health of people with compromised immune systems (including close family friends) and those out there who
truly are medically unable to be vaccinated.The science just isn't with you, nor are the facts. The researcher behind the paper that started the whole MMR/autism scare? He falsified his data! (http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/Autism/12850) In the UK alone, measles rates skyrocked after that paper came out, because people stopped getting the shots for their kids. And measles is hardly a risk-free illness. And he was not the only anti-vac quack.
Yes, drug companies can be bad, yes, we don't have adequate regulation in this country thanks to the last 8 years. Let's do something about the regulation.
But you can't deny that people used to die all the time from childhood illnesses before vaccines were introduced. My cousin's wife walks with a limp thanks to a childhood case of polio. And she was one of the lucky ones. Don't want to see that again. But human memories are short, I guess.
I'm sure you all mean well. But then again, I am sure that the parents who refuse to seek any kind of medical treatment for their kids, trusting g*d to heal them, also mean well. Sometimes, meaning well just isn't enough.
If you wish to avoid hearing this kind of thing from me, please take the discussion offline and to a community which is all for this sort of thing. And good luck to you and your family.
Katherine the grouchy
So what kinds of well-reasoned responses did the anti-vac people have? Sure, I can understand them being annoyed at being asked to "take it offline." Freedom of speech and all. But it didn't end there.
Yes, let's definitely have an private discussion group. I am always so interested that even a discussion of this topic seems to provoke such heated discussions. I would never tell another parent how to make this choice themselves..I would just challenge all of you to do some research. Unfortunately, most parents accept unquestionally what is told to them and don't read up. I've done a lot of research and would love to share it if anyone is interested. Much of what is mentioned...such as what was said about the Wakefield study....is inaccurate. Wakefield lost his career, not because of any evidence but because of critics who simply said that he falsified his data. Apparently all you have to do these days is slander someone to call into question all their work. Anyway, I don't want to get on a high horse about this, but it upsets me when people repeat things they have read that are not factually correct. If you're interested, read The Sanctity of Human Blood by Tim O'Shea and then check out his references in a very carefully researched book that calls into question most of what we think we know in modern science.
I googled Tim O'Shea. He's a chiropractor. Huh.
Next:
I respect your decisions to immunize your children, and I wish you could respect other people's different decisions in this matter instead of taking this one-up tone, like you personally need to correct these free-thinking mamas.I believe your accusations of putting the whole community at risk are incorrect, and your statements about not wanting your children to have contact with unvaccinated children just come across as discriminatory rather than rational.
Its also interesting that you're giving the initial e-mailer exactly what she said she had already had too much of, which is pressure to vaccinate.
Guilt-tripping, but not exactly evidence against my points.
This is obviously a topic that is near and dear to all of our hearts in having to make such important decisions in relation to our children's health. I think it's important to remember that there are many different opinions, theories, emotions, etc. and to keep an open mind and respect the many intelligent women in this group.The main reason people vaccinate is for fear of endangering their child(ren) or society. Fear is incredibly powerful...expecially when fearing something for the sake of our most prized possessions!
There are so many articles with statistics on both sides (for and against vaccinations) that it can be a very difficult decision to make, again with fear in the background. To write someone off as irresponsible or endangering society is quite harsh, especially when there are a number of factors besides vaccinations that are attributable to the decline of so many diseases in our society (hygiene, nutrition, strong immune system.) In addition, there are serious concerns about the detrimental effects of vaccinations.
This forum has been such a great resource for me, and I hope it remains a safe place for people to discuss such important issues.
Gee, sorry I hurt your feelings. Again, guilt-tripping, but no links or facts.
This one was the most off-the-wall... kind of a temper tantrum!
such uninformed and stupid crab. If vaccination is so important - and your kids are vaccinated (which is a crime in my eyes) what do you fear? The whole community at risk.... it is a shame that people judge others and are blind to their own uninformed and stupid decisions.
I don't care what anybody thinks of me... all I know is that I am a holistic healer and my child will never get any chemicals in her body.
No western medicine, no vaccinations..... I know many parents that have chosen the same thing, but they don't speak up, because they are tired of the reaction of uninformed and stupid people.
So there it goes - kill me if you like
and
and you have a right to tell those people that you decided not to vaccinate your child and its ok.... If you only know half of the story - maybe you should shut up
and
what you do and how you do it - thats you, what I do and how I do it - that's me I don't care - I am a great mother and healer
and
stone me, kill me, On this forum - who do you think you are why is it ok to call people that don't vaccinate their children a risk to the community.... Yogamomas... so what, because I practice Yoga I have to take all this crab.... Whatever I am done with this "Forum" of .......
So on the pro-vaccination side we have evidence that the guy behind the study supposedly showing a link between vaccines and autism falsified his data, and we know that some illnesses are making a comeback thanks to lower vaccination rates, and if we've been paying attention the last century, we've noticed that kids aren't dying at the rates they used to thanks to the eradication of many illnesses through immunization. On the anti-vaccination side we have... gee lady, don't point out my decisions might hurt public health and get people sick, you're hurting my feelings!
One more thing. This winter is the first one where my child has been in preschool. When the rains started, she got sick. A Lot. Every week. And it has been a truly miserable experience — both for her, because she doesn't understand why she feels so lousy, and for us, her parents, because we're helpless to do anything to make her get better faster. And these are harmless bugs, for the most part — a cold here, a stomach bug there, a flu over here, even though we got her the FluMist vaccine. It's normal for a young child to get lots of illnesses when young.
Why would you want to add serious, entirely preventable illnesses to the mix? I just don't understand. It isn't, it can't be a rational choice. It's completely botched risk analysis.
And I just hope it doesn't kill anybody.
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