Not vaccinating your kid?

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In the New York Times today was an article about parents who have rejected to vaccinate their children.  Why?  Stupidity would be the first thing that comes to my mind but I am not sure that is it. 

There has been much speculation in the past years about autism being tied to vaccinations.  Many pediatricians have said that the onset of autism actually happens at the time when kids are entering the age where they are being vaccinated for multiple things.  I remember when the kids were young being amazed at the vaccination schedules.  These are one of many things you learn about being a parent.  I always thought it was fascinating how out of the womb comes this perfect human being who is completely untouched and then over the process of the first few years of their life they are inoculated  from a variety of harmful diseases that could harm them.  Historically many of these diseases such as small pox, measles, tuberculosis and now even chicken pox have medications that will hopefully make sure that nobody gets these harmful diseases again.  Actually it is quite brilliant.  The downside is as we inoculate ourselves against disease, other diseases crop up. 

I made the decision to inoculate the kids against chicken pox because every time I tried to expose them to chicken pox they never got it.  As more and more kids get inoculated against chicken pox, the chances of them getting it gets smaller and smaller.  Chicken pox is a no brainer as a kid except for itching yourself like crazy but as an adult it can be quite serious.  Leaving yourself open as an adult to get chicken pox is not smart.  I also had the girls take the latest vaccination which prevents cervical cancer.  This particular virus is one that many women had and did not even realize it.  It didn’t turn into cervical cancer but it was definitely a hindrance for some women trying to get pregnant. 

There was a recent case of a young girl who was awarded by the courts ( through her parents)  that she became autistic after taking a vaccination.  Supposedly this kid had a very rare virus that reacted to the vaccination.  Maybe there could be a simple way for every kid to be tested for this prior to their vaccination so parents feel safe. 

I was vaccinated as a kid and my generation did not see as much autism as there is today nor did we see as many kids being allergic to peanuts.  Why?  My guess it has to do with what we have been feeding ourselves over many years.  It is not easy to feed as many people as we do without using drugs in our food.  Everything is cyclical. We see many people returning to organic food and local green markets.  Whole Foods defines the times. 

The amount of information to be read on the web is probably another reason people have decided not to vaccinate their kids.  Articles about possible side effects, etc.  But, in the end, I firmly believe that not vaccinating your kid is not only harmful to others in the community (case and point that you need to prove your kids vaccination charts when entering the school system yearly) but it is wrong.  To me, it is a form of child abuse.  How can you raise a kid without vaccinating them against disease that the medical community has worked so hard to prevent. 

The picture of these nice looking organic mothers in the New York Times makes me want to scream out loud ( it is the one on this post).  There are different laws state by state but there should be a federal law that one must vaccinate their child based on the Food and Drug Administrations schedule. 

I take it back, parents not having their kids vaccinated are just stupid. 

Comments (Archived):

  1. ellen

    I am wondering if the mercury that is in the delivery system of the vaccination is causing the problem. Maybe, years ago the vaccinations were made with better products. I don’t really know the facts, but there seems to be many people claiming that their children were fine before being vaccinated and after vaccinations having severe problems.

    I heard that one of the children later diagnosed with autism had 9 vaccinations at once. In my opinion that is a bit excessive at one time.

    If the vaccinations were to blame for autism then the liability would be huge, so maybe no one is really seriously doing the proper research.

    Certainly, the polio vaccination was life changing for the children of the 1950’s.

    Vaccinations are needed, but with health-care so much is the bottom line so maybe inferior products are now being put in the vaccinations.

  2. Steve Kane

    Hi Joanne.

    Amen to this post.

    It seems we are on the verge of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

    Certainly as a society we have become far too dependant on technology and the seemingly easy path (e.g. the dependance on corn described in Michael Pollan’s brilliant “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”)

    But to turn away from the huge, clear, repeatedly demonstrated individual and societal benefits provided by vaccination, and all because of some extremely thin (read: rumors) of negative side effects, is lunacy at best, and at worst, is self-absorbed anti-social violence, or at least passive aggressiveness. Un-vaccinated children present a significant health hazard to the entire community, and a large and unnecessary strain on public resources…

  3. Bonny P McClain

    I opted to delay vaccinations in both my children until at least 6 months of age. After taking the time to read the package insert that came with the vaccine I realized I was not ready to determine if my new babies were “irritable” and may be reacting to the vaccine. They looked pretty angry that first day so I decided to subject them to the vaccine once I felt that I knew what “normal” was. The vaccine schedule in the US is quite rigorous and starts at birth. There is nothing wrong with being informed and making the best decisions for your family. My youngest son also reacts to vaccines with swollen hands, feet and also an occasional rash. He was able to communicate with me and alert me that his throat felt funny. Not likely in a newborn and to be certain, I have never felt that the decision was “stupid”!?

  4. Kit

    “In the New York Times today was an article about parents who have rejected to vaccinate their children.” This is a mangled sentence.

    “These are one of many things you learn about being a parent.” This is a mangled sentence.

    “Chicken pox is a no brainer as a kid except for itching yourself like crazy but as an adult it can be quite serious.” This is a mangled sentence — you should look up what “no brainer” means.

    “There was a recent case of a young girl who was awarded by the courts (through her parents) that she became autistic after taking a vaccination.” This is a mangled sentence.

    “How can you raise a kid without vaccinating them against disease that the medical community has worked so hard to prevent.” They feel, perhaps wrongly, that the dangers of vaccinations outweigh the benefits.

    “There are different laws state by state but there should be a federal law…” Any federal law would have the same option to opt out.

    << There is an article in today's New York Times about parents who have chosen to not have their children vaccinated. I believe that the vaccinations for my children were an essential part of raising them. Catching chickenpox is mostly a nuisance for children, but it can be quite serious for adults. So, when they failed to catch it, I had my children inoculated against it. In a law suit brought by her parents, an autistic girl was found to have become autistic after being vaccinated. There is a lot to read on the internet about the connection between vaccinations and serious diseases and I have not taken the time to read much of it because I might disagree with it. When it comes to vaccinations, I feel strongly that parents should not be allowed to choose what is best for their own children. I'm more than a little fuzzy how this country's federal system works, with all those checks and balances and constitutional rights and everything. But I am absolutely sure that these inoculations, unlike licenses to drive mopeds and such, ought to be absolutely required, with no exceptions. My vision of safety outweighs the freedom to choose. >>

  5. Naomy

    Quoting kit: “When it comes to vaccinations, I feel strongly that parents should not be allowed to choose what is best for their own children.” this is such and interesting and ignorant comment.
    If parents should not be allowed to choose what’s best for their children, then who should? strangers? the government? people who know nothing about your child and might have their own interest in mind?
    That is part of the responsibility of being a parent. Every parent should be allowed to research and make an informed decision based on facts…all of them. Immunizations are not an exception.
    We question and monitor what’s in the food we feed our children, what they’re learning in school, what they’re watching on TV. Don’t you think we should question what goes directly into their bloodstream?

  6. gotham gal

    Do parents go into their kids second grade class and make decisions on what curriculum is best suited for their child? parents that are questioning and monitoring everything single that their kids do, frighten me. I do have some faith in the medical decisions made by our government on immunizing our children.

  7. Carolina Wikholm

    Upon reading articles like this one realises the power of the internet, anybody and everybody can put their opinion up. Other people are affected by this opinion. Of course if you take someone else’s opion just like that, without a bit of research, you deserve to be called stupid. However, I still think one should take into account the above mentioned fact before mindlessly blathering about things that one has not even researched.

    When you say “How can you raise a kid without vaccinating them against disease that the medical community has worked so hard to prevent. The picture of these nice looking organic mothers in the New York Times makes me want to scream out loud”. Well your unfounded, unresearched, purely opinionated article makes ME want to scream. Try doing even the slightest bit of research into vaccines; read the studies. Correction, read the studies THAT AREN’T ECONOMICALLY LINKED TO PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES. Just as a start, try http://www.advancedhealthplan.com/vaccination.html
    or http://www.thedoctorwithin.com
    for an in-depth ‘summary’ of what all the independent studies have found out about vaccines.

    And last, but not least, whatever happened to common sense? Medications, vaccines, all these have been around for what, a hundred or so years? How long have humans been around for? How on earth did we manage to survive without them, because it seems like nowadays one cannot possibly survive without swallowing a host of pills (which happily funds a multi-billion dollar industry). And before you start saying, but what about statistics? Less people are dying of whatever. Well if you actually research the statistics, you will find generally people stopped dying of whatever long before the vaccine was introduced. Simple answer? Better sanitation.

    So if you want to be just another lemming following the rest off the cliff top be my guest. Blindly entrust the health of your child to a government agency with strong economic ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Thats America for you. Why think for yourself when other people with selfish interests are ever so happy to do the thinking for you? Surely that won’t possibly go wrong…right?

  8. MEDICAL OXYGEN SUPPLIES

    The solution to this problem is simple; the institution of mandatory vaccinations best benefits the society as a whole, and the decision to not have one’s children immunized is a selfish one. Moreover, children who cannot be vaccinated because of a medical issue are more at risk when other children aren’t vaccinated, because they are required to rely of the “herd immunity” of the society.@SOFIA