Natural food better than vaccinations?

MSDRIZZ

I read the first post in this topic and cannot read further because I get so angry about this so called "debate" that my blood pressure rises incredibly high, I get pissed off, and I can't sleep.

Vaccines are a victim of their own success. It is so frustrating.

I have a sick child that isn't fortunate enough to receive all of the usual vaccines. She has a poor immune system and at the age of 1 is not allowed to get MMR because it is a live vaccine AND because she received certain blood products.

This forces me to rely on the stupidity of others to protect my child which puts me into mama bear mode and gets me angry.

Deaths/Illnesses I have seen personally that could have been preventable
1 aunt - polio. Suffered paralysis
1 uncle - polio. Deformations
1 baby - died. RSV
2 babies - died only 2 weeks after going home from NICU from pertussis (whooping cough)
1 sister in law - hospitalization due to chicken pox as an adult.

NONE of these could have been prevented by healthy eating or exercise.

That is all.

Agreed, that is why I said the benefits outweigh the risks. There are risks.

mrsmccullen07

[/quote]I'd like to see clinical studies on adults who have had shingles yet were vaccinated. I'm more than sure that people that have been vaccinated that don't get shingles will be in much much larger numbers than those that have. Again no medicine is perfect, but benefit outweighs results.
It seems that you correlate what may happen in your life personally to your belief in vaccinations. IMO, that would be like saying crime is high because you were held up at gun point when in fact crime is actually down statistically. Doesn't mean that crime doesn't happen, it just means that doing some of the things we have done have reduced it. You could well say that spending more money on Police did nothing for you, but it has done lots for others. Just a perspective you may not have considered.
[/quote]

I was told that it would be 15-20 years before they knew for sure that getting the chickenpox vaccination would prevent you from getting shingles but I am sure your right I was quite surprised he got shingles and the doctors were too .. I do not vaccinate my child against chickenpox just because it seems silly to me at this time however if they get to there teens and still haven't gotten chickenpox then I will vaccinate them because I understand how dangerous it can be as an adult. I do correlate what happens in my life personally to my chose not to vaccinate but I did my research and understand what I am choosing not to do and what the risks are and I have considered that perspective and I realize and I try to make it as clear as I can that my beliefs are that just mine I typically dont tell anyone my beliefs on vaccinations and when I get asked about it I just tell them to research it and talk to there doctor because I know I am not a doctor. I understand what your saying and I appreciate it honestly I do I really like to hear others thoughts ! I am constantly reading about vaccinations and listening to what others say since I know that I want to be as knowledgable as I can be and lets be honest at any time something could happen that makes me change my mind and vaccinate my children. And for me the benefits of vaccinations does not outweigh the risks to my son BUT my son has epilepsy and has a ton of allergies and sensitivites and I have not even found a dr. that would vaccinate him if I wanted them too (and I have decided to not vaccinate my younger son because we do not know if he will follow in his brothers footsteps with the allergies/sensitivites)

XFitMojoMom

please - get your kid vax'd... there is no reason for chicken pox, mumps and measles today.
oh - and <gasp> I didn't BF my babies - they're 5 & 4 and each have been on an AB treatment ONCE in their life. I don't think BF will make your child healthier, but what you feed them will.

calibri

Yes, I do research vaccines I receive; as a molecular biology major, I took advanced virology and microbiology classes. I don't find anything objectionable in vaccines. Are you referring to attenuated virus strains which are used in vaccines? I don't find anything wrong with this.

mrsmccullen07

please - get your kid vax'd... there is no reason for chicken pox, mumps and measles today.
oh - and <gasp> I didn't BF my babies - they're 5 & 4 and each have been on an AB treatment ONCE in their life. I don't think BF will make your child healthier, but what you feed them will.

I am not sure if you read my posts I can not vaccinate my child even if I wanted to .. which I dont but if I chose to the chances of my son suffering from something very serious are quite high and I will not risk that and I also mentioned that we will vaccinate one day if it becomes necessary. I dont know where breastfeeding plays into this but I didn't breastfeed my first child because of him being in the NICU and me being in the hospital with a c-section that had busted back open I did however breastfeed my second child and I dont think my second child was any healthier than my first child however both of my children had to get put on a medical formula due to their allergies/sensitivites and my second son was able to breastfeed for 10months and I had no dietary restrictions but as soon as he switched to formula he got sick and I mean he was in the hospital he was so sick and it was a gradual wean but the sickness hit when he was fully on formula but we had already been through it once with our older son and the dr.s figured out it was allergies and put him on the new formula and he is doing great now !

mrsmccullen07

Yes, I do research vaccines I receive; as a molecular biology major, I took advanced virology and microbiology classes. I don't find anything objectionable in vaccines. Are you referring to attenuated virus strains which are used in vaccines? I don't find anything wrong with this.

I personally dont care for some of the ingredients that are used but its my personal issue and I dont disagree with you all I want is for someone to read and know what they are putting in their body or their childs body. I dont feel you can make a informed decision if you dont know the ingredients ... sorry if that doesn't make sense I wasn't pointing out that you needed to read the ingredients I just was pointing out that I think parents should all read them so they know exactly what they are putting in their childs bodyy

calibri

Yes, I do research vaccines I receive; as a molecular biology major, I took advanced virology and microbiology classes. I don't find anything objectionable in vaccines. Are you referring to attenuated virus strains which are used in vaccines? I don't find anything wrong with this.

I personally dont care for some of the ingredients that are used but its my personal issue and I dont disagree with you all I want is for someone to read and know what they are putting in their body or their childs body. I dont feel you can make a informed decision if you dont know the ingredients ... sorry if that doesn't make sense I wasn't pointing out that you needed to read the ingredients I just was pointing out that I think parents should all read them so they know exactly what they are putting in their childs bodyy

Ahh okay. Totally agree with you there. I wish people would be more interested in things like that. :flowerforyou:

Grokette

So this morning while driving my wife to the airport, I was listening to a topic on vaccinations and how some people who are adamant that vaccinations have cause more issues with illness (like Autism) and that natural foods can cure such diseases as whooping cough. One female stated that vaccinations are nothing more than a way for the Pharmacy companies to make big money. And her stance was that if vaccinations would be banned that we would have cured diseases by eating natural foods.
Now while I will agree that GREAT nutrition can help with boosting the immune system, I will emphatically disagree that the approach that eating natural foods will protect any child from diseases like measles, mumps, whooping cough, etc.

Thoughts?

I agree with the woman that was discussing this. Building natural immunity is the most important.

This was written by a Dr.......... http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james.htm

http://www.vaccinetruth.org/doctors_against_vaccines.htm

XFitMojoMom

I think alot of children are exposed to chickenpox ... Adults that have shingles can give chickenpox to children and from what I was told (I have not done much research on this as I honestly dont care) a child that has been vaccinated against chickenpox who comes around my child could potentially infect my child with chickenpox ... as well as someone who received the shingles vaccination because I was warned by my pediatrician to keep my baby (2 weeks old) away from my husbands grandparents whenever they got the shingles vaccination for 10days.

My own experience: My child was exposed to another child who had the chicken pox and <<ewww> ring worm. I didn't know until it was too late and the parent admitted that the child was not vax'd. I thought, no sweat, my kid is fully vaccinated - right? Not 5 days later did she have, at first what I thought was mosquito bites... lo and behold - it was CP. Vaccinations will not "prevent", but will make the symptoms a lot less severe. A few days after that her big sister got them too but less severe than her sister. The younger one who was exposed to the chicken pox first was also exposed to right worm, and she got that on her forearms.
Now I get why you simply cannot vax your child due to his allergies. I have a friend who experienced the same. What I have a problem with is negligent parents with otherwise healthy children who don't.

savlyon

I immunized my children. That being said: my biological children (who are grown) had there shots spread out more then they do now. The theory now is that parents forget so give as many as you can when they do come to the doctors. I don't think this is as safe as spreading them out. I don't think they cause Autism, but they CAN in certain children trigger severe allergies if given too much at once. I also think we need to know what shots are being given. We should know what is being put in our children's bodies and weigh the risks and benefits. I personally think the benefits outweigh the risks for most immunizations. My foster sons doctor gave him the chicken pox vaccine then asked me to sign for it. I do not think the chicken pox vaccine is a good thing, because it only lasts 10 years and how many of these kids will remember a booster as adults or teens. I had chicken pox with my children while hubby was deployed to Somalia for the Army. I was VERY sick and the doctor told me it is much worse for adults. I also had Shingles a few years ago and the doctor said its more likely to get this if you had chicken pox as an adult. Just my opinion.

You do not have to get the Chicken Pox vaccine (Varicella) every 10 years. This is not true. I never got chicken pox so I had the vaccine when I was 13 because they didn't want me to get it when I was older. Now everyone is vaccinated with it and it comes in two doses. No doctor has ever told me that I have to be revaccinated for it.

mrsmccullen07

My own experience: My child was exposed to another child who had the chicken pox and <<ewww> ring worm. I didn't know until it was too late and the parent admitted that the child was not vax'd. I thought, no sweat, my kid is fully vaccinated - right? Not 5 days later did she have, at first what I thought was mosquito bites... lo and behold - it was CP. Vaccinations will not "prevent", but will make the symptoms a lot less severe. A few days after that her big sister got them too but less severe than her sister. The younger one who was exposed to the chicken pox first was also exposed to right worm, and she got that on her forearms.
Now I get why you simply cannot vax your child due to his allergies. I have a friend who experienced the same. What I have a problem with is negligent parents with otherwise healthy children who don't.
[/quote]

I do not believe that a parent that has done research and chooses to not vaccinate is being negligent we are all allowed to do what we feel is best for our children and I do not think any parent should criticize or automatically assume a parent that doesn't do what they do is negligent. I would be willing to bet that parents that dont vaccinate have spents hours and hours researching vaccinations and most parents that do vaccinate have no clue what they are vaccinating their child with ... I am sorry but I have to believe that a parent that stays up long hours reading and researching about vaccinations has to be a loving parent and while their views are different from yours they are just as good a parent as your are !!

XFitMojoMom

I do not believe that a parent that has done research and chooses to not vaccinate is being negligent we are all allowed to do what we feel is best for our children and I do not think any parent should criticize or automatically assume a parent that doesn't do what they do is negligent. I would be willing to bet that parents that dont vaccinate have spents hours and hours researching vaccinations and most parents that do vaccinate have no clue what they are vaccinating their child with ... I am sorry but I have to believe that a parent that stays up long hours reading and researching about vaccinations has to be a loving parent and while their views are different from yours they are just as good a parent as your are !!

I wish I had such a positive view as you, but I don't believe a lot of parents put many hours of research before deciding on their childs health, otherwise if it were true there wouldn't be childhood obesity, child abuse, etc... <shug> just my view. Just like the parent who decided to bring her child, with chicken pox, to a public pool... WHO DOES THAT?

SueInAz

Well, there were only natural foods hundreds of years ago. And a hell of a lot of people died from diseases that we can now vaccinate for. There's some pretty flawed logic in the original post.

+1

Thousands and even hundreds of years ago all people ate were whole, natural foods. Diseases like measles, mumps, scarlet fever, polio, etc. not only killed but blinded, maimed and otherwise negatively affected the lives of thousands every year. I'm sorry, but I have a very hard time believing that a healthy, whole food diet is going to help anyone avoid disease. What does is living in a society where the vast majority of the people are inoculated against these diseases. While getting a vaccination may not protect you 100% from getting the disease, being around others who are also vaccinated reduces the likelihood that the disease will impact anyone. As more and more people buy into the "don't vaccinate your kids" rubbish, we're going to see a return of these nearly eradicated diseases and probably in a more virulent form because we all know that viruses and bacteria mutate.

ASPhantom

please - get your kid vax'd... there is no reason for chicken pox, mumps and measles today.
oh - and <gasp> I didn't BF my babies - they're 5 & 4 and each have been on an AB treatment ONCE in their life. I don't think BF will make your child healthier, but what you feed them will.

BF does make your child healthier. That is a fact.
Research it:

Breast milk fights disease – The cells, hormones, and antibodies in breast milk protect babies from illness. This protection is unique; formula cannot match the chemical makeup of human breast milk. In fact, among formula-fed babies, ear infections and diarrhea are more common. Formula-fed babies also have higher risks of:
◦Necrotizing (nek-roh-TEYE-zing) enterocolitis (en-TUR-oh-coh-lyt-iss), a disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract in preterm infants.
◦Lower respiratory infections
◦Asthma
◦Obesity
◦Type 2 diabetes
Some research shows that breastfeeding can also reduce the risk of Type 1 diabetes, childhood leukemia, and atopic dermatitis (a type of skin rash) in babies. Breastfeeding has also been shown to lower the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).


Feel free to check all over the place, you will find close to the same information.

XFitMojoMom

please - get your kid vax'd... there is no reason for chicken pox, mumps and measles today.
oh - and <gasp> I didn't BF my babies - they're 5 & 4 and each have been on an AB treatment ONCE in their life. I don't think BF will make your child healthier, but what you feed them will.

BF does make your child healthier. That is a fact.
Research it:

Breast milk fights disease – The cells, hormones, and antibodies in breast milk protect babies from illness. This protection is unique; formula cannot match the chemical makeup of human breast milk. In fact, among formula-fed babies, ear infections and diarrhea are more common. Formula-fed babies also have higher risks of:
◦Necrotizing (nek-roh-TEYE-zing) enterocolitis (en-TUR-oh-coh-lyt-iss), a disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract in preterm infants.
◦Lower respiratory infections
◦Asthma
◦Obesity
◦Type 2 diabetes
Some research shows that breastfeeding can also reduce the risk of Type 1 diabetes, childhood leukemia, and atopic dermatitis (a type of skin rash) in babies. Breastfeeding has also been shown to lower the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).


Feel free to check all over the place, you will find close to the same information.

:huh: guess my children are inferior species then... :yawn:

ASPhantom

please - get your kid vax'd... there is no reason for chicken pox, mumps and measles today.
oh - and <gasp> I didn't BF my babies - they're 5 & 4 and each have been on an AB treatment ONCE in their life. I don't think BF will make your child healthier, but what you feed them will.

BF does make your child healthier. That is a fact.
Research it:

Breast milk fights disease – The cells, hormones, and antibodies in breast milk protect babies from illness. This protection is unique; formula cannot match the chemical makeup of human breast milk. In fact, among formula-fed babies, ear infections and diarrhea are more common. Formula-fed babies also have higher risks of:
◦Necrotizing (nek-roh-TEYE-zing) enterocolitis (en-TUR-oh-coh-lyt-iss), a disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract in preterm infants.
◦Lower respiratory infections
◦Asthma
◦Obesity
◦Type 2 diabetes
Some research shows that breastfeeding can also reduce the risk of Type 1 diabetes, childhood leukemia, and atopic dermatitis (a type of skin rash) in babies. Breastfeeding has also been shown to lower the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).


Feel free to check all over the place, you will find close to the same information.

:huh: guess my children are inferior species then... :yawn:

That's not what I was saying. At all. lol... All I was saying was that it is a proven fact that there are health benefits for babies who are breastfed. You brought it up, not me. :-) In fact, had you not brought up BF, I wouldn't have chimed in at all but, I am a big advocate for it. It seems too often, doctors don't encourage it or support it and push moms into formula.

I remember (with both kids) having the samples shoved at me in the hospital. And heck, in our doctors office, I was told they needed the room and my son needed to eat so, they moved me to the closet where they keep all the stacks of formula. I was a new mom and had I not been so determined to BF, I probably would have given up. It was hard.

XFitMojoMom

please - get your kid vax'd... there is no reason for chicken pox, mumps and measles today.
oh - and <gasp> I didn't BF my babies - they're 5 & 4 and each have been on an AB treatment ONCE in their life. I don't think BF will make your child healthier, but what you feed them will.

BF does make your child healthier. That is a fact.
Research it:

Breast milk fights disease – The cells, hormones, and antibodies in breast milk protect babies from illness. This protection is unique; formula cannot match the chemical makeup of human breast milk. In fact, among formula-fed babies, ear infections and diarrhea are more common. Formula-fed babies also have higher risks of:
◦Necrotizing (nek-roh-TEYE-zing) enterocolitis (en-TUR-oh-coh-lyt-iss), a disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract in preterm infants.
◦Lower respiratory infections
◦Asthma
◦Obesity
◦Type 2 diabetes
Some research shows that breastfeeding can also reduce the risk of Type 1 diabetes, childhood leukemia, and atopic dermatitis (a type of skin rash) in babies. Breastfeeding has also been shown to lower the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).


Feel free to check all over the place, you will find close to the same information.

:huh: guess my children are inferior species then... :yawn:

That's not what I was saying. At all. lol... All I was saying was that it is a proven fact that there are health benefits for babies who are breastfed. You brought it up, not me. :-) In fact, had you not brought up BF, I wouldn't have chimed in at all but, I am a big advocate for it. It seems too often, doctors don't encourage it or support it and push moms into formula.

I remember (with both kids) having the samples shoved at me in the hospital. And heck, in our doctors office, I was told they needed the room and my son needed to eat so, they moved me to the closet where they keep all the stacks of formula. I was a new mom and had I not been so determined to BF, I probably would have given up. It was hard.

I'm sorry I was ignorant and didn't check where you are from, but up here in the frozen tundra it is the opposite. In fact I had to beat them out of my room with a stick. My decision was purely selfish... I admit. I'll leave it at that.

ASPhantom

please - get your kid vax'd... there is no reason for chicken pox, mumps and measles today.
oh - and <gasp> I didn't BF my babies - they're 5 & 4 and each have been on an AB treatment ONCE in their life. I don't think BF will make your child healthier, but what you feed them will.

BF does make your child healthier. That is a fact.
Research it:

Breast milk fights disease – The cells, hormones, and antibodies in breast milk protect babies from illness. This protection is unique; formula cannot match the chemical makeup of human breast milk. In fact, among formula-fed babies, ear infections and diarrhea are more common. Formula-fed babies also have higher risks of:
◦Necrotizing (nek-roh-TEYE-zing) enterocolitis (en-TUR-oh-coh-lyt-iss), a disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract in preterm infants.
◦Lower respiratory infections
◦Asthma
◦Obesity
◦Type 2 diabetes
Some research shows that breastfeeding can also reduce the risk of Type 1 diabetes, childhood leukemia, and atopic dermatitis (a type of skin rash) in babies. Breastfeeding has also been shown to lower the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).


Feel free to check all over the place, you will find close to the same information.

:huh: guess my children are inferior species then... :yawn:

That's not what I was saying. At all. lol... All I was saying was that it is a proven fact that there are health benefits for babies who are breastfed. You brought it up, not me. :-) In fact, had you not brought up BF, I wouldn't have chimed in at all but, I am a big advocate for it. It seems too often, doctors don't encourage it or support it and push moms into formula.

I remember (with both kids) having the samples shoved at me in the hospital. And heck, in our doctors office, I was told they needed the room and my son needed to eat so, they moved me to the closet where they keep all the stacks of formula. I was a new mom and had I not been so determined to BF, I probably would have given up. It was hard.

I'm sorry I was ignorant and didn't check where you are from, but up here in the frozen tundra it is the opposite. In fact I had to beat them out of my room with a stick. My decision was purely selfish... I admit. I'll leave it at that.

No worries. We all make our own decisions and do what we think is best. It's tough no matter where you are. You stuck with what you wanted to do. That's interesting about it being the opposite.

Take care and have a good night.

ninerbuff

So this morning while driving my wife to the airport, I was listening to a topic on vaccinations and how some people who are adamant that vaccinations have cause more issues with illness (like Autism) and that natural foods can cure such diseases as whooping cough. One female stated that vaccinations are nothing more than a way for the Pharmacy companies to make big money. And her stance was that if vaccinations would be banned that we would have cured diseases by eating natural foods.
Now while I will agree that GREAT nutrition can help with boosting the immune system, I will emphatically disagree that the approach that eating natural foods will protect any child from diseases like measles, mumps, whooping cough, etc.

Thoughts?

I agree with the woman that was discussing this. Building natural immunity is the most important.

This was written by a Dr.......... http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james.htm

http://www.vaccinetruth.org/doctors_against_vaccines.htm

Sorry, but to read articles that aren't peer reviewed clinical studies don't sway me. The whole site is anti drug.

I do believe that natural immunity is important. I think over sanitizing your house and always cleaning your hands for every little thing doesn't allow a body to help build immunity, however if the body is attacked with a debilitating disease and you don't have a strong immune system (infants, toddlers, young children, elderly) then you can actually get really sick or even die. Your body won't have time to build up any immunity. Immunity is built over time by "exposing" ones self to weak forms bacteria and or viruses.

melholden10

natural immunity is important so is breastfeeding as it passes on antibodies to bacteria and viruses the mother has been exposed to in the environment the baby has been born into. Vaccination is also important it has irradicated disease the herd immunity is an important method of decreasing disease incidence but for it to work for things like measles over 80% of the population need to be vaccinated i think its over 93% as an ideal. The other thing to realise with vaccines is they are all different and work in different ways some don't stop you from getting the disease but they stop you from being able to spread the disease. The efficacy of a vaccine also depends on route of administration and what kind of vaccine it is live, dead, partial, modicated etc. Live vaccines obvioously will generally be the most efficacius but it relies on there being a closley related non virulant strain of the disease or being able to passage the virs/bacteria through cells to make it non virulent but then there is the risk of the virus returning to th evirulent strain which is why some 'vaccine viruses' have been documented

Flu vaccines don't always work because the flu virus can evolve so quickly the government choses what strain it thinks is most probable to occur this winter uses this vaccine and sometimes they get it wrong a different strain is more widespread and so people still get flu

Chickenpox is a herpes virus which means once you have had it the virus remains in your body it will be dormant until your body undergoes stress and then it will reappear as shingles this means you are actively shedding the chickenpox virus again!

Vaccines aren't 100% but at the end of the day I'd mch rather vaccinate then not when you look at the diseases you can get without vaccine.

Just_Dot

Why are vax important? Two words: herd immunity.

HotMamaByVday

please - get your kid vax'd... there is no reason for chicken pox, mumps and measles today.
oh - and <gasp> I didn't BF my babies - they're 5 & 4 and each have been on an AB treatment ONCE in their life. I don't think BF will make your child healthier, but what you feed them will.

BF does make your child healthier. That is a fact.
Research it:

Breast milk fights disease – The cells, hormones, and antibodies in breast milk protect babies from illness. This protection is unique; formula cannot match the chemical makeup of human breast milk. In fact, among formula-fed babies, ear infections and diarrhea are more common. Formula-fed babies also have higher risks of:
◦Necrotizing (nek-roh-TEYE-zing) enterocolitis (en-TUR-oh-coh-lyt-iss), a disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract in preterm infants.
◦Lower respiratory infections
◦Asthma
◦Obesity
◦Type 2 diabetes
Some research shows that breastfeeding can also reduce the risk of Type 1 diabetes, childhood leukemia, and atopic dermatitis (a type of skin rash) in babies. Breastfeeding has also been shown to lower the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).


Feel free to check all over the place, you will find close to the same information.

This!

BTW - I believe in breastfeeding but do understand when a mom is unable to do it. It is not easy and some women are just unable to deal with the emotional and physical "side effects." But at least try.

goatruns

Considering that when these illnesses came about, people ate healthier, it makes no sense. I have an autistic child and I'm on the fence in that regard. Flawed study or not, it's hard to let go of any possibility when you are looking for answers. That being said, my son has and will continue to have his vaccines. Part of this is a greater good issue. It's my job as a compassionate person to consider the greater good.

If I had better studies linking cause and effect, I'd refrain, but this is one go where my mind has to rule over my heart. Now, dog vaccines are atonally different topic, but those ARE a money maker. I am lucky enough to have a vet who follows VMA protocol and we vaccinate every three years, as needed with titers as a possibility. No Lyme or flu vaccine, just the basic three.

I'm not saying we don't have better health, but...not really if you look at groups that are still effected by diseases vaccines control. Forgive my rambling as this is all pre-coffee. My point is that those groups now, who can afford to 'eat for health ' probably stand a very low chance of getting a disease in the first place. Income gives you not only better food, but better care, etc.

edited to add" In other words, no I don't think food is a cure all. It can be a preventative to an extent, but it isn't a replacement for vaccination."

servilia

So this morning while driving my wife to the airport, I was listening to a topic on vaccinations and how some people who are adamant that vaccinations have cause more issues with illness (like Autism) and that natural foods can cure such diseases as whooping cough. One female stated that vaccinations are nothing more than a way for the Pharmacy companies to make big money. And her stance was that if vaccinations would be banned that we would have cured diseases by eating natural foods.
Now while I will agree that GREAT nutrition can help with boosting the immune system, I will emphatically disagree that the approach that eating natural foods will protect any child from diseases like measles, mumps, whooping cough, etc.

Thoughts?

I agree with you. The anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists are loonies and I pray to god that none of their kids will be in the same class with mine once I have any. Sorry for the strong words but I feel strongly about public health. Now, I don't believe in silly flu vaccines for normally healthy young people. But the basics, like mumps, measles, typhoid, etc - necessary, especially with the high rate of international travel these days.

Dtrmnd86

I agree that a natural food diet will benefit everyone, but saying ALL vaccines are not needed is taking it a bit too far. I selectively vaccinate my children. I research each one and decide whether they need it or not. I laughed when their dr told me there was a vaccine for chicken pocks. Seriously? Anyways, I don't think they should ban all immunizations, some are necessary. And saying that simply eating certain foods with help is crazy. It will give you a healthier body and possibly stronger immune system, but won't protect as well as a vaccine can.

fteale

Not getting your children vaccinated is irresponsible. Vaccines save lives, there really isn't any sane disputing of that. Eating well is invaluable and hopefully will help protect people from illness, but food is not medicine. It is fuel. Even the healthiest eaters can come down with a cold, or measles, or cancer.

I don't vaccinate for flu or even chickenpox, as some illnesses are needed to build up your immune system, but some, like smallpox....kind of needed eradicating!

bassettpig

On a different tack, I work as a medical transcriptionist and the health care system I work for is requiring ALL employees to get the flu shot this year or lose our jobs as of January 1. We have to "protect the patients." However, as I type the visit notes of these same patients, I see that about half of them choose to not get a flu shot themselves. I have not heard that any of our facilities are going to refuse to see patients who have not been vaccinated to "protect the other patients." I guess I lose my right to make the decision about what goes in MY body because I happen to have a healthcare related job, even tho I work from home and will never set foot in a clinic or hospital in a professional sense.

Want to bet on who loses the right to decide about this next? How about anyone employed in a school setting--teachers, janitors, school lunch ladies, bus drivers? How about grocery store workers--they handle your food? How about anyone working in a restaurant? How about all police and firefighters? Hell, why not just require it of EVERYONE--that way we are ALL "safe."

I agree w/the posters who said polio shots and the like are a good idea; flu shots, however, are a crap shoot as far as whether they will even cover whatever viruses happen to be around that year. AND you have to have one every year; it's not "one and done." Had this rule been in place when I started, I would never have taken this job. Is it fair for me to have to give up 7 years at this job and look for another one b/c some genius decided it would look good to say "oh, look, ALL our employees are vaccinated!" Do I sound angry and somewhat bitter? That's b/c I am. The patients can decide whether or not to take a med, have a procedure, get a vaccine. I lost that right somehow.

ninerbuff

Yeah I haven't ever taken advantage of the flu shot and in the last 7-8 years haven't had the flu and neither has my daughter or wife. And there isn't a guarantee the shot you're getting deals with the type of flu virus that may end up being spread around.

MSDRIZZ

I immunized my children. That being said: my biological children (who are grown) had there shots spread out more then they do now. The theory now is that parents forget so give as many as you can when they do come to the doctors. I don't think this is as safe as spreading them out. I don't think they cause Autism, but they CAN in certain children trigger severe allergies if given too much at once. I also think we need to know what shots are being given. We should know what is being put in our children's bodies and weigh the risks and benefits. I personally think the benefits outweigh the risks for most immunizations. My foster sons doctor gave him the chicken pox vaccine then asked me to sign for it. I do not think the chicken pox vaccine is a good thing, because it only lasts 10 years and how many of these kids will remember a booster as adults or teens. I had chicken pox with my children while hubby was deployed to Somalia for the Army. I was VERY sick and the doctor told me it is much worse for adults. I also had Shingles a few years ago and the doctor said its more likely to get this if you had chicken pox as an adult. Just my opinion.

You do not have to get the Chicken Pox vaccine (Varicella) every 10 years. This is not true. I never got chicken pox so I had the vaccine when I was 13 because they didn't want me to get it when I was older. Now everyone is vaccinated with it and it comes in two doses. No doctor has ever told me that I have to be revaccinated for it.

Sorry but it IS true. Perhaps you need a more informed doctor.

MSDRIZZ

Not getting your children vaccinated is irresponsible. Vaccines save lives, there really isn't any sane disputing of that. Eating well is invaluable and hopefully will help protect people from illness, but food is not medicine. It is fuel. Even the healthiest eaters can come down with a cold, or measles, or cancer.

I don't vaccinate for flu or even chickenpox, as some illnesses are needed to build up your immune system, but some, like smallpox....kind of needed eradicating!

Exactly, just be informed and pick and choose. Make decisions based on your own research. Don't just get every shot that comes out.