Saying No to Vaccinations

Have you seriously never read the pamphlet that has come with ANY prescription you have ever received (including your birth control)? By law, every and any possible side effect MUST be listed. You can thank the FDA for that. I can only think you have NOT ever read a pamphlet of side effects, if you have this kind of a reaction to these ads.

Exactly. If only one person experiences a side effect -- out of millions, even -- it has to be listed.

You're all mostly Americans, huh? While I'm definitely an advocate of vaccinations for children against serious diseases (MMR specifically), I really had no idea that it was the 'done' thing in the US for normal adults to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu. In the UK, only certain at risk groups receive this vaccination, for example, the elderly, front line health care workers and the immune-suppressed. I don't think I've ever had the flu either. My flatmate had it last winter though and although he was bedridden for half a week, he got over it and I honestly had no idea that this was something people felt the need to be vaccinated against!

It isn't required for the general public, but it's offered.

And some generally look at you funny if you don't get the shot. When people find out I don't get the shot here, they actually say I'm selfish to not do so. :huh:

You're all mostly Americans, huh? While I'm definitely an advocate of vaccinations for children against serious diseases (MMR specifically), I really had no idea that it was the 'done' thing in the US for normal adults to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu. In the UK, only certain at risk groups receive this vaccination, for example, the elderly, front line health care workers and the immune-suppressed. I don't think I've ever had the flu either. My flatmate had it last winter though and although he was bedridden for half a week, he got over it and I honestly had no idea that this was something people felt the need to be vaccinated against!

It isn't required for the general public, but it's offered.

Going by this thread (which I know isn't necessarily a reflection of the average American), it seems as though most people choose to get it though, would you say that's true? That it's a normal thing for a healthy adult to get the flu vaccination? This is just really interesting to me!

It's very common, yes.

So common, you can walk into pretty much any grocery store and get one for a very low price.

You're all mostly Americans, huh? While I'm definitely an advocate of vaccinations for children against serious diseases (MMR specifically), I really had no idea that it was the 'done' thing in the US for normal adults to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu. In the UK, only certain at risk groups receive this vaccination, for example, the elderly, front line health care workers and the immune-suppressed. I don't think I've ever had the flu either. My flatmate had it last winter though and although he was bedridden for half a week, he got over it and I honestly had no idea that this was something people felt the need to be vaccinated against!

It isn't required for the general public, but it's offered.

Going by this thread (which I know isn't necessarily a reflection of the average American), it seems as though most people choose to get it though, would you say that's true? That it's a normal thing for a healthy adult to get the flu vaccination? This is just really interesting to me!

Yes, healthy people get the vaccine. As a side note, there are many places of business that require their employees to get the flu vaccine, namely day cares, schools, healthcare facilities, and the military.

Also, in the UK, getting chickenpox is seen as a rite of passage in childhood! The chickenpox vaccination isn't part of the normal vaccine schedule. Again, I didn't know that it was in the US! Learn something new everyday!

That started being required for school 10-15 yeas ago.

My daughter is 19 and it came out after she was born and wasn't required until a couple years after she started kindergarten. But she'd already had the pox, so she didn't get the vaccine.

Right. Those are potential side effects for a specific treatment for a specific disease (rheumatoid arthritis) with a new type of therapy. Basically, you are trying to stop your own immune system from attacking yourself (which can lead to RA), so yes, it's not a surprise that there may be some side effects on the immune system itself.

As a biomedical researcher, I would love to be able to make drugs to treat every possible human condition that had zero side effects. Unfortunately, given our current level of knowledge, that simply isn't possible. So, we list all the possible side effects (and the FDA ensures that these records are kept before a drug is released and after) and try to let people along with their doctor make informed decisions by weighing the risks with the benefits.

This goes for vaccines too. Unfortunately, people like Jenny McCarthy have been very successful at getting a lot of mis-information out there. You can't make an informed decision if you give equal weight to her lies as you do to actual scientific knowledge.

I just wanted to say that Jenny McCarthy has had to back track on her stance, because it turns out her son does not, in fact, have autism. Is she still anti-vacc even so?

I have several perspectives on this issue and thus, haven't really formed a solid opinion.

Shortly after my parents adopted me at age 5 months, I ended up with bacterial meningitis. Antibiotics were attempted and I had a nearly fatal reaction to penicillin and sulfa. No more of either of those for me, and thus it was decided no vaccines for me since any reaction could not be safely countered.

smaihlee says "Vaccinations BAD"

My mom instilled me with a very healthy fear of drugs--both good and bad ones. As an adult, I appreciate this but have also developed a very healthy fear of diseases. I'm a bit of a germophobe but also get freaked out by measles and chicken pox.

My son has Asperger Syndrome (high functioning Autism) and I've heard the whole "vaccines cause Autism" line. While it would be really easy for me to buy into this theory, I just haven't seen enough evidence to convince me that I may have inadvertently allowed this to happen by simply following the recommended course of vaccines.

About 10 years ago, a distant relative died from serious lung issues that resulted from complications of chicken pox (which he caught from his daughter).

smaihlee says "Vaccinations GOOD"

The flu shot is the one thing I just haven't bought into. I know there are some high-risk individuals who really need to get the shot to protect their life, but the whole thing seems like such a crap shoot. My son got the flu a few years back. We knew within a few hours of the first symptoms what was going on, got him to his dr. ASAP for Tamiflu, and hubs and I both got rx for Tamiflu at a preventive dose.

smaihlee says "Vaccinations BAD"

Honestly, there's so much bad **** out there it's really quite depressing if you sit and think about it. I choose to do my thing and educate myself as much as practicable, but also not beat myself up if I find out I've done something which turns out to be bad.

Got my Flu shot today! Not dead yet lol.

This has been a good read! I suppose I'm not as pro-vaccination as I thought I was. I'm glad that I've been vaccinated against all that I have but I have no intention of ever getting the flu vaccination and neither do I intend to get any of my theoretical future children vaccinated against chickenpox... Different strokes for different folks though!!

After years of speaking out about her son’s autism — and against childhood immunizations — Jenny McCarthy is reversing her position.

After years of speaking publicly about her belief that MMR shots (immunization for measles, mumps, and rubella) caused her son to suffer from autism, Jenny McCarthy now faces the reality that her 7-year-old son Evan — who no longer shows any signs of autism — may likely have lived with completely different illness.

A new article in Time magazine — which Jenny was interviewed for — suggests Evan suffers from Landau-Kleffner syndrome, “a rare childhood neurological disorder that can also result in speech impairment and possible long-term neurological damage.”

Many applaud Jenny, who has never stopped fighting to help her son since his autism diagnosis in 2005. Others, like the Center of Disease Control, say her claims about immunizations make her “a menace to public health.”

Jenny talks about her son’s progress saying, “Evan couldn’t talk — now he talks. Evan couldn’t make eye contact — now he makes eye contact. Evan was anti-social — now he makes friends. It was amazing to watch … when something didn’t work for Evan, I didn’t stop. I stopped that treatment, but I didn’t stop.”

And she is also reversing her initial position that the MMR shots caused Evan’s autism. Jenny now says she wants vaccinations better researched — rather than getting rid of them altogether, as she previously promoted. And though her son may never have had autism, Jenny insists, “I’ll continue to be the voice” of the disorder.

http://hollywoodlife.com/2010/02/26/jenny-mccarthy-says-her-son-evan-never-had-autism/

Ah. Thanks. I hadn't seen that. I don't really follow that stuff closely but you know how it creeps into mainstream news!

Right. Those are potential side effects for a specific treatment for a specific disease (rheumatoid arthritis) with a new type of therapy. Basically, you are trying to stop your own immune system from attacking yourself (which can lead to RA), so yes, it's not a surprise that there may be some side effects on the immune system itself.

As a biomedical researcher, I would love to be able to make drugs to treat every possible human condition that had zero side effects. Unfortunately, given our current level of knowledge, that simply isn't possible. So, we list all the possible side effects (and the FDA ensures that these records are kept before a drug is released and after) and try to let people along with their doctor make informed decisions by weighing the risks with the benefits.

This goes for vaccines too. Unfortunately, people like Jenny McCarthy have been very successful at getting a lot of mis-information out there. You can't make an informed decision if you give equal weight to her lies as you do to actual scientific knowledge.

I just wanted to say that Jenny McCarthy has had to back track on her stance, because it turns out her son does not, in fact, have autism. Is she still anti-vacc even so?

I think so: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-jenny-mccarthy-abc-view-vaccines-20130909,0,5025477.story

And don't forget the Body Count:

http://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com/Anti-Vaccine_Body_Count/Home.html