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Did You / Would You Vax Your Child?

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Replies

  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
    Dnarules wrote: »
    I most certainly would! Growing up, you weren't allowed to attend school or participate in intramurals without proof that you "had all your shots."

    Is there a link between vax and asd / downs? MAYBE
    Has it been 100% Proven? NOPE
    Are there blatantly ignorant people wasting air? YESSIR


    Study after study has shown no link to autism. And downs is a chromosomal disorder.

    Yes, my kids are vaccinated.

    I agree there is no direct established link between autism and vaccinations. Never the less most of us have been touched by autism one way or another. Here is a doctor at a recent medical convention talking about autism research going on at this time. It does seem to be diet related at least in part.

    https://youtu.be/cw4vbkD9lIg
  • FunkyTobias
    FunkyTobias Posts: 1,776 Member
    Dnarules wrote: »
    I most certainly would! Growing up, you weren't allowed to attend school or participate in intramurals without proof that you "had all your shots."

    Is there a link between vax and asd / downs? MAYBE
    Has it been 100% Proven? NOPE
    Are there blatantly ignorant people wasting air? YESSIR


    Study after study has shown no link to autism. And downs is a chromosomal disorder.

    Yes, my kids are vaccinated.

    I agree there is no direct established link between autism and vaccinations. Never the less most of us have been touched by autism one way or another. Here is a doctor at a recent medical convention talking about autism research going on at this time. It does seem to be diet related at least in part.

    https://youtu.be/cw4vbkD9lIg

    How is this related to vaccines? At all?

  • htimpaired
    htimpaired Posts: 1,404 Member
    “Ignorant non-vaccinators”? Wow Positivepowers, you sure area a negative caregiver. The WHO’s mission involves global concerns, with no concern for your individual child. Here is a study for you.

    Medical Model Errors
    Preventable medical errors by doctors and nurses persist as the No. 3 killer in the U.S. – third only to heart disease and cancer – claiming the lives of some 400,000 people each year.


    So as you can guess, I did not vaccinate my kids. They are now healthy, lean, nice young men who participated in school, sports and anything else they desired. My decision was based on much study and research. It was not an “ignorant” choice. Ignorant would have been me blindly following orders. I do not judge those who decided to vaccinate their kids. We are all doing what we believe is best.

    My oldest kid got vaccinated two weeks ago. He is starting college and elected to get the shots. He is going into nursing. I hope his experiences help him to be a little more open-minded and kind than some others here.

    What does medical errors have to do with vaccines? Medical errors are in reference to administering the wrong medication, or amputating the wrong limb, that kinda stuff.

    I have a friend who had polio as a child from living in an orphanage in India where vaccines were not available. The lasting affects of the illness are devasting to her. It's a horrible illness, and if society can irradicate it through a simple vaccine, why shouldn't they? Unless some people like experiencing the wasting of their limbs?
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    ziggy2006 wrote: »
    Sorry to double post, but I forgot to add that, yes, I vaccinated my children. I stay up to date on my own vaccinations, especially my annual flu shot.

    I also make sure my dogs are vaccinated - believe it or not, the ideas behind antivaccination are now starting to infiltrate the veterinary world. Yeah, there are people even choosing not to vaccinate their pets for rabies - it is quite alarming!

    Choosing never to vaccinate your pets for rabies is very bad. But, choosing to not get the later in life rabies vaccine is not. Current rabies vaccines once properly given and boosted, confer immunity for years (if it ever sero-converted; and if it didn't you could give the vaccine until the cows come home and they wouldn't be immune). Current evidence suggests the immunity is conferred for life, but that's not yet generally accepted. Plus, rabies is one of the vaccines with potentially really nasty reactions.

    Once my exclusively indoor cats get to be seniors, I don't give them rabies vax anymore. Once the dog, who's on a 3-year program, gets to be a senior I'll probably take him off, too. But, since he goes outside, I'd be checking his immunity with regular antibody titers.
  • WYMANT0004
    WYMANT0004 Posts: 81 Member
    edited April 2016
    Granted, this graphic is about a decade old so the numbers are a bit off due to the upswing in the anti-vax movement but even accounting for that I do not understand how anyone rational could look at it and still claim that vaccines are a bad thing

    1secnuussaoi.jpg


    As for my, yes I am vaccinated. Hell, I have had vaccines the general public does not generally get (how many of you have had prophylactic rabies vaccines??) simply because there is small but not insignificant chance of me possibly being exposed and the ounce of prevention is worth it to me.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
    Dnarules wrote: »
    I most certainly would! Growing up, you weren't allowed to attend school or participate in intramurals without proof that you "had all your shots."

    Is there a link between vax and asd / downs? MAYBE
    Has it been 100% Proven? NOPE
    Are there blatantly ignorant people wasting air? YESSIR


    Study after study has shown no link to autism. And downs is a chromosomal disorder.

    Yes, my kids are vaccinated.

    I agree there is no direct established link between autism and vaccinations. Never the less most of us have been touched by autism one way or another. Here is a doctor at a recent medical convention talking about autism research going on at this time. It does seem to be diet related at least in part.

    https://youtu.be/cw4vbkD9lIg

    How is this related to vaccines? At all?

    It supports the quoted post. There is no medical research that I have reviewed that draws a connection between autism and vaccinations in a direct provable way. There is medical research showing diet/gut microbes seem to play a role as one cause as to why our kids may develop autism and how diet may help mange it like other neurological medical issues.
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
    I can see both sides of the vaccination equation. My kids are vaccinated but we do so on an individual shot basis rather than the combo ones now. I firmly believe that the MMR did "something" to my now 17 year old son. Before kindergarten (or around that time), he was still getting the combo shots. His personality changed afterward. He went from bubbly and inquisitive to quiet and almost mute for a while. He did not have any autistic tendencies before kindergarten and that last set of combo shots. Now, he has a formal diagnosis of Aspergers and an anxiety disorder. We finally started homeschooling him after elementary school due to too many issues. Today, he is still quiet but is somewhat normal socially (at least at first introduction). It is only when you are around him a while that you truly see something "off." We learned from his issues and stopped the combo shots with his younger brother.

    Our family does not take the flu shot. I am 44 and have never had the flu and neither have my kids. My hubby has only had the flu those times in the Navy when the flu shot was a requirement. When my mother got the shot, she got the flu. She had to get the shot when she was a teacher. 4 years ago, she retired so she stopped getting the flu shot. Guess what? She has not had the flu since! I work with a nonprofit that deals with young boys so I have been around 200+ boys each week for about 17 years. About 10 years ago, I started keeping records of when the boys got sick. It seems that a whopping 93% of the boys who got the flu shot ended up getting the flu. Yeah, this is purely anecdotal but it has been consistent for ten years now!

    I evaluate on a case by case basis and for the most part am pro-vaccine - with some caveats like the single shot at a time versus the combo shots.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    tlflag1620 wrote: »
    You cannot get the flu from the flu shot. It is an inactivated virus. The nasal spray, otoh, is a live virus, and it is theoretically possible to get the flu from that, but that is very rare. More than likely, if 93% of the boys you deal with who got the flu shot also got the flu, that means either

    1. They had a really bad cold that they reported as the "flu" or
    2. They contracted the flu before their shot took effect (takes 7-14 days for influenza to incubate, and two weeks for the shot to reach full effectiveness) or
    3. They happened to get a strain of influenza that that year's shot wasn't protecting against or
    4. 78% of statistics are made up on the spot

    I'm betting on a combination of all of the above. But mostly numbers 1 and 4.

    Fwiw - I never got the flu shot until I was 28 years old. Never had the flu. Been getting the flu shot yearly since then. Still never had the flu. So long as we're doing informal "studies".

    Regarding point 3: the flu shot does not protect against every flu virus running around each year, it protects against the most virulent ones going around, ie the ones most likely to cause serious illness or death. That is a misconception about the flu shot. Many people assume it is supposed to protect against ALL influenza. You might still get the flu but you are much less likely to get a strain of flu that can kill you.
  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    tlflag1620 wrote: »
    You cannot get the flu from the flu shot. It is an inactivated virus. The nasal spray, otoh, is a live virus, and it is theoretically possible to get the flu from that, but that is very rare. More than likely, if 93% of the boys you deal with who got the flu shot also got the flu, that means either

    1. They had a really bad cold that they reported as the "flu" or
    2. They contracted the flu before their shot took effect (takes 7-14 days for influenza to incubate, and two weeks for the shot to reach full effectiveness) or
    3. They happened to get a strain of influenza that that year's shot wasn't protecting against or
    4. 78% of statistics are made up on the spot

    I'm betting on a combination of all of the above. But mostly numbers 1 and 4.

    Fwiw - I never got the flu shot until I was 28 years old. Never had the flu. Been getting the flu shot yearly since then. Still never had the flu. So long as we're doing informal "studies".

    Regarding point 3: the flu shot does not protect against every flu virus running around each year, it protects against the most virulent ones going around, ie the ones most likely to cause serious illness or death. That is a misconception about the flu shot. Many people assume it is supposed to protect against ALL influenza. You might still get the flu but you are much less likely to get a strain of flu that can kill you.

    Exactly. Most flu shots protect against the three strains TPTB are most concerned about that year (there is a new one that offers protection against four strains). "They" don't always get it right, and there are lots of different strains, so it is possible to get the flu despite getting the shot, but I question the "statistic" that 93% of the boys who got the shot also got the flu. Unless they were actually tested, self reporting in this area sucks. So many people mistake a severe cold or a stomach bug (which despite being coined "stomach flu" isn't related to influenza at all) as having "the flu". And so then you get people running around thinking the flu shot gave them the flu (derp) or that the flu shot doesn't work (derp some more).

  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
    tlflag1620 wrote: »
    You cannot get the flu from the flu shot. It is an inactivated virus. The nasal spray, otoh, is a live virus, and it is theoretically possible to get the flu from that, but that is very rare. More than likely, if 93% of the boys you deal with who got the flu shot also got the flu, that means either

    1. They had a really bad cold that they reported as the "flu" or
    2. They contracted the flu before their shot took effect (takes 7-14 days for influenza to incubate, and two weeks for the shot to reach full effectiveness) or
    3. They happened to get a strain of influenza that that year's shot wasn't protecting against or
    4. 78% of statistics are made up on the spot

    I'm betting on a combination of all of the above. But mostly numbers 1 and 4.

    Fwiw - I never got the flu shot until I was 28 years old. Never had the flu. Been getting the flu shot yearly since then. Still never had the flu. So long as we're doing informal "studies".

    All of your points make sense but I just have a hard time with over 10 years of coincidences. Just like with all scientific studies, findings can be interpreted many ways. While I can believe what you are saying, I cannot necessarily reconcile certain things when I witness them first hand year after year. My first 7 years of employment, I watched our boys get sick and get well and it was almost cyclical. Sure, there are the waves when you get clusters of kids getting strep, etc. But around flu shot season? Our illnesses always spiked at that time. It was so noticeable that we devised a questionnaire for our parents to fill out and we have been doing this for the past 10 years. That is when we noticed that most of the boys that got flu shots, got sick soon after. Those boys that did not get the shot during those key times did not get the flu. They did get sick with other things but not the flu. My statistics are based on hard copy questionnaires from the parents of our boys. Sure, it is a small sampling of a larger population but we were concerned about all of this because our organization is performing arts which depends on having our boys healthy.
  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
    edited April 2016
    shell1005 wrote: »
    I do not get the flu from the flu shot. I do however always get a reaction to it. I am sore, sick and get a low grade temperature. I would rather wash my hands with regularity, avoid people I know are infected and take my chances with the flu....then get a shot I know is going to make me feel like garbage. My choice.

    The sore arm is typical after any shot. The feeling a bit sick and a low grade temp - congrats! You had an immune response. That's what is supposed to happen. If you'd rather trade feeling a bit off for a day or two following a shot for spending the first week thinking you are dying and the second week wishing you were dying (that's the flu) have at it. But keep in mind that the flu has at least a seven day incubation period where people have it and can pass it on to you, all the while appearing healthy (asymptomatic). So, no, you can't really "avoid people you know are infected" and expect that to work - by the time you know someone is infected, it's too late. Me, I care more about my young children, the immunocomprimised, and the elderly (all of which are groups for whom the flu is most likely to be deadly) than about me feeling a tad punky and having a stiff arm for a day or two. Not to mention I can't afford to be severely ill for two weeks or more (and that's assuming you don't develop complications like pneumonia). My choice.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
    The sad thing is we have nothing but four pages of personal opinions.

    We are glad polio is gone from much of the world. We know anything in the way of food and chemicals we put into our bodies can cause a negative reaction.

    There is no medical proof vaccines are safe and effective. We know hygiene has reduced death by disease. We know better how to support our immune systems and could go on and on.

    Those of us who have options can try to learn the best risk/reward ratio and act. Those of us without options will just go along for the ride.

    Hopefully with sites like MFP coming online more health related data will be aggregated and we will gain new meaningful data that can result in less and less disease and health issues in general.

    Do we want to go back to the old days? I do not personally but I would like to understand if what we are doing today is the best approach or if there is a better way to prevent disease. We know diet and hygiene are two factors that many of us can fully manage today. Do we use that prevention to the max? I can not say with integrity I am interested in my child's health because I have him fully vaccinated if he is 100 pounds overweight when he graduates from high school can I?
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    You can be the healthiest, most hygienic person and still step on a nail and die an agonizing death from tetanus.

    You can eat a healthy diet and wash your hands until the skin falls off and still lose an infant to pertussis contracted from someone shedding the virus.

    Just saying.
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