- Mar 2, 2006
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Decided to start a new thread because it is not exactly on the topic of McDonalds, and because maybe other people have opinions on the topic.
Here is my take:
The most useful book I came across on vaccines is "The Vaccine Book" by Robert Sears. He is a pediatrician who presents a book that is neither for nor against vaccines, it just gives all the facts. I found this to be the most useful approach.
There is no doubt that autism is on the rise, and there is evidence to suggest that it is because of vaccines, but there is certainly no concrete proof of this yet.
The most important points from his book:
There are millions of germs that everyone is exposed to everyday, and vaccines cover only a tiny fraction of 1% of germs. The key to preventing infectious diseases (and vaccine reactions) is a healthy immune system. Here are his ways to ensure healthy immune systems in children:
Breastfeed minimum of 1 year, 2 years is better
Minimize sugar and junk food
Minimize other chemical exposures he suggest organic food as much as possible, as a baby's growing brain and immune system is very susceptible to chemical influences
Use omega-3 oil supplements make sure they are mercury free, but most children are deficient in fish oils
Probiotics he suggest using them for a couple weeks before and after vaccines to or if your child has to go on antibiotics for any reason
Fruits and vegetables
Vitamin A help neurological health and regulates immune systems response to infections. some researchers think it helps protect the brain from vaccine side effects (he says give 3 days before and 10 days after vaccines)
Vitamin C once a day for 5 days starting on the day of the shots
OK...on to the specific vaccines - here is his order of reactivity, from least to most reactive:
HIB
Polio
DTaP
Pc
Chickenpox
Hep B
Hep A
MMR
Meningococcal
Flu
rotavirus and HPV he said are too new for him to know about
He has chapters on each vaccine talking about all their side effects etc.
Here are a few stats:
There is a 1 in 2600 chance that your child will suffer a severe reaction if he/she gets the entire recommended vaccine schedule (39 shots over 12 years)
There is a 1 in 600 chance that your child will suffer a severe case of vaccine-preventable illness in the first twelve years of life
Here are the risks of contracting each disease severely (for infants):
HIB (app. 25 cases a year, or 1 in 200,000) beyond age 2, risk is 0
Pc (10,000 cases a year, or 1 in 500), rare beyond age 2
Pertussis - whooping cough (1500 cases a year, 1 in 3333), beyond age 1, risk is 0
Rotavirus (50,000 cases a year, 1 in 100), rare beyond age 2
Flu (20,000 cases a year, 1 in 250), most risky for kids under age 2
Meningococcal (2500 cases a year, 2 in 2000), vaccine not available for infants
Hep B (130 cases, 1 in 40,000), riskier for teens and college-age kids
Chickenpox (200 cases, 1 in 25,000)
Tetanus (virtually unheard of)
Diphtheria (no risk)
MMR (virtually no risk)
Hep A (extremely rare)
Polio (no risk in America)
HPV (0 before sexual activity)
So...the vaccines we decided to give Augusta were based upon the chances that she would get a severe case of the disease, and it's reactivity. Obviously, some of these risk factors will change if you travel internationally (Polio, for example, is in some foreign countries still). While there is no mercury in shots anymore, my other concern was the amount of aluminum in each shot. There have not been any studies about how aluminum affects infants, so they don't really know. But the American Academy of Pediatrics does say that aluminum can cause neurological harm and the FDA says that preemie babies should not get more than 10-25 mcg of aluminum at one time. Yet many shots have 200+ mcg of aluminum each, and since a lot of vaccines are administered on the same day, that can mean upwards of 1000 mcg of aluminum per vaccine round! For an infant to have more than 30 mcg of aluminum in the bloodstream would be toxic if the kidneys were not functioning well. Although the aluminum in vaccines is slowly diffused into the bloodstream over a period of time, this is still a bit scary since no studies have been done on the affect of aluminum.
When I asked my nurse about the amount of aluminum that was in the shot she was ordering up for our daughter, she said it didn't have any aluminum, but it did, according to the manufacturers ingredient list. This just shows that personal research is necessary to really understand what you are giving your children.
Anyway, there are a lot of things to take into consideration - for example, we decided to get the DTaP, because Pertussis is VERY common in Boulder County because a lot of people don't vaccinate. We did not get rotavirus, even though it is very common, because she is not in daycare and she is breastfeeding so her chances of getting this are greatly reduced.
I absolutely will never get a flu shot and will never get one for her either. Although I never want her to get sick, I do believe that getting some mild illnesses is actually good for the immune system as it learns to fight off disease.
If you or your wife have any other questions, just let me know.
Best to you and the little one!
Here is my take:
The most useful book I came across on vaccines is "The Vaccine Book" by Robert Sears. He is a pediatrician who presents a book that is neither for nor against vaccines, it just gives all the facts. I found this to be the most useful approach.
There is no doubt that autism is on the rise, and there is evidence to suggest that it is because of vaccines, but there is certainly no concrete proof of this yet.
The most important points from his book:
There are millions of germs that everyone is exposed to everyday, and vaccines cover only a tiny fraction of 1% of germs. The key to preventing infectious diseases (and vaccine reactions) is a healthy immune system. Here are his ways to ensure healthy immune systems in children:
Breastfeed minimum of 1 year, 2 years is better
Minimize sugar and junk food
Minimize other chemical exposures he suggest organic food as much as possible, as a baby's growing brain and immune system is very susceptible to chemical influences
Use omega-3 oil supplements make sure they are mercury free, but most children are deficient in fish oils
Probiotics he suggest using them for a couple weeks before and after vaccines to or if your child has to go on antibiotics for any reason
Fruits and vegetables
Vitamin A help neurological health and regulates immune systems response to infections. some researchers think it helps protect the brain from vaccine side effects (he says give 3 days before and 10 days after vaccines)
Vitamin C once a day for 5 days starting on the day of the shots
OK...on to the specific vaccines - here is his order of reactivity, from least to most reactive:
HIB
Polio
DTaP
Pc
Chickenpox
Hep B
Hep A
MMR
Meningococcal
Flu
rotavirus and HPV he said are too new for him to know about
He has chapters on each vaccine talking about all their side effects etc.
Here are a few stats:
There is a 1 in 2600 chance that your child will suffer a severe reaction if he/she gets the entire recommended vaccine schedule (39 shots over 12 years)
There is a 1 in 600 chance that your child will suffer a severe case of vaccine-preventable illness in the first twelve years of life
Here are the risks of contracting each disease severely (for infants):
HIB (app. 25 cases a year, or 1 in 200,000) beyond age 2, risk is 0
Pc (10,000 cases a year, or 1 in 500), rare beyond age 2
Pertussis - whooping cough (1500 cases a year, 1 in 3333), beyond age 1, risk is 0
Rotavirus (50,000 cases a year, 1 in 100), rare beyond age 2
Flu (20,000 cases a year, 1 in 250), most risky for kids under age 2
Meningococcal (2500 cases a year, 2 in 2000), vaccine not available for infants
Hep B (130 cases, 1 in 40,000), riskier for teens and college-age kids
Chickenpox (200 cases, 1 in 25,000)
Tetanus (virtually unheard of)
Diphtheria (no risk)
MMR (virtually no risk)
Hep A (extremely rare)
Polio (no risk in America)
HPV (0 before sexual activity)
So...the vaccines we decided to give Augusta were based upon the chances that she would get a severe case of the disease, and it's reactivity. Obviously, some of these risk factors will change if you travel internationally (Polio, for example, is in some foreign countries still). While there is no mercury in shots anymore, my other concern was the amount of aluminum in each shot. There have not been any studies about how aluminum affects infants, so they don't really know. But the American Academy of Pediatrics does say that aluminum can cause neurological harm and the FDA says that preemie babies should not get more than 10-25 mcg of aluminum at one time. Yet many shots have 200+ mcg of aluminum each, and since a lot of vaccines are administered on the same day, that can mean upwards of 1000 mcg of aluminum per vaccine round! For an infant to have more than 30 mcg of aluminum in the bloodstream would be toxic if the kidneys were not functioning well. Although the aluminum in vaccines is slowly diffused into the bloodstream over a period of time, this is still a bit scary since no studies have been done on the affect of aluminum.
When I asked my nurse about the amount of aluminum that was in the shot she was ordering up for our daughter, she said it didn't have any aluminum, but it did, according to the manufacturers ingredient list. This just shows that personal research is necessary to really understand what you are giving your children.
Anyway, there are a lot of things to take into consideration - for example, we decided to get the DTaP, because Pertussis is VERY common in Boulder County because a lot of people don't vaccinate. We did not get rotavirus, even though it is very common, because she is not in daycare and she is breastfeeding so her chances of getting this are greatly reduced.
I absolutely will never get a flu shot and will never get one for her either. Although I never want her to get sick, I do believe that getting some mild illnesses is actually good for the immune system as it learns to fight off disease.
If you or your wife have any other questions, just let me know.
Best to you and the little one!
