quick- need answer.

[Amandamanda]

this might be a really dumb question, but are the vaccines the same in the United States as they are everywhere else in the world? i'm writing my thesis paper on "the safety and neccesity of routine infant vaccinations" obviously from an anti-vax standpoint and i have great information regarding the pertussis vax in new zealand. since my teacher is very pro vax, and told me so when i turned in my proposal paper, i know he will question every single little bit of info i put out there.

thanks in advance, and any other statistics you wanna throw at me would be much appreciated. :

[buttercupmama]

I don't have firsthand knowledge, but a book I recently read--Raising a Vaccine Free Child--was authored by a woman who previously lived in NZ, currently in Australia, and she says it's all the same as they just try to mimic America.

[bri276]

even though the vaccine itself is the same type, the short answer is, no, not necessarily- different brands could be used and they may have different ingredients, from different lots, etc. I'd try and find the brand and look that up to see where it's used.

[alegna]

As a general rule, yes.

There are a few brand differences. And there are a few like polio- here we use the IPV now, some places still use the OPV. Rotavirus isn't used much outside north America... Chickenpox is not routine most places outside the US... etc.

-Angela

[Gitti]

The vaccine producers are not necessarily all American companies. They are world conglomerates.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ical_companies

[Gitti]

How about charts?

THis deals in death rates before the vaccine and how they declined -

http://www.healthsentinel.com/graphs...rint_list_item

Click on each chart to enlarge it.

[carriebft]

I think the only area of discussion that you would have differences in between countries would be:

1) vaccines on the schedule:
-some countries use combo vaxes almost completely while others still use the single ones
-some have vaccines like BCG, OPV, and DTP (DTP is highly reactive and there is a lot of evidence of harm with that one, but it is no longer used in the USA, for example) are not used in all countries

2) brands/ingredients
-some countries use different brands and different brands use different ingredients
-also the combo vax thing would create differences in ingredients as well
-some developing nations are still getting older vaccines/ countries without laws against things like thimerosal are probably getting vaccine with that in it

[applejuice]

I know that the P portion of the DPT is different in Japan. Japan has a different vax schedule also, and their infant mortality is less than ours, markedly. They wait until the child is older. I seem to recall that they wait until the baby is a year old. It may have changed since I did my research when my babies were little and they are grown now.

You may also want to research the vaccine schedule of each country.