One more hib question...

[stacey05]

For those of you who decide not to vaccinate against hib...how do you live with that decision? What I mean is, how do you justify it? Are you just hoping your child doesn't get it? I guess I could ask this about prevnar too? The other diseases don't worry me as much since you can study them and know how to treat them for the best possiblle outcomes. I guess I just worry about meningitis because it is not something you can really be comfortable with and feel good that you know how to treat it. Do you know what I mean? So, do you just basically hope your child doesn't get it or are you going on other factors that make you feel comfortable in not getting it? I am leaning towards not getting it, but I don't know how to feel comfortable with my decision and I hate to think I will be worrying about till he's 5...he is 20 months now! I worry about hib and I couldn't figure out why I don't worry about the diseases that prevnar protects against since those are more common, right? Maybe because, in my mind, prevnar has more bad reactions. I hope I am making some sense, I am very tired of thinking about this!! LOL

Stacey

[Jugs]

Two words: serotype replacement. I can't justify leaving them more susceptable to other invasive bacterial diseases. I'm reducing my toddler's susceptability to ALL invasive bacterial diseases by breastfeeding, and my preschooler by maintaining his healthy gut flora. Is that a fail-safe approach? No, but neither is the vaccine, so I educate myself on how to recognize these infections so we can get timely medical attention.

[makuahine]

I thought long and hard about this vaccine as well, but am nearly one hundred percent sure I'm not going to do it. The serotype replacement is definitely a factor. It's also frightening to know that she would be more susceptible to hib for a little while after getting the shots. There have also been studies (sorry, I don't have references on me now but could get them to you if you want them) linking hib vaccines to a rise in childhood type one diabetes, and since my DH was just diagnosed with type one diabetes last year my dd already has an increased risk of developing it and I don't want to add to that risk. Finally, after deliberating about this vaccine for months I called my mom and asked her if when I was a baby she worried about hib disease (they didn't vaccinate for it in 1980). She said that she hadn't even heard of it. And I'm pretty sure now that, because the vaccine is in fact effective at preventing hib, it is less prevalent than it was in the early 80's, though other strains of hi (which there aren't vaccines for anyways) are getting more common. I still worry about it, though, since this is a scary disease, but I decided in the end that the dangers of the vaccine are greater than her chance of ever getting the disease. Good luck!

[mysticmomma]

None of the diseases worry me enough in terms of treatment available enough to use a vax that may or may not work but comes along with a host of other possible medical issues. I don't have my links handy, but I remember when looking into the vax's I found the chances of getting seriously sick from the disease were lower than the risk of side effect from the vax.

[japonica]

I'm a mom to two kids under 5 years old, neither vaxed at all...


With regards to Hib, pneumococcal, meningococcal vaxes etc.

1) my kids are at lower risk according to the studies...risk factors include but not limited to...lack of breastfeeding, daycare, smoking in the home, poverty...
2) both are well-nourished, healthy with no underlying health conditions...also adequate sleep and keep stress levels down
3) no one in my generation or earlier had ANY meningitis vaccines and yet I don't recall a single classmate or family member who came down with bacterial meningitis, even though CDC reports that it was epidemic
4) as mentioned, serotype replacement...prevnar is not that useful in the long run
5) basically I go about my life day to day and don't worry about it. Meningitis can come from viruses and from bacteria not covered by any vaccine (in fact type B meningococcal is the most prevalent here, not covered by any vax). I'm not going to live in a bubble or let fear dictate our lives.

[nwmamas]

Two unvaxed kiddos here. For us, the hib shot was an insane risk. Roughly 30 cases per year and the VAERS lists 34,000 adverse reactions.

If my child got hib, I'd still be confident we didn't give the vax. I gave them the best fighting shot I could. That's all I can do as a mom.

[Lollicup]

Originally Posted by stacey05

For those of you who decide not to vaccinate against hib...how do you live with that decision? What I mean is, how do you justify it? Are you just hoping your child doesn't get it? I guess I could ask this about prevnar too? The other diseases don't worry me as much since you can study them and know how to treat them for the best possiblle outcomes. I guess I just worry about meningitis because it is not something you can really be comfortable with and feel good that you know how to treat it. Do you know what I mean? So, do you just basically hope your child doesn't get it or are you going on other factors that make you feel comfortable in not getting it? I am leaning towards not getting it, but I don't know how to feel comfortable with my decision and I hate to think I will be worrying about till he's 5...he is 20 months now! I worry about hib and I couldn't figure out why I don't worry about the diseases that prevnar protects against since those are more common, right? Maybe because, in my mind, prevnar has more bad reactions. I hope I am making some sense, I am very tired of thinking about this!! LOL

Stacey

My pedi's patients ask for 2 vaccines over any of the others ones, and they are Hib and DTaP. I could have written your post. Hib is nothing to mess around with. If you like playing Russian roulette, that is. Since he's 20 months, he'll ONLY need 1 dose to be covered. My DD recently had viral meningitis, but was vaccinated for Hib, not Prevnar. Thank God it was only that, but you can imagine my greatest fears when we had to wait 2 days to find out through lab testing if it was bacterial or viral.

[Lollicup]

Originally Posted by japonica

I'm not going to live in a bubble or let fear dictate our lives.

Fear, like anger, saddness and happiness all have their place. Fear is an emotion that causes us to take action to protect ourselves and loved ones from dangers.

Fear isn't a bad thing. Fear creates action.

[InDaPhunk]

Originally Posted by Lollicup

Fear, like anger, saddness and happiness all have their place. Fear is an emotion that causes us to take action to protect ourselves and loved ones from dangers.

Fear isn't a bad thing. Fear creates action.

Fear often creates paralysis. Knowledge is the enemy of fear.

[alegna]

My reasoning includes:

*We did not have these vaxes. I never heard of these diseases, we did not worry about them.

*serotype replacement- total number of cases of meningitis are not lowered with this vax. They are simply of another type.

*pre-vax my research has shown that hib was a non-disease the huge portion of the time- most kids were immune by 5 with no clinical disease on record

*due to serotype replacement, this is an ongoing circle- we can't vax against all bacteria- this is a losing race.

*statistics- the chances are much, MUCH higher of my child having a vaccine reaction than contracting hib

No- I don't worry about it a bit. Not at all.

-Angela

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by Lollicup

Fear, like anger, saddness and happiness all have their place. Fear is an emotion that causes us to take action to protect ourselves and loved ones from dangers.

Fear isn't a bad thing. Fear creates action.

I see it differently. If someone I love is drowning and I have a parlayzing fear of the water, I may very well NOT act out of that fear. Fear can also create panic which leads to hasty, rushed desicions. I have made many choices based on fear and afterwards have thought to myself....If I had been thinking clearly and had all the information I would have made a different choice. IMO the only "healthy" fear is that which generates the fight or flight response.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by Lollicup

My pedi's patients ask for 2 vaccines over any of the others ones, and they are Hib and DTaP. I could have written your post. Hib is nothing to mess around with. If you like playing Russian roulette, that is. Since he's 20 months, he'll ONLY need 1 dose to be covered. My DD recently had viral meningitis, but was vaccinated for Hib, not Prevnar. Thank God it was only that, but you can imagine my greatest fears when we had to wait 2 days to find out through lab testing if it was bacterial or viral.

I also am considering HIB, maybe when I stop breastfeeding. Still undecided, but will not rule it out. I do want to add however that vaccinating for anything IMO is like playing Russian roulette. One can not tell if their child will have an adverse reaction. There are risks both ways and one must weigh the risks vs the benefits for their particular circumstances.

[japonica]

ear, like anger, saddness and happiness all have their place. Fear is an emotion that causes us to take action to protect ourselves and loved ones from dangers.

Fear isn't a bad thing. Fear creates action.

Fear can also cause people to make quick reflex decisions based on emotion rather than ones that would be made with logic, research, and careful consideration of all aspects involved. Personally, I prefer to avoid making decisions that are fear-based or using that as my guide...otherwise, I'd never drive a car (I could die in a car crash), get on an airplane (plane crash), travel (get kidnapped), swim (could drown), etc.

[stacey05]

<<My DD recently had viral meningitis, but was vaccinated for Hib, not Prevnar. >>

Lollicup,

I hate to say this, but your experience actually gives me more caution when I think of getting hib for my toddler. I followed your story and it just seems to coincidental (sp?) to me that 4 days after the shot, she came down with meningitis. I know it wasn't hib, but everything I read says that hib vaccine lowers the immune system and I actually read somewhere that for the first 3 weeks after the vaccine, there is a higher all around risk of getting meningitis. I will try to find where I found that. It may have been the acthib vaccine insert...I was studying that recently. Anyway, I really want to make a good decision and have peace about it.

Thank you all for your answers and if there are anymore I would love to hear them. I am thinking like makuahine that the risk must be ALOT lower today (because of the vaccine) and we didn't worry about it when we were kids. Plus, what about all the other things that can cause meningitis and are more common than hib? I guess we don't worry about them because we don't have a vaccine, right? Meaning, the media hasn't instilled fear of them into us yet.

And, am I correct in assuming that my child may come into contact with hib, but not get an invasive disease like epiglottis or meningitis, right? His immune system might handle it just fine, right? And then he would build immunity, right? So, there is a low chance he would come in contact with it and a lower chance of it going bad (invasive)...is this correct? I am still breastfeeding him (not exclusively anymore) and he is not in daycare or mother's day out or church nursery,etc. and his older siblings are homeschooled. According to Dr. Sears, our risk is very low, right? BUT, we are going to Disneyworld next month and I have found myself worrying about that...but like yall have said..you can't live in fear or a bubble. )

Stacey

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by stacey05

<<My DD recently had viral meningitis, but was vaccinated for Hib, not Prevnar. >>

Lollicup,

I hate to say this, but your experience actually gives me more caution when I think of getting hib for my toddler. I followed your story and it just seems to coincidental (sp?) to me that 4 days after the shot, she came down with meningitis. I know it wasn't hib, but everything I read says that hib vaccine lowers the immune system and I actually read somewhere that for the first 3 weeks after the vaccine, there is a higher all around risk of getting meningitis. I will try to find where I found that. It may have been the acthib vaccine insert...I was studying that recently. Anyway, I really want to make a good decision and have peace about it.

Thank you all for your answers and if there are anymore I would love to hear them. I am thinking like makuahine that the risk must be ALOT lower today (because of the vaccine) and we didn't worry about it when we were kids. Plus, what about all the other things that can cause meningitis and are more common than hib? I guess we don't worry about them because we don't have a vaccine, right? Meaning, the media hasn't instilled fear of them into us yet.

And, am I correct in assuming that my child may come into contact with hib, but not get an invasive disease like epiglottis or meningitis, right? His immune system might handle it just fine, right? And then he would build immunity, right? So, there is a low chance he would come in contact with it and a lower chance of it going bad (invasive)...is this correct? I am still breastfeeding him (not exclusively anymore) and he is not in daycare or mother's day out or church nursery,etc. and his older siblings are homeschooled. According to Dr. Sears, our risk is very low, right? BUT, we are going to Disneyworld next month and I have found myself worrying about that...but like yall have said..you can't live in fear or a bubble. )

Stacey

You are correct on all the rights??!!!

Like Angela said prevax, most children were immune to HIB by age 5 from having come into contact with it but not becoming ill. If he did come into contact with it, it doesn't mean it would become invasive. A hearty, robust immune system would help with that. Breastfeeding is highly protective from HIB doesn't matter that hes not EBF. He is not in daycare...lower the risk even more. As for going to Disneyworld...do you have fea hen you take your DS to the grocery store? out and about on your errands? What's the difference? You come into contact with people wherever you go...just be smart about it that's all. (don't let DS lick the handles on the rides etc....)

[ammiga]

Originally Posted by Lollicup

Fear, like anger, saddness and happiness all have their place. Fear is an emotion that causes us to take action to protect ourselves and loved ones from dangers.

Fear isn't a bad thing. Fear creates action.

I would rather take action based on ration and knowledge. Action based on fear can be careless, ineffective, and often makes a mountain out of a mole hill.

IMO, there is no difference in the germs dd is at risk for at the grocery store or Disneyworld. Our travel plans also do not change how I feel about the dangers of vaxes, their ineffectiveness, or the importance of catching childhood diseases.