Are you selective with whom your unvaxed kids socialize? - Page 2

[mamadelbosque]

Not in the least. I isolated *myself* for the first couple weeks after DS2 was born, but once he got to be 3-4wks, we started going out and seeing people and it never even crossed my mind to worry about there vax status. Just as it doesn't bother me in the least that DS1 isn't vaxed. Honestly, if people are going out with there newborns then there the ones taking the risk of infection, and your kids vax status should have ZERO bearing on what you choose to do... If I was worried about exposing my kid to stuff just cause he wasn't vaxed, I'd seriously consider vaxing. All these threads about 'do you let your unvaxed kid do X, Y, or Z?' just boggle my mind...

[pumpkinhead]

I think your friend is confused about the purpose of vaccines and the nature of the immune system in general.

Vaccinated individuals who are not visibly ill are just as likely to be carriers of an illness as those who are not vaccinated. The point of vaccines is not to prevent an illness entirely. It is to lessen the duration and severity of an illness and potentially prevent it altogether. It still has to get into you for the vaccine to work though. Vaccines don't put you in a germ repelling bubble.

So, two people who are exposed to an illness can then expose someone else to it regardless of whether or not they've been vaccinated.

People would do better to keep their newborns away from visibly sick individuals and have people wash their hands before holding the baby than worrying about their vaccination status.

If I have had a flu shot and someone who currently has one of the flu strains I have been vaccinated for sneezes on my hand, if I stick my finger in someone's mouth who has not been vaccinated, I can easily pass on this strain of the flu I am supposedly immune to.

Just wash your hands . In many ways, the vaccinated pose more of a risk to the non-vaccinated and not the other way around.

[13Sandals]

Originally Posted by Marnica

Most people are carriers adults included because HIB bacteria is fairly common and lives in the nose and throat of most people at some point in their lives...the problem is when the bacteria becomes invasive.

yes, and whether or not the bacteria become invasive is dependent on the individual's health..not whether or not they are exposed to the bacteria.

Originally Posted by Swissmom

Could DS be a carrier and contagious before getting ill?

um, yes. he could be carrying the bacteria but never get ill himself. you could be carrying the bacteria and never get ill. Any adult on the bus next to you could be carrying the bacteria and never get ill and most will never get ill from it. Hib is not normally a problem in a healthy person.


so in answer to your question, i kept my unvaxed babies away from anyone - vaxed or unvaxed - when they (the baby) seemed tired or just not feeling well. not because other people carry 'germs', but because any bacteria or virus can be dangerous to a newborn whose immune system is taxed. vax

[Noelle C.]

We won't decide who our child can socialize with based on their vaccination status. We aren't planning to vax at all without reason for individual vaxes, and so sure as hell won't be holding it against anyone else who doesn't vax or whose child hasn't completed them.