Non-vaccinated child being a carrier?

[rebeccaschultz]

Hello, I'm only new to this so please bare with me. Why is it that I feel so upset everytime I have to explain myself for my daughter not being vaccinated. We chose this path after lots and lots of research but still in this day in age (especially doctors) I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall when asked why my 3 year old isn't vaccinated. I have pretty much stood my ground but today had a concerning question from my brother. His wife is due soon with their fourth baby and he is the biggest sceptic I know. He simply couldn't understand why Talisha wasn't vaccinated and made it seem like Talisha was being put at a very high risk of getting diseases! The next question was if she wasn't vaccinated would she be a carrier of all the diseases not immunised againsed to their newborn baby? I couldnt answer but knew deep down she definately wouldnt be but how do you explain that to someone like him (ahhhhhhhhhhhh). Please please someone give me light at the end of the tunnel. Look forward to lots of helpful responses.

[lovebug]

i could be totally wrong and if i am someone will correct me

but anyone can be a carrier even if they are vax'ed...

i am so not on top of it on this topic so i will diligently be taking

these mamas will help i am sure of that!

[ema-adama]

Has he mentioned a specific disease that he is concerned about, or just her vaccine status in general? Try and get him to talk about specifics. Not all the vaccines prevent transmission, so right off a child's vaccine status does not have anything to do with whether they can transmit some of the diseases or not. What is his plan to protect his newborn from diseases for which there is no vaccine?

Obviously he wants to best for his family. If he is open to having an honest discussion about how to protect newborns and what role vaccines can and cannot play in that, go for it. Otherwise you are just going to get more of hitting a brick wall.

It serisouly sucks, and it it unfair that your daughter gets caught in the middle, but he is doing the best he can with the information he has.

[Gitti]

You say your brother is a skeptic and yet he is not skeptical about a government taking charge of health care and forcing (in a way) people to vaccinate with an untested flu H1N1 vaccine?

Wow!

Well, people are not carriers of diseases, they show symptoms if they carry something. And then they can be cured or cure themselves. He is way off....

[Otto]

Originally Posted by Gitti

Well, people are not carriers of diseases, they show symptoms if they carry something. And then they can be cured or cure themselves. He is way off....

I take it that Mary Mallon wasn't actually shedding S. Typhi for all those years?

[alllyssa]

We don't vaccinate for Typhoid Fever in the US

I take it that Mary Mallon wasn't actually shedding S. Typhi for all those years?

Although there are some diseases (like typhoid fever) that can have heathy carriers, none of the "vaccine preventable diseases" that we vaccinate babies/children for here in the US manifest themselves that way.

And I'm not sure that you would stop being a healthy carrier for something like Typhoid Fever even if you were vaccinated against it. Anyone know?

[MyLilPwny]

Originally Posted by lovebug

but anyone can be a carrier even if they are vax'ed...

True. There are many documented examples out there. But here is one. Page 42 of Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective by Neil Z. Miller says "During a pertussis outbreak in Ohio, 82 percent of younger children stricken with the disease had received regular doses of the vaccine." Source: New England Journal of Medicine (July 7, 1994): 16-20.

[lovebug]

i think for him it might be better if he focuses on the big photo... while i can understand his concern there are more things out there then just the VPD that his kiddo can get while i know he know this here is what happened to me when i was little...:

i would get strep (i know not a VPD, but hear me out) just about every week. i would get it, be put on antibiotics, get better and then come down with it again and again and again. this went on for MTHS!!! like 6 i think. my mom did not want to have my tonsils removed because she new the benefit of having them. however she knew things could no continue as they were. she also knew in her gut that it had to be something more then just a sickly kid...

she took out dog into the Vet for his shots and some how go on the topic of the amount of strep i had been having... thank god for that vet because he said our dog could be caring the strep virus. so out of a hunch they tested and SURE ENOUGH he tested positive for strep. they put the dog on antibiotics and i never had strep again until i grew much older...

the hard thing about sickness is most of the time you are contagious 24-48 hours before you even know your sick vaxed and NOT vaxed... and as much as i hate to say it even vaxed people sometimes come down with the illness they are vaxed for. so even having your shots is not a 100% guarantee that you will not get sick with something vax was to 'prevent'

[alllyssa]

I thought we were talking about something else :)

"During a pertussis outbreak in Ohio, 82 percent of younger children stricken with the disease had received regular doses of the vaccine." Source: New England Journal of Medicine (July 7, 1994): 16-20.

Sure, but these kids eventually come down with pertussis.

I guess I got thrown off of the idea of walking around being a potential disease spreader because you are more likely to catch a VPD (and be contagious) if you aren't vaccinated vs. being a "healthy carrier" (like Typhoid Mary) and spreading the disease somehow simply because you aren't vaccinated. They really are 2 separate things.

[bbrandonsmom]

I looked around for asymptomatic and shedding and only found a ref to Rotovirus and some children spreading it, but having no symtoms. But the number was small. I can't find much else on it.
It sounds your bro is perhaps wanting to learn more about chd and vaccines? Maybe send him some of the info you have for him to read over. Bold the reasons why you do not. Is he worried about your dd catching something and then his nb catching it? You can let him know what vaccines shed and which do not, in case he's taking his nb around any children who do recieve them.

[Gwendolyn's babies]

I found the most convincing evidence was wathcing dr. Tenpenny's videos. I have lent them out over and over again.

It's good he is asking questions!!