Rotavirus vax

[lucy4]

Did anybody NOT give their baby Rotavirus vaccine? Why did you not do it? I can't decide on that one. I looked at vaccination schedules in EU countries, and it's not on theirs.

[Gitti]

Well, we didn't. I mean it wasn't out for my own 3 kids and now they don't vaccinate their own kids, so no one had it. No one in the entire family.

For us it was not an issue, since natural immunity is life long and almost all kids have had it by the time they are 5.

As with all vaccines, there are ingredients that should never enter a body. We would go with a vaccine that only contained the germs, but that is not the case and the side effects all come from the adjuvants, preservatives, antibiotics, etc. that are in all vaccines. So needless to say, we don't vaccinate at all and my 4 grandchildren are very healthy (because of it?).

They are 12, 6, 4, and 6 months.

Inside Vaccine has a great article on Rotavirus

[bubbamummy]

I didnt get it for my son, but then we were in the UK and they dont give it there.

My thoughts are, if the UK dont give it, and they are a civilised country with a pretty normal healthy population then it cant be THAT important KWIM?

We live in the States now, but I wont be getting that vax for baby #2 either.

[MyBoysBlue]

My son who is now 7 was vaxed up to 17 months never got it as it wasn't on his schedule. It still isn't on our Schedule here in Alberta, Canada.

http://www.health.alberta.ca/health-...-schedule.html

[Emmeline II]

It is a vaccine for diarrhea.

A LIVE vaccine for diarrhea.

A common reaction to this live vaccine for diarrhea is....diarrhea.

The complication of concern with diarrhea is dehydration. Learn the signs of dehydration in an infant and/or child.

[Gitti]

Rotavirus Information

[Fyrestorm]

We didn't do any vaccines at all...but the fact that Paul Offit was behind it and promoting it and making money off of it was plenty of reason for me to knock that one off the list.

[MaddieMay]

We didn't do Rotavirus. DS isn't in daycare and he's breastfed, I don't see the huge deal about diarrhea and I know the signs for dehydration. So I wasn't too worried about it in the first place. My very mainstream doctor didn't even really question my decision not to.

[AllyRae]

None of my kids have had it. My oldest got rotavirus (the virus, not the vax) at 4 months old and the vaccine had been recalled, my middle child didn't come home from Vietnam until 5 months old and her ped said she likely already had the virus. The ped didn't even offer it to our youngest...he knows better. : He said that for a nursing baby, the risk of the vax is more than the risk of the virus and that he's not worried about complications from the virus if our youngest catches it. She's now 11 months old and hasn't had the virus.

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by MaddieMay

We didn't do Rotavirus. DS isn't in daycare and he's breastfed, I don't see the huge deal about diarrhea and I know the signs for dehydration. So I wasn't too worried about it in the first place.

[emma1325]

This quote sums it up to me.

"If you have access to clean water and health care, it's VERY difficult to die of diarrhea." -Jim Carrey on Larry King Live


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR9yJKhGmdc

[AngelaM]

I'll chime in as the voice of someone who probably vaxes more than other mamas on this forum. We did not do rotavirus. When I read about the ingredients (in Dr. Sears' vaccine book, which is quite mainstream), there were a few things that triggered my alarm bells. I am sorry, but I can't recall specifically what they were right now (something about blood tissue?!?). My daughter wasn't in daycare then, so I didn't feel like she was particularly high risk. And, as other people have pointed out, rotavirus is not something you die from.

All that said, now that my daughter IS in daycare full time, and is constantly getting sick from all the lovely germs that get passed around, it's possible that I would do things differently if faced with the decision again. Not because I think that she'd die from rotavirus, but because as a working mama, it is really hard on our family when my daughter is sick and needs to be out of daycare for days at a time. But, this is all part of the personal calculus that goes in to making the right vaccine decisions for YOUR family.

[Addy's Mom]

I would get it if my child were in day care. My friend's son got rotavirus at 8 weeks old (albeit from an older sister, not from day care), spent 6 days in the hospital and had a $9,000 medical bill. The bill doesn't scare me that much (we're insured), but I have spent considerable time in the hospital with my son, and it's not fun.

For my family, our litmus test is that if it's something spread by fecal-oral route, and if the child is in day care, I most likely will get the vaccine. If not, no vax.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by AngelaM

All that said, now that my daughter IS in daycare full time, and is constantly getting sick from all the lovely germs that get passed around, it's possible that I would do things differently if faced with the decision again. Not because I think that she'd die from rotavirus, but because as a working mama, it is really hard on our family when my daughter is sick and needs to be out of daycare for days at a time. But, this is all part of the personal calculus that goes in to making the right vaccine decisions for YOUR family.

There are plenty of germs to go around that are not covered by any vaccine. My nieces are fully vaxed and have missed plenty of school .

[AngelaM]

Originally Posted by Emmeline II

There are plenty of germs to go around that are not covered by any vaccine. My nieces are fully vaxed and have missed plenty of school .

Oh believe me, I know! The things that my kid is out sick with aren't things that she could have been vaxed against. And I don't think that vaxes help against most things that kids are going to catch at daycare. I do think, though, that rotavirus is one common daycare illness that is vaccine preventable. If she had been in daycare when it was offered to us, I might have considered it, only because I see how quickly germs are spread in daycare, and it sounds like a particularly miserable experience for the whole family. I am not saying that this is the right choice for everyone, simply that as a working mother, I can see how it might be the right choice for some families.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by AngelaM

Oh believe me, I know! The things that my kid is out sick with aren't things that she could have been vaxed against. And I don't think that vaxes help against most things that kids are going to catch at daycare. I do think, though, that rotavirus is one common daycare illness that is vaccine preventable. If she had been in daycare when it was offered to us, I might have considered it, only because I see how quickly germs are spread in daycare, and it sounds like a particularly miserable experience for the whole family. I am not saying that this is the right choice for everyone, simply that as a working mother, I can see how it might be the right choice for some families.

The Rotavirus vaccine is a live vaccine and (if in daycare) your dd could contract it from child at daycare that DID have the vaccine, or end up with the symptoms from the vaccine.

[ShadowMoon]

We did not vax for rotavirus. I did the research, ds was breastfeeding, and I just didn't see a need to do it.

[lucy4]

Thanks, all.
I've decided not to give him Rotavirus vax, although my husband is not happy with my decision. :-/ ... and our pedi is pressuring. I decided I am not gong to vaccinate against things for which complications are not live threatening. I am fully aware that he might have to get admitted in hospital for an an IV... but I want his body to work out the immunity himself... just like our kids 3 years ago... or whenever they started giving it.

[ammiga]

Originally Posted by lucy4

Thanks, all.
I've decided not to give him Rotavirus vax, although my husband is not happy with my decision. :-/ ... and our pedi is pressuring. I decided I am not gong to vaccinate against things for which complications are not live threatening. I am fully aware that he might have to get admitted in hospital for an an IV... but I want his body to work out the immunity himself... just like our kids 3 years ago... or whenever they started giving it.

An important thing to think about is what constitutes life threatening. Most, if not all, of the things that are on the vaccine schedule are not life-threatening for a normal, healthy person. Most of them come and go without any problems, and leave your child with a healthier and stronger immune system.