non-vaxed 1 yr old - need advice considering combined vaccines

[papaya-luv]

DD is a super healthy big one yr old (27+lbs), staying at home full time with mom, breastfeeding a lot (and more recently having some whole foods), never had any meds, and despite the pressure of living in a country wher I'm considered insane for it I've been able to keep her unvaxed. I was planning on potentially starting her with a selective schedule after she turned one, but now that the date has come and gone I'm starting to have second thoughts. My idea was to delay for as long as it felt right to me, and then considering DTaP, polio and potentially MMR.

Our pedi is a family Dr who I'm comfortable with because he's been very respectful with my decisions (partly probably because he doesn't know what to make of me since I'm his only non-vaxing cloth diapering mom who is breastfeeding past 9 months.) He is suggesting I try the hexavalent or pentavalent, which combine either 5 (DTP, Hib, Hep B) or 6 (DTP, Hib, Hep B, +Polio). I was going back and forth deciding and looking for some advice on whether I should consider these. I've been trying to do local research and I found the hexavalent's brand to be Infanrix (no thimerosol), but I did find some info online about these two combined vaxes that has been very upsetting- such as an article on vaccineinjury.info, and recalls in Bhutan (!!!) But it's hard for me to make this call considering we are in a country where some of these diseases are (or they are believed to be) a concern.

I'm thinking of either waiting a few more months for her to establish the blood-brain barrier and then giving her the combined vax, or trying to start her first dose of DTaP only for now but I'm getting a lot of -pardon my language- bull* from family for even questioning the standard vaccine schedule. I guess I'm looking for some reassurance, advice, stories, any more info on these combined vaxes. Also being a one yr old shes out of the danger-zone for some of the diseases covered in the combined vaccines, right? TIA I really appreciate it..

[carriebft]

I wish a hexa was available here, we'd be all set!

There use to be two hexas available and all the negative stuff you read about these is all about Hexavac, which, as far as I know, has been taken off the market due to low Hep B immunity numbers and other questionable safety. Infanrix Hexa, on the other hand, has a good safety record thus far and has good immunity numbers.

The 5 combos have been around longer and thus we  have more information to look at. However, the singles contained in both the 6s and the 5s and the combinations they use have all been around a while so we can look at the data and compare getting singles vs getting combinations.

Pentacel is a useful vaccine, IMO, because it tends to get the ones people want early in life- DTP, Hib and Polio. It has good safety and immunity numbers- better even than the singles used to make it. For these reasons + the less pain and visits issue, we will go with pentacel since we cannot get a better combo here in the states.

the downsides:

-if reaction occurs, you won't know which component caused it

-pentacel does contain IPV which many either skip or delay much longer

[KaraJMay]

I had a 2 week old daughter and I didn't give her the Hep B shot I'm not sure when if we will give her the shots. I don't want to give her anything now. Or at her 1month visit. I dont' know when I'll feel comfortable injecting her. How did you decide?

[mcgee]

Papaya, my son just turned a year old earlier this month, and like your daughter he's a champion nurser who stays at home with me, and he also tips the scale at around 27 pounds. :)

We left him completely unvaccinated until he turned a year old. We then decided to move forward with just a few vaccines. Our pediatrician was fine with us delaying or not vaccinating. When I asked what he felt Alex needed the most, he suggested we start with DTaP, HIB or prevnar, as pertussis, HIB and pneumonia were the diseases he was most likely to catch and which had the potential to do the most damage. We decided to do one dose of DTaP, and to my immense surprise - shock, really - he did not so much as flinch when the nurse gave him the shot. He happily curled up in my lap and nursed afterward, but there were no tears, no screams, nothing. We've not noticed any side effects.

[papaya-luv]

Thanks for your responses, I'm still on the fence about the hexa and want to do some more research before I make the call so any more info is super helpful, I'm continuing to check this thread for more advice. Thank you Carrie for the info on the combos, I hadn't found anything about the immunity numbers so I'm definitely factoring that in my decision now.

Mcgee, I'm actually leaning towards starting the DTaP series and your post was very reassuring, and your Dr's advice concering which diseases they are more likely to catch is pretty consistent with what I've found in my own research too. The only one I maybe disagree with is the Hib, I've read a lot about how good nursers like ours are very unlikely to contract it since breastmilk is great at protecting or even preventing exposure to it. Also, glad to hear Alex was such a toughie, when the time comes I have a feeling my lo will be one too!

KaraJMay, I'm deciding based on research I've done for the specifics of my case, such as age, location, vax relevance etc, but like you I started off just going with my gut, and it said definitely delay. If possible, delay until about 15 months to make sure baby's immunity and blood-brain barrier has a chance to protect him or her from any toxins in the vaxes. I found a great thread here a while ago that helped me a lot:

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/655859/rationale-for-delaying

Definitely check out the lewrockwell link one of the mamas posted: http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller15.html

[Climbergirl]

We tended to have more issues with the more shots we gave, so we eventually only gave 1 shot at a time.  And if I could get the combo ones broken down more, I would go that route as well.  Having that many at once would freak me out!