Best sources of info on vaccines?

[MoxieC]

As a first time mama of a four month old baby girl, we have started with some vaccinations even though we have reservations...part of the reason we have started is because she is in daycare for 5 hours a day 5 days a week and I worry about what she's exposed to now that she is in such close contact with other babies.  But the other reason we have started is because I am having trouble finding any decent sources of information to help with our decision making!  Everything I read seems to be wildly biased in one direction or another.  Aside from reading through the threads on this site (some of which are hugely helpful!) any suggestions on where to get started with our research??

[Mosaic]

Here is a list of Resources, including Mothering's resources page.

[sosurreal09]

http://www.nvic.org/ this is a non-biased informative site

[bbrandonsmom]

Mosaic beat me-mothering has some wonderful resources.  I like NVIC as well.  And also here- http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/

  Also, remember nutrition is key in keeping healthy.  Especially if you need to use day care. 

[majormajor]

it is very hard to find unbiased information. i started my research journey by looking at the evidence for and against vaccination claim by claim, and checking every source that i could get my hands on along the way. believe nothing until you've read and understood the research behind the claim yourself!! if you're leaning one way, acknowledge that to yourself, and make yourself look as critically at the evidence that supports your viewpoint as you do at the evidence that goes against it.

pubmed and google scholar should be your number one sources of information!!

it took me a loooong time to really feel informed by going about it this way, but it was totally worth it.

[bbrandonsmom]

  That's a very good point to remember.  Looking at both sides and the evidence supporting both sides, is the only way to be the most informed, imo.   This way you can't get blind sided-or not as much anyhow, by the opposing side. 

[MoxieC]

Thanks, all, for sharing!  This is more than enough to get me going. 

[Marnica]

FWIW OP,

My ds started daycare at 3 months old. 9 hrs/day 5 days/week. He is unvaxed. He's almost 3. He's been sick his fair share, but not with anything a vaccine could have prevented.

[sosurreal09]

"prevented"

[Marnica]

so true - forgot those quoatation marks :)

 

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

"prevented"

[sosurreal09]

LOL

[bbrandonsmom]

Day care and school are hard battles-you crowd enough people, especially kids together, and illness just flies around.  I do believe a lot has to do w/ nutrition though.  Yet, if we aren't there, how do we know the care providers are doing what they should be, for things like hand washing? We don't. We have to do the best we can at home. 

  "Prevented" :)  Just saying-there is an outbreak of CP at my friends elementary-and most of the kids are vaxed, so...

[heathergirl67]

Originally Posted by bbrandonsmom 

  I like NVIC as well.  And also here- http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/

Actually, those are both super-biased against vaccines. It's hard to find a website about vaccines that don't have a position either way. I guess that makes sense, since once you start researching the matter you develop an opinion either way.

If you're looking for some sites that are biased for vaccines, for balance, some good ones are www.cdc.gov, www.aap.org, and http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org. The nice thing about those is that multiple thorough scientific studies back up what they're saying. And they reference it.

Good luck on making your decisions! It's a lot of information to go through!

[sosurreal09]

The CDC website actually made me chose not to vax b/c it states the reactions and the rates of them. 1 in 1000 kids have a seizure from most of the vaxs...that doesn't seem like a good risk to me!

[Addie]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

The CDC website actually made me chose not to vax b/c it states the reactions and the rates of them. 1 in 1000 kids have a seizure from most of the vaxs...that doesn't seem like a good risk to me!

This sounded off to me, so I checked. Of all the vaccines listed on the CDC website, seizures are only listed as a possible complication for five of them, and never in the "1 in 1000" range you quoted.

(Quoted from www.CDC.gov)
DTaP: Seizure (jerking or staring) (about 1 child out of 14,000)
Japanese encephalitis: Seizures or other serious nervous system problems (between 1 in 50,000 and 1 in a million).
MMR: Seizure (jerking or staring) caused by fever (about 1 out of 3,000 doses)
MMRV: Seizure caused by fever (about 1 child in 1,250 who get MMRV), usually 5-12 days after the first dose. They happen less often when MMR and varicella vaccines are given at the same visit as separate shots (about 1 child in 2,500 who get these two vaccines), and rarely after a 2nd dose of MMRV.
Chicken pox: Seizure (jerking or staring) caused by fever (very rare).

OP: Good luck with your research. Like others have mentioned, be sure you're getting information from good, reputable sources.

[sosurreal09]

My research showed more than that. I was looking at CP vax yesterday and CDC site said 1 in 1000 (or less) so...

I am not trying to star a big debate over here though.

So SOME CAN CAUSE seizures which is good enough for me.

[WildKingdom]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

My research showed more than that. I was looking at CP vax yesterday and CDC site said 1 in 1000 (or less) so...

I am not trying to star a big debate over here though.

So SOME CAN CAUSE seizures which is good enough for me.

Well, the overall risk of having a  febrile seizure at any time during a childhood illness associated with fever is 1 in 25.  Pretty high.  So, if you are really worried about febrile seizures, you probably should vax- then you have a lower chance of getting a febrile illness.
 

[sosurreal09]

well my DD has had vax reactions ( some serious but thankfully not permanent) and we have seizure disorders in my family so her risks are greater to have a serious reaction, that may cause permanent damage.

Anyways it's your decision whether or not to vax. I really really WISH vax did work really well and could not be contaminated and had better, safer, ingredients but it's just not "cost effective" I feel like I would vax my child if they ingredients weren't so dangerous in themselves. I think we can all agree that formaldehyde is not a good option to be injected into our newborn babies or children. To me that is very scary. Also the fact that it's an ongoing experiment is scary. How many vax have had to be changed b/c they were found to be too dangerous after already being injected into millions? How many people have been hurt by this? I just can not trust it and that is how I feel. You don't have to agree with that.

I would say I non-vax as oppose to anti-vax, I wish things with vax were different, if they were I think it would change a lot of things.

[bbrandonsmom]

Huh, I never thought of insidevaccines as more anti-vax, because they give direct links to the cdc where you can check the info for cross ref.  I don't like the cdc, because to me, they are completely pro vaccine, and give no other refs.

[WildKingdom]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

well my DD has had vax reactions ( some serious but thankfully not permanent) and we have seizure disorders in my family so her risks are greater to have a serious reaction, that may cause permanent damage.

Anyways it's your decision whether or not to vax. I really really WISH vax did work really well and could not be contaminated and had better, safer, ingredients but it's just not "cost effective" I feel like I would vax my child if they ingredients weren't so dangerous in themselves. I think we can all agree that formaldehyde is not a good option to be injected into our newborn babies or children. To me that is very scary. Also the fact that it's an ongoing experiment is scary. How many vax have had to be changed b/c they were found to be too dangerous after already being injected into millions? How many people have been hurt by this? I just can not trust it and that is how I feel. You don't have to agree with that.

I would say I non-vax as oppose to anti-vax, I wish things with vax were different, if they were I think it would change a lot of things.

OK, let's look at formaldehyde.  Formaldehyde is present in all people- it is a normal product of our metabolism.  Normal blood concentrations are 2.47 mg/L.  That means that an average 2month old infant will have about 1.2 mg of formaldehyde present in their body at any given time.  Water also has formaldehyde in it.  The EPA safe concentration recommendations for children are 5 mg/L.  If a child drinks 2 cups of water a day, that's 2.5 mg of formaldehyde ingested.  

A flu shot has less than 100 mcg (that's micrograms, or 0.1 mg).  So, draw your own conclusion about the safety of the amount of formaldehyde in vaccines compared to the water that your child is drinking or the amount of formaldehyde they are making on their own.