If you wanted to start vaxxing with older kids, which would you still have to give? Resource...

[Galatea]

My kids are unvaxxed.  If I wanted to start now, is there a resource that would tell me which shots would still be "needed" by age and which you skip after infancy?  (Am I making sense?  Aren't there some shots that are only for infants and then are skipped in older children?)  My kids are 7, 5, 3 and 8 months.

[amnesiac]

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/child/catchup-schedule-pr.pdf

[Galatea]

Thank you.  Now, should I do it?...

[amnesiac]

I guess a good place to start might be to think about exactly why you have chosen not to up to this point & evaluate what it is that is motivating you to reconsider.

[Galatea]

Before: vaccine risks>disease risks

Now: so much measles, etc., and adults getting it which is worse (imagining dh and I laid up with measles and unable to work)

This would mean we should get boosters for ourselves.

Now: kids older so can tolerate vaccines better, and I don't want them getting sick

This would mean I should vaccinate them, but when?

[ma2two]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galatea 

Now: so much measles, 

Measles certainly has been in the news a lot, but there actually aren't a lot of cases. 118 cases so far this year in the U.S., which has a population of 310,000,000.

So the chance of your children being exposed to measles is extremely low. But even if they were to get measles, is the disease really worse than the vaccine? That's something to thoroughly research before vaccinating. I would rather take my children to a measles party then give them the vaccine.

Originally Posted by Galatea 

Now: kids older so can tolerate vaccines better, and I don't want them getting sick

I'd much rather my kids get sick than get a vaccine injury. Older kids still can be injured by vaccines. Adults can be injured by vaccines. Most doctors don't know how to treat vaccine injury. Most won't even acknowledge a vaccine injury. Many vaccine injuries just can't be healed, even if the doctor acknowledges it.

So far, you've only mentioned your concerns about measles. What other specific diseases are you concerned about, and why?

Originally Posted by Galatea 

This would mean we should get boosters for ourselves.

Have you already gotten two doses of measles vaccine in your lifetime? It's not recommended to get more.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/adult/adult-schedule.pdf

Edited by ma2two - 6/10/11 at 10:41am

[Galatea]

I think when it comes down to it, I am just not comfortable.  Besides reading and reading for 7 years, I am not comfortable.

[ma2two]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galatea 

I think when it comes down to it, I am just not comfortable.  Besides reading and reading for 7 years, I am not comfortable.

Does your lack of comfort apply to all diseases for which there are vaccines? Even chickenpox, hepatitis A, and polio? (First two are possible to get, but aren't serious, and polio is pretty much impossible to get). But if you read the CDC's Pink Book chapter on polio, you'd probably be surprised that the vast majority of cases either have no symptoms or extremely mild, cold like symptoms.

Have you read the Pink Book?

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/pink-chapters.htm

[Galatea]

No, some vaccines I think are dumb, like chicken pox.  I had it at 16 and it was NBD.  Or Hep B for a newborn. 

That's a lot of homework.  :-)

[SilverMoon010]

Originally Posted by Galatea 

Now: kids older so can tolerate vaccines better, and I don't want them getting sick

What makes you more afraid of them getting sick now that they are older than when they were younger? The older they get, the more mature their immune system is. When you say you don''t want them getting sick, what illness are you afraid of exactly?  Vaccines can make them sick as well.  Measles sounds like it is really the only true concern for you from what I can see.  Everyone in my mom's generation in the 50s just about had the measles and they all came out fine.  There are proper ways to care for measles to prevent complications.

Either way, the best thing to do is just weigh the pros and cons for vaccinating them at this point.

[Galatea]

B/c before I felt like I was riding on herd immunity, and now I hear of more and more VPDs b/c so many of us are not vaccinating.  I have never been comfortable not vaccinating.  I was just scared to.  Now I seem to be tilting the other way.

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by Galatea 

B/c before I felt like I was riding on herd immunity, and now I hear of more and more VPDs b/c so many of us are not vaccinating.  I have never been comfortable not vaccinating.  I was just scared to.  Now I seem to be tilting the other way.

I think a lot of people are saying that more people are not vaccinating, but I've read that vaccination rates have stayed stable (not sure where I've seen that stat).

You're hearing about more VPDs because they are being reported on more, not because they are happening more often.  There are fluctuations in illnesses over several years, regardless of vaccination.  Pertussis was considered "prevalent" in California last year, despite steady vaccination rates.  It's a cyclical thing, and will happen again in 3-5 years.

Whatever your decision, don't make it because of fear.

[emmy526]

Originally Posted by Bokonon 

I think a lot of people are saying that more people are not vaccinating, but I've read that vaccination rates have stayed stable (not sure where I've seen that stat).

You're hearing about more VPDs because they are being reported on more, not because they are happening more often.  There are fluctuations in illnesses over several years, regardless of vaccination.  Pertussis was considered "prevalent" in California last year, despite steady vaccination rates.  It's a cyclical thing, and will happen again in 3-5 years.

Whatever your decision, don't make it because of fear.

I agree VPD's are being reported more because the media has a role to play in fearmongering the public and uniformed parents. (think swine flu) Most of the stories you hear on the news are about "unvaxed people" spreading the disease,, but what you dont hear about is the statistics for how many people WERE vaxed and STILL contracted the disease they were supposed to be protected against.  Nor do you hear about how pertussis is mutating so the current vax is useless..why? because the gub and cdc and pharma all want you to play their game. Put money in their pockets by using their drugs thru fearmongering, scare tactics, bullying, you name it.   An issue as serious as this should not be taken lightly nor should decisions be made thru fear and hearsay. 

[MyBoysBlue]

"Nationwide, the number of children who have not been vaccinated at all is less than 1%," CDC Director of Immunization Services Lance Rodewald, MD, tells WebMD.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=145135

Washington is over 6%. 

Vaccination rates are still very high.  Non vaxers are just easy scapegoats.

[Galatea]

I was talking to my 79 year old dad about this and he basically said the same thing as you all here.  He said, "In my day, when someone got measles, everyone would rush their kids over!  Leave it alone!  They're fine!  Oh, but they should get a smallpox vaccine b/c THAT'S important!"  Lololololol.

[ma2two]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galatea 
I was talking to my 79 year old dad about this and he basically said the same thing as you all here.  He said, "In my day, when someone got measles, everyone would rush their kids over!  Leave it alone!  They're fine!

What a breath of fresh air. Your dad should start commenting on various mommy boards and calm everyone down about measles. When I'm a grandmother, I'll probably be on message boards calming everyone down about roseola, for which I'm sure there will be a vaccine at some point.

[ammiga]

Have you ever seen the Brady Bunch episode on the measles? It seriously puts measles into the same perspective as chicken pox. Just a normal childhood disease. The Brady's were all over the age range with them too.

I figure if I'm worried about something affecting my kids when they are adults, at that point it is their body and their decision. My job is to do what I can do for them as children that get them to be healthy adults- then it's up to them. It's why I won't vax for ruebella to protect dd when she is pregnant- what she does during pregnancy is up to her.

[miriam]

The big problem in the Brady Bunch episode of the early 1970s was whether to have a male or female doctor.  And both doctors made a house call!  No one was concerned about the measles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk29607gSWA

[emmy526]

my kids pedi still makes house calls..unf. they're getting too old for him...how i will miss him.. he's great!! I NEVER had any pressure from him on the vax issue or anything else..watever i wanted my kids to have or not have,  he would discuss it, rather than bully..i'm inclined to believe its because he is a foreigner, and more familiar with alternative methods.