Need Help and Opinions!!

[2boysmamma]

I have a 18 mo old and a 4 mo old that i am going in soon to get vaccines. A friend of mine just got her daughters 18 mo shots and a few days later if her daughter was in a certain positions she would whine and yell "owie." My friend is thinking she might of have some kind of arthitis from a vaccine? Maybe juevinile arthritis?? I am not good at digging thru information (which there is a TON of info out there to dig thru) I am just wondering at 18 months what vaccines do you really NOT need??? I need some help here from ppl that have actually dug and researched vaccines. I am pro some vaccines but i dont believe you need all of them. Some help here guys? Thanks!

[pokeyAC]

Bumping up for more input. 

[Rrrrrachel]

I guess it depends on your own priorities and life circumstances. IMO at 18 months you need all of them. At that point you're wrapping up most of the series, anyway.

[phathui5]

I think what you might need to do is research each shot individually. Visit www.cdc.gov and look up the risk of exposure of each disease in your area. Think about what your child's risk of actually getting the disease is. 

You don't have to get more than one shot at the visit. If I was vaccinating (and we're not yet), I would only do one vaccine per visit. That way, if there was an adverse reaction, you would know what caused it.

[phathui5]

The CDC has this to say about the Hep B vaccine:

"Other than babies of infected mothers, children aren’t at particularly high risk.   

But vaccinating children is a practical way to insure that they will be 

protected later in life when they could be at risk."

 

When I read that, I think "Why not get them vaccinated as teens then?" Or teach them about safer sex and not sharing needles?

[emmy526]

Originally Posted by phathui5 

The CDC has this to say about the Hep B vaccine:

"Other than babies of infected mothers, children aren’t at particularly high risk.   

But vaccinating children is a practical way to insure that they will be 

protected later in life when they could be at risk."

 

When I read that, I think "Why not get them vaccinated as teens then?" Or teach them about safer sex and not sharing needles?

Because  the CDC's goal is to vax all babies to 'make sure' everyone is covered...at least that's how they put it when the vaccine came out, and their reasoning for vaccinating newborns...it would be more time consuming to wait til they are teens.  

[Rrrrrachel]

There is definitely something to the assertion that we vaccinate babies because its easier. For lots of people it's the only time they reliably see a doctor, and vaccines are already part of the mindset, so just get them all done. Children are at risk of hep b, though. Thousands of children a year contract hep b NOT from their mothers. If they contract it they're at increased risk for a lifetime, chronic case vs adults, and it's more likely to cause liver cancer down the road.

[Taximom5]

According to Merck's website, arthritis and arthralgia are known side effects of the MMR--but seen significantly more often in post-pubescent females.  Then again, it's difficult to recognize that as a side effect in an 18-month-old, who does not yet have the ability to verbalize about the specific symptoms.

Very few studies have been done on this phenomenon.  Apparently, Merck thinks it's acceptable.

Here is what I was able to find with a quick search:

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1815&page=187

http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2012-01-14/mechanisms-of-aluminimum-adjuvant-revealed-vaccine-risks-to-children-clarified/

http://www.newswithviews.com/Tenpenny/sherri17.htm

This one is interesting, because most vaccines in the US contain aluminum as an adjuvant, so it's an amount significant enough to trigger the immune system:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Arthritis-Caused-By-Aluminum-Poisoning&id=1675501

[prosciencemum]

Could your friend's daughter just have had sore spots/bruises at the vaccination sites? That's a fairly common reaction I think.

Please note for the last link Taximom shared is about metallic aluminium poisoning which is a big problem but unrelated to the aluminium salts that are found in tiny quanties in some vaccines.

Like Rrrrachel my own opinion would be to get them up to date as quickly as possible. However spreading vaccines out is a good way to keep track of things (and may be less stressful for you). Personally I'm most concerned about tetanus, pertussis and measles. So those are the vaccines I would start with on the catch-up schedule.