Study: Fewer Vaxes = Fewer Doctor and ER Visits

[Mirzam]

http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2013-03-14/fewer-vaxes-fewer-doc-and-er-visits-study/

Quote:

They try & try & try, but the vaccine pseudo science researchers still come up with results demonstrating that vaccinated children are less healthy than unvaccinated children. So, they euphemize and spin their results. Vaxxed kids are sicker than unvaxxed? Well, it’s just a different sort of health. Personally, I’ll choose the unvaccinated sort—the kind where chronic disease is nearly absent and fewer ER visits mean better health.

[emmy526]

i know with my unvaxed that is the case...we see the dr maybe twice a year to mainain a relationship and to keep the ins happy

[kathymuggle]

I think this quote (which the author of the gaia article got from the study) was interesting:

Undervaccinated kids also tended to have fewer doctors’ appointments and emergency room visits than those who got their shots on time, according to findings published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics. That could be because their parents more often turn to alternative or complementary medicine when it’s an option, Omer said. 

I don't think it is true.  

We certainly do not have evidence of it.  Is there a study showing non vaxxers visit naturopaths more than vaxxers?  We can speculate, but that is about it.

When it comes to emergency room visits, it make zero sense that non-vaxxers would turn toward complimentary or alternate medicine over an emergency room visit.  

Most people  use the emergency when they need to see a doctor quickly, or when they know what they are suffering from is outside a doctors care.  Alternative practitioners are occasionally a substitute for doctors; they are not an alternative to emergency room.  

I need to read through the article or the study if I can get my hands on it, and see if they corrected for other factors that may come into play - such as socio-economic status, breastfeeding, daycare, smoking, etc.  

Off to dig!

[kathymuggle]

The intro to the study, according to the article, says this:

These concerned parents often request alternative vaccination schedules that either increase the time between vaccinations or reduce the number of vaccinations in a single well-child visit. Despite their concerns, however, the safety of alternative vaccination schedules is not known.

Bolding mine.  First off, we do not know for sure if the current schedule is safe.  We do not have many (do we even have any?) studies that explore the schedule as a whole.  

Secondly, if you want to argue the current schedule is safe (as some are won't to do) then it is obvious "less and spread out" is also safe.  If you argue 6 vaccines at one time is safe, then certainly 2 is.

In my opinion the bolded is a pretty ludicrous statement. 

Edited by kathymuggle - 3/14/13 at 7:49pm

[Turquesa]

Technically, countries other than the U.S. have "alternative schedules." Is Omer asserting that the US has a scientifically superior schedule and that everyone else is doing it wrong?