Selective Vaccines

[MamaMaria309]

I've been wanting to do selective vaccines for both kids. My DD is not "up to date" on her shots, and yesturday the new doctor we saw gave DS four shots instead of the two I asked him to give him. So now I'm wondering to those of you who give selective vaccines, what do you get on your kids and why? My daughter got the Hepatitis, and like 3-4 others. Other than that, she is 15 months and has not even gotten the MMR yet, which I wanted to delay till she was 18 months to 2 years old. I knew this would be the place to ask.

TIA!

[HeatherHeather]

Originally Posted by MamaMaria309

yesturday the new doctor we saw gave DS four shots instead of the two I asked him to give him.

I don't selectively vax, so I can't really help you with that, but I just have to ask are you even considering going back to a doctor who gave your ds two vaccines which you asked her/him not to give?

[annettemarie]

I believe you will find a different answer for this from every person, because everyone who selectively vax has their own criteria for what they select, KWIM?

We selectively vax.

We do not vaxes until 6 months, and only do one at a time.

We don't do the chicken pox or rubella (which means we don't do the MMR) because they are cultured on aborted fetal tissue.

We don't do Hep B before age 5 when my kids go to school, because before that they stay home with us.

Is that sort of what you were looking for?

[alegna]

Welcome! I started out planning to selectively vax on a delayed schedule and researched each disease and vax to decide what to give when. By the time I finished researching I decided not to vax at all.

good luck with your research! Try searching here for whatever you're interested in learning about.

-Angela

[Llyra]

My daughter is 16 months. So far she's had three does of DTaP and two of HIB. We're not doing varicella-- that one strikes me as downright silly. We're not doing Hep B, because my toddler is clearly not at risk of catching that. We're not doing Prevnar, because I haven't seen enough information on that one to make any kind of informed decision. We'll talk about MMR as she approaches puberty, because of congenital rubella, but I haven't made up my mind on that.

If sometime down the line we decide to put her in school, we'll have to get on a catch-up schedule. There's no philosophical exemption in my state, and I'll never get away with religious because of partially vaxing. I'm reconciled to that.

We started DTaP on schedule, because I did consider pertussis a risk. (No, I don't want to debate that, thank you ladies.) We did Hib starting at 12 months.

[pumpkinsmama]

I would be furious if my Doc did something like that! Have you considered reporting him?

I went from assuming I would follow the reg vacc schedule, to thinking I would selectively vacc, now I am just in a perpetual state of Delaying. But originally I had considered them all and discarded each for different reasons. I believe that every family has different circumstances that may not be obvious to the outsider. If you have a particular vacc you want to discuss, I could help with the "con" side of the argument. If you just want to talk to other mama's who delay, I understand that.

[mamakay]

and I'll never get away with religious because of partially vaxing. I'm reconciled to that.

That's what I thought, too, but nope.

It's not "all or nothing" with religious exemption.

[annettemarie]

I wanted to add that we have slowly been moving towards a state of perpetual delay as it is becoming more and more difficult to find single vaxes.

Also, we claim a religious exemption, and the school doesn't know Michael has any vaxes at all. If we let them know we selectively vax, I could see them trying to convince us or force us to explain our reasons, and it's none of their business.

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by mamakay

That's what I thought, too, but nope.

It's not "all or nothing" with religious exemption.

Could this be a "depends on the state" thing? Cause I've heard other people here say they've had trouble getting a religious exemption for selective vaccination as well.

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Could this be a "depends on the state" thing? Cause I've heard other people here say they've had trouble getting a religious exemption for selective vaccination as well.

Long Island is the expert on this, but I think the way it works is that you can submit a religious exemption that has nothing to do with your doctor, so you could opt for some vaccines, and it would never effect your religious exemption the school has.

I'm not entirely sure how it works....sorry...I haven't looked into it recently as I'm planning on homeschooling and still haven't found anything I'm looking to vax for right now.

Maybe someone else can clarify?

[Llyra]

Honestly, I'm not terribly worried about exemption, as I don't plan on putting DD in school. If the day arrives that she decides to try school, we'll cross that bridge then.

[chersolly]

Originally Posted by MamaMaria309

yesturday the new doctor we saw gave DS four shots instead of the two I asked him to give him.

Why didn't you say anything when the Doc/Nurse/Tech pulled out the third syringe? Or the fourth?

[pumpkinsmama]

Don't they usually take the kid out of the room? I wasn't there for DS's 2mo, and he hasn't had any since, so I honestly don't know.

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Could this be a "depends on the state" thing? Cause I've heard other people here say they've had trouble getting a religious exemption for selective vaccination as well.

Yes, it depends on the language in your state laws. For example, in New York, your beliefs must be contrary to the "practice of immunizations." Therefore, it's all or nothing.

[MamaMaria309]

Originally Posted by HeatherHeather

I don't selectively vax, so I can't really help you with that, but I just have to ask are you even considering going back to a doctor who gave your ds two vaccines which you asked her/him not to give?

No I am not going back. I'm currently in search of a new pediatrician.

Edited to add that I was dressing my daughter when the doctor was doing the vaccines, as he likes the children to be undressed when he is looking at them. I am never returning to that docs office again.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by pumpkinsmama

Don't they usually take the kid out of the room? I wasn't there for DS's 2mo, and he hasn't had any since, so I honestly don't know.

Wow- I've never heard of this practice. NO WAY I'd allow this. Wow. I didn't let dd out of my or dh's sight for months- definitely not with someone I'd just met a couple of times- medical "professional" or not. Do parents actually allow this? Why?

-Angela

[guestmama9911]

I am currently of a mind to selectively vax. I skipped the HepB and don't intend to ever do it. I will also skip the Chicken Pox one, because it is only reportedly 70% effective if you read the pro-vax sources, and I have read that it does not provide protection against adult shingles the way actually having chicken pox will. Also, chicken pox is not that big of a deal. I wish to skip the MMR because that one is most associated with Autism due to the measles component, if I am understanding my research correctly, as Autistic children are found with measles living in their guts.

Assuming I continue my plans, I will begin at 6 months with the DTaP, and only the DTaP. I would prefer breaking those up, but I have read that it is harder to find those thimerosal free. According to Stephanie Cave's book, and she has a modified schedule in the back, single-dose vials come without thimerosal but multi-dose vials come with it. I will do all necessary additional doses before moving on to HiB, and then will do all necessary doses before moving on to polio. I will keep detailed records before, during and after, take down all lots numbers, and do what I can to keep DS' immune system as strong as possible in the meantime. And no way in HELL (can I say that here?) would I ever let a doctor leave the room with my child.

[rdkks]

Originally Posted by alisaterry

I am currently of a mind to selectively vax. I skipped the HepB and don't intend to ever do it. I will also skip the Chicken Pox one, because it is only reportedly 70% effective if you read the pro-vax sources, and I have read that it does not provide protection against adult shingles the way actually having chicken pox will.

I am NOT at all for the chicken pox vax, but wanted to clarify something. you actually had to have had CP (or the vax I'm sure) in order to have adult shingles...it's the CP virus laying dormant in your body until a later time. Usually stress will bring it out...I'm sure there's more to it than that, BUT having had CP as a child and shingles as an adult I know that CP doesn't protect from adult shingles.

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by alisaterry

Assuming I continue my plans, I will begin at 6 months with the DTaP, and only the DTaP. I would prefer breaking those up, but I have read that it is harder to find those thimerosal free.

I wanted to make you aware that that there is no single dose diptheria and pertussis.

[guestmama9911]

I am NOT at all for the chicken pox vax, but wanted to clarify something. you actually had to have had CP (or the vax I'm sure) in order to have adult shingles...it's the CP virus laying dormant in your body until a later time. Usually stress will bring it out...I'm sure there's more to it than that, BUT having had CP as a child and shingles as an adult I know that CP doesn't protect from adult shingles.

I apologize - I misunderstood what I was reading. With regards to shingles, the cicken pox vax is leaving more adults susceptible to shingles. Dr. Mercola states the following on his website:

After a bout of naturally-occuring chickenpox, the varicella zoster virus remains dormant in the body and may reactivate decades later to cause shingles, a painful rash that typically strikes chickenpox veterans after the age of 60.Marc Brisson and his team say their research shows that adults living with children have more exposure to the virus that causes chickenpox and enjoy high levels of protection against shingles. Being close to children means that adults are exposed to the virus, which acts like a booster vaccine against shingles, they believe. But if all children were vaccinated, adults who have had chickenpox would no longer be protected against developing shingles.The researchers worked out a mathematical model that predicts that eliminating chickenpox in a country the size of the United States would prevent 186 million cases of the disease and 5,000 deaths over 50 years. However they said it could also result in 21 million more cases of shingles and 5,000 deaths.

Dr Sherri Tenpenny then comments:

As the article points out, vaccinating children with the chickenpox vaccine will cause the pool of wild virus will die out. Adults who had chickenpox as a child need to be re -- exposed to the wild virus to keep any residual dormant virus in check. It is estimated that currently as many as 2 in every 10 persons may be affected by shingles in their lifetime. Without this exposure, the number of people who will contract shingles is anticipated to increase substantially. The solution appears to be the development of another vaccine.

Not to miss an opportunity, a large study is underway for the development of the shingles vaccine. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is currently testing a shingles vaccine in clinical trials in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health (NIH.) The Shingles Prevention Study is part of a nationwide collaborative effort between the NIAID, Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA), and Merck. It should be noted that Merck is also the manufacturer of Varivax®, the chickenpox vaccine.

This double -- blind study will test a vaccine similar to Varivax®; however, the experimental vaccine contains a larger amount of the weakened varicella virus. If a participant was given the placebo during the trial and the vaccine is later found to be "successful," the person will be offered the shingles vaccine at no charge at the conclusion of the study.[2] A nice perk for participating as a human test subject.

None of this makes sense. Wouldn't the logical solution be to STOP the chickenpox vaccination and allow this mild virus to do its job?

Again I apologize for the misinformation I provided.

LongIsland, thank you for that information. I am still a beginner when it comes to vaccines.