This is the most agonizing decision - when/how/if to Vax - Page 2

[sohj]

Originally Posted by insider

That's not the appropriate comparison to make. You don't compare chances of contracting the disease to being harmed by the vax - you compare chances of being harmed by the disease vs. being harmed by the vax. And that risk/benefit analysis favors not vaccinating.

This bears repeating. It is a fundamental of statistical analysis: Make sure one is not comparing apples and oranges.

[paquerette]

I don't think the husband's work or international travel should have anything to do with it. That just smacks of xenophobia. Oh those dirty, dirty foreigners.

[HeatherHeather]

If I hear another person say their ped told them that they've seen a "baby die in it's mother's arms at the ER" I will SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did a really quick search and I found that in 2001 the CDC reported the following total numbers of vaccine preventable diseases in the US in children under age 5. Keep in mind this is the total number of diseases not deaths.

1 diptheria or tetanus
2 rubella
26 measles
34 Hep B
49 Mumps
325 H. Influenzae
403 Hep. A
2,857 Pertussis

Pertussis deaths in 2000 were a total of 17. All deaths occurred in infants who contracted the disease at less than 4 months of age. These children wouldn't have had the protection of the vaccine anyway.

I think there were 2 measles deaths in 1999???? maybe. Rubella doesn't kill babies. Let's assume the one tetanus/diptheria was fatal. I don't think there have been any mumps deaths since the 1970s.

I don't know the death rates for Hep A or B in children under 5, so lets assume a death rate of 10% which is a huge overestimate. That would be 43 deaths from HepA/B.

H. Influenzea - According to the CDC, before the vax there were 20,000 cases of HIB per year with 1,000 fatalities. So that's a death rate of 2%. With 325 reported cases, you would expect 6.5 deaths.

This would put the total number of deaths due to a "vaccine preventable disease" at about a max of 50 (in chidren under 5). Remember this is with the whooping 10% death rate assumed with HepA/B.

In 2005 there were 17.5 million children in the US.

Total number of pediatricians in the US is about 100 per 100,000 children. That means for every 1,000 children in the us there is 1 pediatrician. So there are an estimated 17,500 pediatricians in the US.

If there are only 50 vax-preventable deaths per year, it would take approx. 350 years for each ped. to witness a death. The actual number of deaths is likely much lower. And that's assuming they are in the ER or hospital and not in their office when the death occurs. Most of the office peds. spend no time in the hospitals.

Lets assume peds. practice a max of 40 years. That would mean that about 1 out of every 9 pediatricians will witness a vax preventable death in a child under 5 in their entire career.

Now how many of us have been told by their ped. that they have personally seen a vax-preventable death in an infant?

[Gitti]

Originally Posted by Maxine45

The Dr. told me that a baby in this community died last winter of Meningitis (I saw that on the news). He wasn't a daycare baby, he lived at home just like mine will. She said she's seen babies die in their mommy's arms in the emergency room.

And this was an unvaccinated child???? Meningitis is just as likely to be due to the vaccine.

Baby has a greater chance of getting whooping cough than getting hurt from a vax.

That is his opinion based on nothing. There are many vaccine damaged kids. My daughter is a teacher and teachers discuss the change in children over the years all the time. They can't explain it.
Whooping caugh is not something a child will die of. My three cousins had it, I played with them and never got it. They all got over it and it didn't seem to be much more than a very severe cough with long intervals. I would not worry since the vaccine can't protect a child until it is 6 mo and that's when the child is out of the danger zone anyway.

My husband works at a very large and global company with people coming in and out of travel all the time, and this is another concern of ours.

Why? People from other countries are no more sick than from the US.
My son in law is an MD in a large hospital and comes home and is very lax about washing up before he plays with his two unvaccinated kids. Seems to be no problem.
It's not the germ but the terrain....

It's just agonizing, I feel that no matter what I choose, it could have devastating consequences for my dearest little boy.

I know I can not tell you what to do and you have to make up your own mind no matter what, but I would advice you if you really want your child healthy, do not vaccinate, do not use any medication if at all possible, simply let him grow the way nature had intended it. He will be healthier than all his peers.

I'm a mess over this issue, I have been since before he was born. How does anyone make this decision and feel solid about it?

Once you do enough research you too will come to the conclusion that vaccines are NOT designed to give health. They can only interfere in a healthy body. The moment something foreign is injected the body must set out to rid itself of that again. If the child is lucky he will be able to accomplish this, if not his body will be trying all his life to do that and it will constantly weaken him somewhat.
Once vaccinated he will never be the same again.

[Kundalini-Mama]

to you mama.

This is a great book, very balanced and full of information. Easy to read too.

Best of luck on your journey!