Do you guys worry about these diseases?

[echadw01]

My DS was fully vaccinated up till 18mo when I decided to stop! I am pregnant with our 2nd son who will arrive in August. Here is my issue:

My son had his 2nd birthday party this weekend and the vaccine debate came up. I stupidly told everyone that we will not be vaccinating the baby I am pregnant with or my 2 yr old any longer.....well, I was attacked! My brother told me he works with a women who doesn't vaccinate and her DS got scarlet fever and almost died. They said I would regret it if if my boys got a disease and died when it could have been prevented....and this went on and on!

Now I am having second thoughts b/c deep down I do worry that my kids will get a horrible disease and die and it will be all my fault b/c I didn't vaccinate them! I am so uncomfortable vaccinating them and so uncomfortable not vaccinating them.

Do you guys worry about these diseases? How did you get to a place where you stopped worrying about your kids getting some horrible disease. I know you will all say research each disease one by one (which I have not done yet) but where do you research that? There are so many vaccines now that i don't even know what vaccine goes with what disease!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAHHHH! I am so frustrated! Any advice and/or support would be SO appreciated! Any books you would recommend that explain what vaccine goes with what disease and how rare or common each disease is???

Thanks, Erica

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

First of all, tell your brother his argument was unjustified, since there is no vaccine for scarlet fever on the vaccine schedule. So how could vaccinating have helped his friends child? measles might be close, and they dont even vaccinated for that until 15-18 months.

I am still uncertain at times. It is just the way we have been conditioned to think. You cant turn on the news or read the paper without the fear mongering horse poo being thrown at you until you are knee deep in it. I am fortunate enough I work with someone who didnt vaccinate either of his kids, even for tetnus. They are 12 and 10 and two of the healthiest kids on their block! Do your research, get informed. Find out what these infectious disease the vaccines are for consist of. Like Rotavirus, BABY DIARHEA! CHicken pox, which I and everyone I have ever known had. Measles, which my parents and grandparents had. polio, which is not as big a threat as they say, and has actually been kept in circulation due TO the virus.

And lets not forget how many recalls and boo boos they have casued with bad batches. The polio vaccine my parents got had SV40 in it. SOme of them had aids in it, (That was admited by the co founder of Merck). Hib and prevnevar have been recalled, just recently. They are finding problems with Gardisil. DO I want to take the chance (again) of giving my child a vaccine, and then come to find out, OOOOPSS!! WE had a problem with that batch, SORRY!

[CanidFL]

I think the scarlet fever comment was dumb. There is not a vaccine for scarlet fever. And BTW, I got scarlet fever as a child and it was not all that scary. I have tested the waters a few times with other people mentioning delaying vax and I have heard many times “so and so doesn’t vax their kids and they are ALWAYS sick!”. It’s a dumb comment and if they are so ignorant to make such a comment then I stop talking about it right there.

Ok, to research the diseases, a great place to start is the archives on this board. They have each disease listed up top and you can click on it and then read all the links, studies, etc that people post.

You can read the pink book. This is a document by the CDC which goes over every disease. You can see that the diseases are not all that scary. For instance…the pink book talks about polio and says 95% of cases are asymptomatic. Of the 5% that show symptoms, only 1% of those have paralysis. Of the 1% the have paralysis, most recover and regain movement within 6 months. So now, polio doesn’t seem all that scary. Pair that with the fact that there hasn’t been a case in the US in over 30 years then the vaccine seems like the silliest thing to do.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pin...k-chapters.htm

You can look up disease rates on the CDC MMWR. Click on the PDF and scroll to the bottom to see how many people are getting these diseases. Most of them are very rare now.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_wk.html

Here are my favorite books for vaccines:

http://www.amazon.com/What-Doctor-Ab...8873721&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Vaccinations-T...8873721&sr=8-4

Take your time and read this info. If you get through it all, you will have a great understanding of the diseases and vaccines that are out there. Don’t feel like you need to rush. You can always delay vaccines until you are sure which might be 6 months, 2 or 3 years. You can’t take back a vaccine so don’t do it until you are well researched and happy with your decision.

And FWIW, I am not scared of the VPD diseases. I have my moments of worry with pertussis and tetanus but it passes quickly when I go back to my research.

[alegna]

Which diseases? Because, obviously, as mentioned, there's no vaccine for scarlet fever....

:

-Angela

[Twwly]

No, I am not worried. I'm not worried because I read lots of research, stats and information on all sides. It quickly became really clear to me that I had very, very, very little to worry about by not vaccinating, and signficantly more to worry about if I did.

Reading the CDC stats helps, and I liked Romm's Vaccination: A Thoughtful Parents Guide.

I also liked:

* Scheibner's 100 years of orthodox research shows that vaccines represent a medical assault on the immune system

* Diodati's Immunization : History, Ethics, Law and Health

[GutInstinct]

NO, I am not worried.

I find that most people who are the most "alarmed" at not vaccinating don't even know the current schedule of vaccines anyway! Or what they do or do NOT prevent.

Stay true to yourself!

[thefragile7393]

Not worried, especially once I learned the truth about Polio and that paralysis cases were NOT as common as many thought. Aviva Jill Romm's book has treatments for all VADs. I find nothing frightening about any of these diseases...the way people talk nowadays you'd think they were talking about Bubonic Plauge or something but these illnesses are nowhere near that caliber--it's Chicken Pox, it's Measles, it's Hep B, it's illnesses that when treated properly in an average healthy person are not going to cause complications...and THOSE are can be damaging.

[My*Scorpio]

Congratulations! As a mother, it's so hard not to worry about our kids.

I worry about the auto-immune disorders that have been linked to vaccinations, such as autism and food allergies.

[abomgardner417]

Hang in there! It was scarier for my when my twins were tiny babies and seemed so vulnerable to everthing.

It helped to find a doc who was supportive of not vaxing and it helped to read everything I could get my hands on about vax's whether it was pro-vax or anti-vax. And the more I read the more I realized that I did not want all that junk in my children's bodies. Even though I decided to stop vaxing my dss' at 6 mo I still read whatever I can to keep informed, but also to stay strong in my decision when I start to question myself. Just keep learning everything you can and if you're still going back and forth you may decide to do selective or delay some for right now. Decide on what you feel most comfortable w/, not what you're family wants. And if they continue to badger you, ask them to come up w/ the research that show that vax are completely safe.

Dr. Mercola's website is helpful. Can't remember it exactly but just google Dr. Mercola and then search for vaccinations.
Good luck!

[gcgirl]

Originally Posted by Barbie64g

First of all, tell your brother his argument was unjustified, since there is no vaccine for scarlet fever on the vaccine schedule.

This was my first thought as well.

I am nervous about some diseases, sure. I don't share some folks' confidence in the relative harmlessness of certain diseases or my ability to care for them properly. But I'm learning as much as I can, and I'm reassured by A) there are way more diseases that we don't have vaxes for than we do, B) some of the things we vax for, like Pc and HiB, are virtually useless since they don't lower the overall risk of meningitis or epiglottitis anyway, and C) the medical community doesn't have all the answers either. And right now, most of them aren't even asking the right questions.

[gcgirl]

Originally Posted by thefragile7393

it's Chicken Pox, it's Measles, it's Hep B, it's illnesses that when treated properly in an average healthy person are not going to cause complications...and THOSE are can be damaging.

Hep B is often very serious. I wouldn't place it in the same category as Measles and Chickenpox. Just nitpicking.

[thefragile7393]

Hep B is rare in children. Just because it CAN be serious sometime in their adult life IF they get it dosn't mean I'm going to vax my child for it, and the main ways of transmission rarely apply to children. I lump it with the others because for the average child, exposure to Hep B is extremely unlikely.

[T&D2005]

I am fully vax and got scarlet fever (not that there is a vaccine for it). Vaccines are not 100% effective anyway. The decision is yours and yours alone. My son is now 12.5 months old and he attends playgroups about twice a week. I keep my vax decisions quiet but I hear the other moms talking about the doc visit and shots, how the kid slept so long, how he got a fever ect.. So far, my son has never missed a playgroup because of an illness going around. MANY of these kids around his age have been sick multiple times over the past few months. My son put the same toys in his mouth that these kids do. I'm not saying my kid is super immune system boy or anything, I feed him a healthy diet rich in vitamins (fruits/veggies) and give him SA on a regular basis. We even took him to Disney a few weeks back and he was fine.
You have to be confident and ready for the diseases should they come around. I have a few natural health books here with the common diseases in there and how to treat them naturally. I look at the ones that are the most scary (IMO) and I know the basics of them. Rest, fluids, good diet is the foundation to prevention.

FYI- when I first heard of people not vaxing, I had the same reaction of your relatives. I thought "how stupid", "how selfish" ect.. Then that night, I came home thinking there is always 2 sides to every story. I did some research and got drawn in to the topic. Now, 100's of hours of research later and 1 child born, I'm 100% opposite in thinking. I don't vax.

[MarineMommy]

I too vax'd my 3 oldest until they were 4, 3, and 15mo. My newest baby is unvaxed. I was a little nervous at first, but then came across a woman named Mary Tocco. She was a concerned mom just like us and did the research. Now she spends all her time trying to educate people about the harm they can cause, and the way the bodies immune system works. It was very reassuring to me to know that my dc bodies were made to combat viruses and so on. Now, I am very confident in my decision to not vax.
I also feel like I need to spread the news. Even if someone looks at me like I am crazy, I still say it. It may just plant a little seed of interest in someone and lead them to discover the dangers of vaccines.

Check out this website,

http://www.marytocco.com/

Watch this video. It's over 2 hours long, but is PACKED with great info!! It really helped me understand the immune system better.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...px?PageIndex=1

Good luck to you!!

[Jasmyn's Mum]

I worry more about the risks associated with the vaxes more than the diseases.

[thefragile7393]

Originally Posted by T&D2005

You have to be confident and ready for the diseases should they come around. I have a few natural health books here with the common diseases in there and how to treat them naturally. I look at the ones that are the most scary (IMO) and I know the basics of them. Rest, fluids, good diet is the foundation to prevention.

Yes...absolutely. It took me a while to say "Yes I feel confidient and ready, should they happen." A good long time. Knowing all the above and how to prevent complications, (and having good back up should they occur) goes a long way to boosting confidence.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Originally Posted by MarineMommy

I too vax'd my 3 oldest until they were 4, 3, and 15mo. My newest baby is unvaxed. I was a little nervous at first, but then came across a woman named Mary Tocco. She was a concerned mom just like us and did the research. Now she spends all her time trying to educate people about the harm they can cause, and the way the bodies immune system works. It was very reassuring to me to know that my dc bodies were made to combat viruses and so on. Now, I am very confident in my decision to not vax.
I also feel like I need to spread the news. Even if someone looks at me like I am crazy, I still say it. It may just plant a little seed of interest in someone and lead them to discover the dangers of vaccines.

Check out this website,

http://www.marytocco.com/

Watch this video. It's over 2 hours long, but is PACKED with great info!! It really helped me understand the immune system better.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...px?PageIndex=1

Good luck to you!!

I LOVE HER!!!!!

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by Jasmyn's Mum

I worry more about the risks associated with the vaxes more than the diseases.

This.

[youmb00]

I am scared to death about my dd one day developing allergies and asthma like I did. IMO, VPDs are not bad in comparison. At least most of them are curable.
plus vaccines aren't even close to 100% effective

[tsando2]

Vaccine Book

You should read "The Vaccine Book" By Dr. Bob Sears. I too have struggled with the whole vaccination debate, but after reading Dr. Sears book and learning all details about vaccinations, it has helped to ease my concerns. You can also go to thevaccinebook.com for more information. I hope this helps some. Good luck with whatever decision you make...It's probably one of the hardest decisions you have to make as a parent!