What is so bad and where can I start?

[fascha]

I've picked up a copy of Dr. Sear's The Vaccine book, and I have to say that I get the controvercy of the vaccine's ingredients but where can I find research (that's not from www.ihatevaccinestheyarethedevil.com or similar)
I really feel uncomfortable vaccinating my son (who's not here yet!) against anything at all but I can't seem to find any studies etc. that validate this fear and so I feel like either way I'm making decisions based on fear.
I am so sick of having to defend my position (which is still on the fence) from ignorant people who think they know what's good for them and shielding comments like "I wouldn't want my child exposed to an unvaccinated one because who knows what deadly disease they are spreading"
I really want some reputable info on vaccines and unfortunately I don't know where to look and I'm feeling overwhelmed and super-ignorant right now.
Some of the vaccination ingredients scare the bejeezus out of me simply because I don't know a lot about them and some are just plain nasty... Help me learn more!

[SinginMamaTo2]

A good place to start is here - MDC! The subforums are so informative. The mamas here know their stuff and they usually back it up.

[Ophelia]

I have some links and resources on my website (in my siggy), but one of the best ones is http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/, their sources are CDC and scientific journals and they explain things in an easy to understand way. Lots of excellent articles, hit the site and start browsing

Believe me I know it's scary...I put off researching vaccines for a while because at the time I could not find sites that weren't too scaremongering (either side). You just have to jump in and keep researching. Points to remember when reading articles and studies, find out what the sources are, and who funded the studies if you can.

[CanidFL]

You’ve come to the right place! Read through the archives which are broken down by disease.

Here are some other common websites that are a great place to start:

This website has all the vaccines available and their package inserts where you can read the ingredients and safety studies. Be ready to be shocked! Vaccines are not tested against a saline control group…they are tested against other vaccines so when both groups come back as having the same amount of reactions, they are stamped safe and shot into children across the US.

http://vaers.hhs.gov/pdf/PackageInserts.pdf

Got to this website and click on the current issue of the MMWR. Scroll to the bottom and you will see the disease rates in the US for the past few years. You can see how many cases of each VPD there were. Very useful when you are trying to see how likely it is that your child will run into say polio…

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

This is info straight from the horses mouth. The CDC pink book is a little gem that goes over each VPD, how it’s spread, symptoms, death rates, vaccine info, etc. It’s pretty straight forward and once you read it, you will wonder why we even vax for certain things.

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

Hilary Butler has some excellent articles

http://www.*********/vaccines/butler3.html

Dr. Tenpenny Video. Very informative and she covers pretty much everything in an easy to understand format

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...40451107552&q=

Mary Tocco viedo. Excellent!! Easy to understand.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...87981735&hl=en

That is a good starting place as well as the other links above.

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by fascha

I've picked up a copy of Dr. Sear's The Vaccine book, and I have to say that I get the controvercy of the vaccine's ingredients but where can I find research (that's not from www.ihatevaccinestheyarethedevil.com or similar)
I really feel uncomfortable vaccinating my son (who's not here yet!) against anything at all but I can't seem to find any studies etc. that validate this fear and so I feel like either way I'm making decisions based on fear.
I am so sick of having to defend my position (which is still on the fence) from ignorant people who think they know what's good for them and shielding comments like "I wouldn't want my child exposed to an unvaccinated one because who knows what deadly disease they are spreading"
I really want some reputable info on vaccines and unfortunately I don't know where to look and I'm feeling overwhelmed and super-ignorant right now.
Some of the vaccination ingredients scare the bejeezus out of me simply because I don't know a lot about them and some are just plain nasty... Help me learn more!

Here's a good article that explains in-depth how to locate original research.
link

Especially the second half of the article:

Checking the manufacturer’s package inserts is useful for information on possible reactions to vaccines. Keep in mind that there are reactions listed under the “rare” category that might or might not be actual side-effects of the vaccine. Causation is difficult to determine in the case of rare events.

Merriam-Webster Online now has a medical dictionary to help. Just click the “medical” box before you search.

A useful tool for finding accurate information is Google Scholar. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to use it:

The “all X versions” function on the right (after you do a search) will take you to fulltext versions a lot of the time.
The “recent articles” function at the top (after you do a search) will take you to the newest research on the subject.
If you find something interesting, use the “cited by X” button under the the title to see what newer research might have confirmed or conflicted with what you just read.

PubMed is another good site. If the fulltext of the abstract you’re reading isn’t available through Pubmed (sometimes it will say “free fulltext at…” in the upper righthand corner) try putting the title of the abstract into Google Scholar, and looking through the “all of X versions” function to see if any of them are fulltexts.

All the links are "clickable" when you're "in" the actual article...

In a nutshell, add Google Scholar and PubMed to your favorites list.

HTH!

[fascha]

You guys are amazing!!! I'm eating up the pink book right now in an effort to learn more about how vaccines work and what immunology actually IS...

Also checking out the other links (I'm going to be busy for the next 8 weeks while I wait for my lo!!!)

Thanks again ladies!!!

[DahliaRW]

While Dr. Sears tries to play his book off as "neutral", I found it very pro-vaccine biased and with some misinformation. I highly recommend checking out "Vaccines: A Thoughtful Parents Guide" by Aviva Jill Romm.

[fascha]

Originally Posted by DahliaRW

While Dr. Sears tries to play his book off as "neutral", I found it very pro-vaccine biased and with some misinformation. I highly recommend checking out "Vaccines: A Thoughtful Parents Guide" by Aviva Jill Romm.

Dahlia I found the same thing. I understood it was an unbiased book but the more I read the more I was thinking that it was pro-vaccination. I have the Aviva Jill Romm book on order and have yet to recieve it!

I've also been reading a lot online about Dr Sherri Tenpenny and have been trying to order her book but can't seem to find it on Amazon

[thefragile7393]

Originally Posted by DahliaRW

While Dr. Sears tries to play his book off as "neutral", I found it very pro-vaccine biased and with some misinformation. I highly recommend checking out "Vaccines: A Thoughtful Parents Guide" by Aviva Jill Romm.

That's what I found too, and I too prefer Aviva's book. Frankly I think it's hard to NOT have some sort of bias in this issue, but I think IMO that Aviva's bok comes the closest. Dr. Tenpenney's books are great too, and IMO much better than the Sears book.

[Lit Chick]

The Vaccine Guide by Randall Neustaedter was really helpful for me. I thought the way the info was presented was excellent. Well organized, clear, and objective.

[fascha]

Thanks for all your help and suggestions, I'm going to be busy reading till this babe comes! LOL

[swissmom]

Originally Posted by fascha

I've also been reading a lot online about Dr Sherri Tenpenny and have been trying to order her book but can't seem to find it on Amazon

Do you mean her new book "Saying No To Vaccines"? I found that so far it's only available directly from her homepage by calling [phone] or ordering it from http://www.sayingnotovaccines.com/. It was supposed to be out this March but when I called 3 weeks ago, it was still not available.

[rredhead]

Hi!
You've already been given a great list. If you want more to read, I put together a list of sites that I felt were more moderate. Most of them are against vaccination according to the CDC schedule. I was basically looking for sites that I could refer my questioning friends to and feel that my decision was made clear.
http://www.rmcsquared.net/links.htm


A great book is What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccines, by Dr. Stephanie Cave. It's short, easy to read, yet informative. It's a bit dated, as it was published around 2000. However, it's great for stats about diseases and vaccine reactions.

Hope this helps!

[angie7]

Originally Posted by fascha

"I wouldn't want my child exposed to an unvaccinated one because who knows what deadly disease they are spreading"

: Sorry but this comment always cracks me up....It's all those nasty, unvaxed kids making everyone sick, dotcha know