Yes, it is, unfortunately scandalous.
I worked personally and closely with a sweet 2 year old boy and his family in a north-midwestern state who contracted paralytic polio at 2 mos from his routine vaccination.
(this was in the 1990s, when OPV was still being used in the routine schedule)
The doctors finally figured out what was going on with him, after observing his reaction and worsening condition for several days. He went on to develop full-blown paralytic polio, and at the time I was working with him and his family, required 24-hr nursing care, tube feeding, and breathing via respirator, and was, of course, completely wheelchair dependent, not even able to support his own head.
His family were recent immigrants and blown away with caring for him and navigating a foreign and complicated medical and legal system. I was with them through much, though not all, of their trip through the vaccine compensation program, hearings with the special master, experts on both sides, etc. What a nightmare.
Strangers argued over whether 'nursing care' could be by just licensed practical nurses, or whether registered nurses were required and 'worth' the extra pay required, what type of vehicle should be covered, how much respite care should be funded, what types of therapies were needed and how often they should be provided, how much annually was required for diapers, and on and on and on... And I'm just sitting there, interpreting into their language, trying to help them make sense of it all, while thinking silently "And all this torture and disability to protect this sweet baby from a disease that hasn't been seen in the western hemishpere in YEARS!?!?"
UN. Fricking. Believable.
:
You just wouldn't believe what this child and his family went through. All because the mom thought she was doing the best and required thing for her baby, and had him vaccinated according to the AAP's schedule. I was responsible for helping to coordinate his medical care and support for his family, and believe me, it took many people working together to provide basic services for all his needs.
After working with them, I began to question the whole vaccine thing, and to read, and read, and read some more, after I had kids of my own.
It's so hard sometimes, to go against what we all "know" to be true- "Vaccines protect babies!" and yet, having seen the potential consequences so closely, it is so important to educate yourself before you make health care decisions for your children. (and yourself!)
For me, the vaccine deal comes down to 3 basic questions, for each and every vaccine and its associated disease:
Is this specific vaccine:
1) safe?
2) effective?
3) necessary? i.e., is the risk of a)contracting the disease at all
and b) suffering serious illness, disability, or death from the disease, *higher* than the risk of having a reaction to the vaccine?
So far, I haven't answered these questions in favor of vaccinating.
Uh oh, poopy diaper calls.
Keep reading, everyone.
