It’s an emotional, often times heated, topic for discussion… especially when we are talking about children’s vaccines. No parent wants to think they may have made the wrong decision for their child. The truth is we all do the best we can with the knowledge we have at the time. My parents vaccinated me, without ever thinking there could be a reason not to. In fact, twenty-something years later when I told them that I was questioning whether or not to vaccinate their first grandchild, they were shocked. At the time, I was pregnant in Davenport, Iowa at Palmer College of Chiropractic. I was neck high in immunology, embryology, and toxicology classes. I had just listened to a guest lecture by a chiropractor from Oklahaven Children’s Center. She gave a speech about the holistic work they were in Oklahoma with vaccine damaged children. This was the first time I had ever heard the term “vaccine damaged.” It caused me to pause, ask questions and read. I wanted to increase my knowledge so I could decide for myself. This was back in 1999. As it turned out, it was a blessing I chose not to vaccinate Brooke at the hospital. My baby would have been among those vaccinated with a hepatitis B shot which months later was determined not to be safe.
Fast forward to today… it’s fifteen years later and more and more parents are choosing not to vaccinate, or to choose “alternate” vaccine schedules for their children. Some are worried about the toxic preservatives, some a concerned about contamination by animal viruses like SV40, still others are concerned about anaphylactic allergic reactions from egg protein or latex that may be in the shot. I personally am concerned that we are no longer getting the immunological BENEFIT of what used to be NORMAL childhood diseases (like measles and chicken pox). Yes, those diseases benefitted our immune system. Consider this. When we come down with a natural case of chicken pox or measles, we establish LIFETIME immunity to it (vaccines confer only a temporary immunity IF they work, that is why boosters are needed). Furthermore, vaccine-conferred immunity does not get passed through mother’s milk to baby, leaving the vaccinated-mom’s newborn susceptible to these diseases at a vulnerable time.
I could go on and on about vaccination. But really, all I wanted to do today was to pique your interest to learn more. It’s no longer a system where we are done with vaccines by age 6. Now we are targeting (read marketing to) girls and boys at puberty(Gardasil), college students(meningitis) and adults (flu, shingles, pneumonia). Is the push for more and more vaccines making us healthier or sicker? This month we have an opportunity to hear an expert, Laura Condon, representative of the National Vaccine Information Center, speak locally at the Hooksett Public Library on October 16th. I invite you to come out and hear another side of the story… including the politics of vaccine sales, purchases and the new government watch list (vaccine registry) which has been approved here in New Hampshire at tax payer expense.
For more information about vaccines, alternate schedules, and a helpful vaccine calculator (calculate how much mercury is in the next round of shots for your child) go to www.NVIC.org.
Take time to make an informed decision. Research, read, discuss and choose what’s best for your family. We’re not anti-vaccine, we are pro-informed decision making. If you want more resources, please ask us!