The Luxury of Choice
There are literally billions of parents all over the world that would literally give their lives for the opportunity to have their children vaccinated against measles. Perhaps it is yet another symptom of our wealth in this country that we have the luxury of wondering whether it is necessary to vaccinate.
Writes Matthew N. Parker, M.D., in the August 21st Southern Doctor Diaries. It’s an observation that puts recent discussions about the parental right to vaccinate or not in perspective. Dr. Parker writes about the recently reported measles outbreak—131 cases as of this July in the US, and describes a child who’s contracted measles and encephalitis. Parents want so much to be in control of what might happen to their children; worry, he writes, “is as much a part of parenting as changing diapers.” Noting that than a few parents have chosen not to have their children vaccinated out of “speculations” of vaccines being connected to autism, Dr. Parker writes:
One of my greatest fears as a doctor, however, is that it will take parents seeing their children begin to suffer as they did in years past…live in iron lungs due to polio, become sterile from mumps, even die from preventable diseases like measles…before we are shaken from our hardheadedness.
Are the San Diego parents whose contracted measles earlier this year wondering this? Have we worried ourselves into a corner about vaccines because so much else about our children’s lives and our own—so much else in the world—seems beyond our control?
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, disabilities blog, disability, green, Health, immunization, measles, mercury, mmr, motherhood, Myth, natural, Parenting, pdd-nos, Science, shots, Vaccines
14 opinions for The Luxury of Choice
toxic
Aug 28, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Measles is not scary. Neither is chicken pox or flu. My grandparents, parents and my generation survived all of that.
Would rather get those, and get natural immunity, then get the side effects from unsafe vaccines. And don\’t tell me there are no unsafe vaccines. All one has to do is look in the VAERS database.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 28, 2008 at 9:16 pm
But one has to be careful about interpreting the results of VAERS.
Regan
Aug 28, 2008 at 9:21 pm
“…Are all events reported to VAERS caused by vaccinations?
No. VAERS receives reports of many events that occur after immunization. Some of these events may occur coincidentally following vaccination, while others may truly be caused by vaccination. Studies help determine if there is more than a temporal (time) association between immunization and adverse events. The fact that an adverse event occurred following immunization is not conclusive evidence that the event was caused by a vaccine. Factors such as medical history and other medications given near the time of the vaccination must be examined to determine if they could have caused the adverse event. It is important to remember that many adverse events reported to VAERS may not be caused by vaccines.
What if I can’t tell if a reaction was caused by a vaccine or another medication
We encourage you to report any reaction following vaccination to VAERS, regardless of whether or not you can tell if the vaccine or another product caused it.….”
From
Frequently Asked Questions
About VAERS
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 28, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Other reasons to interpret data from VAERS with care:
VAERS is a “passive” system. If you think a vaccine might have caused a problem, you’re encouraged (but not required) to fill out a form.
A study published in Pediatrics found that reports of autism to VAERS were coming from……personal-injury lawyers:
Stimey
Aug 28, 2008 at 11:13 pm
All I know is that autism isn’t going to kill my son. Measles can. All of my children get vaccinated.
Laura
Aug 29, 2008 at 3:20 am
My daughter was taken to the genetics department at our university hospital today for a skin biopsy. They are suspecting mitochondrial disorder and ordered the test immediately after Monday’s “episode”, the fifth in six months, of high lactate acid, organic acids, hypoglycemia and a myriad of other tests and symptoms requiring medical treatment. I guess they figured we’d been to the ER enough in her young 3.5 years and “bad or paranoid parenting” or “effects of autism” were no longer good enough reasons to ignore lab tests, or our protests to investigate further.
With each of her vaccines, she’d experience the same symptoms as described above, with fever, dehydration, head to toe rash, vomiting and more. I thought it was the vaccines and no one would listen to me. Knowing now, that it was likely just aggravating an underlying, undiagnosed condition leaves me conflicted about how I feel about vaccines.
I would never want to purposely introduce my child to harm in the way of any disease. Obviously I would never want her to experience flu, measles or even chicken pox to the extent that has been described as lethal or debilitating. But exposing her to the effects of vaccines (or grandpa visiting for a week - physiologic stress) does the same thing. We’re left wondering how exactly to protect her to the best extent possible and what this means for our younger son. Our daughter is fully immunized because no one would listen to me and I thought I “had” to vaccinate. When my son had the same reactions as my daughter at two months old, I stopped vaccinating him completely until someone could answer why my kids reacted so poorly. Now that we know it’s likely mito disease, I wonder what effect vaccines would have on my son. And know that any viral infection they get from just being out and about could have the same effect.
It makes me think of Hannah Poling and wonder if vaccines didn’t trigger all that has happened to her, a different infection, at a different time, would have. But how, as a parent, do you willingly march your child into that?
It’s a rock on one side and a hard place on the other.
Regan
Aug 29, 2008 at 3:35 am
VAERS is a “passive” system. If you think a vaccine might have caused a problem, you’re encouraged (but not required) to fill out a form.
One analysis I read in the MMWR noted that the accuracy of the reporting to VAERS is not checked, as is the case for a filing with the VCIP, and that multiple reports for the same event can end up being voluntarily filed if parent, doctor, and public health department file.
Regan
Aug 29, 2008 at 3:36 am
(sorry)
if parent, doctor, and public health department file reports to VAERS.
Chuck
Aug 29, 2008 at 10:24 am
“All I know is that autism isn’t going to kill my son. Measles can. All of my children get vaccinated.”
How many children are abused (physically, emotionally, psychologically) or killed because they are autistic? You can’t vaccinate against that.
Unlike Measles, Autism is Not a Potentially Fatal Disease
Aug 29, 2008 at 11:44 am
[…] thought to consider along with the luxury of choice about vaccinating, or not vaccinating. Measles is an infectious diseases; autism is […]
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 29, 2008 at 3:42 pm
@Chuck,
But how many children are abused or killed, regardless of their diagnosis, or lack of one?
Emily
Aug 29, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Laura, thoughtful and good post. I have a friend whose son developed a severe reaction to vaccines, hemolysis, etc. She relies on others who can get them to protect her son. And of course, no one knows if a high fever from the disease would be a trigger similar to a high fever from the vaccine, but the hypothesis would be that it would. Fever be fever.
Diphtheria? Polio? Tetanus? Hello? Tap. Tap.
BTW, just because your grandparents or even parents survived some disease doesn’t mean at all that you’re gonna survive it. Geez. And have you asked your grandparents (or in my case, parents) how many kids they knew who died or were placed in iron lungs because of polio? My mother knew several who would be in school one day and dead or hospitalized the next. Guess they weren’t as lucky as your predecessors. Or how many kids they knew who died of diphtheria? Whooping cough? Hey, I know…let’s go back 100 years and check out the rates of death from smallpox, not to mention the horrific scarring for the survivors. Bring it on, right?
Chuck
Aug 29, 2008 at 10:26 pm
“let’s go back 100 years and check out the rates of death from smallpox, not to mention the horrific scarring for the survivors. Bring it on, right?”
Don’t need to go back 100 years. You can see the scarring on people who had adverse reaction to the smallpox vaccine today.
Rehab Mommy
Oct 17, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I chose not to vaccinate my child. I will look at the options again when he is comes about three years of age. But absolutely was not a question in my mind to not vaccinate him as an infant.
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