Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Vaccination Thought Process




First, three foundational statements to keep in mind:


Ok, now 10 questions.
7. How effective is the vaccine?
10. Is the disease generally worse than the vaccine?






Jeannette said...

Good post, Christina. When our children were young, I blindly followed all the recommended immunizations, which thankfully did not include chicken pox. Now I see the need to do the question and research.

Rebecca Elves said...

I would also ask how common the disease is. E.g. in the U.S. whooping cough is more common than polio, even though polio is more dangerous. we are already vaccinating claire against whooping cough but are passing on the polio vaccine, at least for now.

Have you written out your answers for these questions for all the childhood vaccines? If so, I would love to have a copy.

Eowyn's Heir said...

Thanks for the comments, Jeannette & Rebecca! That's a good point on the "how common is it?" question-- I guess I'd include that under question 10 (is it applicable to my situation), but spelling it out makes it even more helpful. Rebecca, I can get you my own thoughts for the other vaccines if you want them! I may ask Ryan if I can post them as separate pages here or something, so not everyone HAS to read them, but they're easily accessible for anyone who WANTS to read them.

Melissa said...

I would love a copy as well.

Melissa said...

I would love a copy as well. I have 5 week old and I am hurried in vaccine info. Help.

The Harings said...

me too I have a 2 month old and currently am putting a hold on all vaccines until I learn more and would love to hear your thoughts on all the vaccines you have researched.

Gail said...

When I began having children 1n 1982, there were maybe a dozen (?) vaccinations, including boosters, that my children got. I had 8 babies, and I did notice that their were new immunizations from time to time. None of my older children ever contracted chicken pox, despite being exposed. I'm not sure how many of my younger ones got the varicella vaccination, but the two youngest, now almost 14 and 12, both got shingles when they were about 5 or 6! My doctor had to confer with another, but they were both obligated to admit that it was indeed shingles. Had I known what I know now, I never would have done it. I'm passing this on to my daughter, who has a new baby...

Eowyn's Heir said...

hey Melissa- I posted an abbreviated version with all the major points on here at

Let me know if you have more questions about particular vaccines & I'll try to elaborate further!

Way to go- doing research before going ahead! :)

Jessica Staley said...

My 15 month old has been vaccinated thru the scheduled 4 month shots. He has his checkup next week and the dr wants him caught up..... I have.been really struggling with the decision on whether to continue vaccinating. I myself have had serious reactions to vaccines as well as developed celiacs. I have recently already had to go glutwn free with him as well. My husband works in a state maximum security prison and although he takes every possible precaution and wears gloves he wants our kids vaccinated on the chance that he could potentially bring somw disease home. What are your thoughts? I also have a cousin who developed severe developmental and behavioral issues after being vaccinated...

Eowyn's Heir said...

hey Jessica- thanks for stopping by!

From all I have read, the worst thing you can do is give multiple vaccines at once. Even if you decide to do all the shots, you can minimize some of the neurological/immune risks in two ways: 1. only ever vaccinate when your child is TOTALLY healthy and has been for a full week at least; 2. only accept one shot at a time; 3. space vaccines out with at least 6 weeks in between each.

Usually when a doctor wants to "catch a child up" on their vaccines, they want to issue all the vaccines that have been missed, which, if you think about it, would be like giving your child 6-8 diseases at once, not to mention all the metals and other toxic ingredients. Just remember, you NEVER have to do anything you don't want to do, especially where your child is concerned.

If you decide you want to vaccinate, my suggestion would be to pick a single vaccine (like IPV, for polio, or Pc, for pneumoccocal meningitis) and have one vaccine at your next visit. That's all. If you want to keep up the shots, then come back for a separate "vaccine" visit in 7 weeks (if your son's healthy). Give him 6 weeks to 2 months between each shot that you decide to do-- longer if it's a combination vaccine (like the DTaP).

There are some shots that are easy to opt out of, like the ones that aren't required for school in your state. We found Rotavirus and varicella (chicken pox) to be easy outs: neither fully effective nor for truly dangerous diseases.

Eowyn's Heir said...

You and your husband may want to talk through what diseases he could possibly pick up at the prison, and whether those are diseases your kids could get. Prisoners and others under government care (soldiers, etc) usually are extremely vaccinated- so, if vaccines work, shouldn't he be extra-safe? And if they don't work, then is it worth injecting your kids with it if they are already immuno-compromised?

Eowyn's Heir said...

one last thing- since your son's older, he will need fewer vaccines than if you'd stuck with the original schedule. Make sure your pediatrician uses the "delayed" schedule rather than the original so he doesn't get too many.

Amy said...

Let me start by saying we are currently *not* vaccinating, and if we were, the CP vaccine would not make my "selective/delayed" list. So I'm not in favor of it.

That said--I'm a little bewildered that you provide a 90% effectiveness rate for the vax and call that "not very effective". Really? Nothing in this world works perfectly 100% of the time. 9 out of 10 seems like pretty good odds to me. A 90% is an A-minus, you know? This sort of seems to damage your credibility--it feels like you are determined ahead of time to come out against the vaccines, so you are quick to say that they are ineffective. What kind of rates would a medication or a vaccine have to get for you to consider it effective?

I mean, I'm looking into Muco coccinum as a homeopathic flu remedy and the makers are advertising that it has an 88% effectiveness rate--like that is a good thing. We non-vaxers can't have it both ways.

Would love to hear your further thoughts...thanks :)

Eowyn's Heir said...

Hi Amy! Thanks for stopping by! I had to go back and re-read this post and revisit my research on the topic, since it's been a few years and a pregnancy since I wrote this. You know how pregnancy/sleepless mommyhood zaps the old braincells... Anyway, to answer your question-- I'm not sure why I phrased the vaccine success rate as I did. Likely because I was just beginning my research and was appalled that vaccine manufacturers act like their shots are 100% effective at completely preventing all disease, when no drug is that good.

Thanks for pointing this out, though. I'll be changing the post slightly to reflect some other facets as well.