On a recent installment of momversation the ladies are discussing the issue of vaccinating your children. There has been huge speculation about vaccines in conjunction with cases of autism, asthma, diabetes and learning disabilities. As someone that is planning on having children in the (hopefully) near future, I’ve read the research and have made my decision.
Will I vaccinate my child(ren)? Absolutely.
Here is why… These vaccines were created for a reason. A good reason. Take measles for example. Measles causes fever, hacking cough, rash, lesions and often leads to other complications like bronchitis, pneumonia, seizures and death. When the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963 the cases of measles in the US dropped 99 percent. Prior to 1963, there were approximately 3-4 million cases each year and about 450 deaths. Smallpox is another disease that has been entirely wiped out due to immunizations.
Heather Armstrong blogged about this issue and shared a story of an un-vaccinated boy bringing the measles into the United States from Switzerland. He shared this disease with other children whose parents had chose to not have them vaccinated and others that were too young to have received it yet. He was able to pass this along just by being in the same pediatricians office the same day as a young baby. Seventy children were exposed to the measles just from this one young boy. I can’t help but wonder how fast it would take for the death toll to rise from senseless diseases if everyone stopped vaccinating.
As far as concerns about learning disabilities, according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention, there is no relationship between vaccines and autism. They are continuing to study this issue but as of now, there is no evidence to support that theory. I am sensitive to the stories about families that associate their children’s illness with a vaccine. I could understand why someone would hear such stories and consider not vaccinating because of them. But while you are hoping to alleviate some problems, you are encouraging others.
Until there is some legitimate research indicating severe risks from vaccinating, I will continue to support it. As with anything else in this world there is good and bad, positive and negative, decisions and consequences. Many times we are given two choices and can’t always pick one that is best, but one that is better.
Liz is a just a mom trying to keep it real about how little she sleeps, how often she gets puked on and how much she loves them. You can find her here every day writing about real-mom moments.
d.a.r. says
I hate to say it but it’s almost as if not vaccinating your kids has become trendy..? I don’t mean it like that, it just seems to have had a huge upsurge in media coverage. I firmly believe that vaccines were created for a reason. I’d rather have my child potentially exposed to something that may or may not cause autism than leave them at risk for small pox, polio, measles or a myriad of other life-threatening diseases.
Lisa Cheney says
thank you SO much for posting this. i agree with you 100%. vaccines are good! my god daughter passed away from meningitis almost a year ago…she was 33 days old…not yet old enough to get the vaccine. if they had a vaccine for newborns she might still be here today!
ReRe says
like you, i hope to have kids in the near future. the hubby and i have been discussing whether or not to vaccinate. we have a nephew who is autistic and he was vaccinated. but both myself and my husband and all of our siblings and other nieces and nephews were also vaccinated and no one else has had any issues. so we’ve decided the pros for vaccinating for outweigh the possible health issues that may (or may not) come.
thanks for this post. and i’m with d.a.r. it does seem like the trendy thing to do is not vaccinate. if folks are looking for something trendy, they should take their own bags to the grocery store! i do!
B says
Wow, thanks for posting this. I have never really looked into the issue but now you have made me completely aware of it. I’ve been watching the news with what they are saying about vaccines being linked with autism because my brother has a mild form of it. If there is not any concrete evidence to support that then I would be all for vaccinations myself. Great post.
Jennifer says
Both of my boys are vaccinated and I wouldn’t of done it any differently.
Kristen says
ABSOLUTELY vaccinate! It almost seems selfish to not vaccinate your children. The “link” to autism seems to come when the child is about 2yrs old. Just so happens they get shots at 2, it’s a coincidence, that’s it! We’ve got to give our kids a chance! Also, I don’t know much about this, but I know your child has to show proof of vaccinations to get into school, including pre-school…. so if your kid hasn’t been vaccinated can they even get into public schools?
Shanny says
Great FYI post!
I plan on choosing the better option too and will definitely be vaccinating my kids =)
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Chaitra says
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