Immunizations
There is no doubt at all that the federal childhood immunization programs have saved lives. 30 years ago parents considered immunizations a godsend and lined up to immunized children as fast as they possibly could. 30 years ago parents had actually seen polio and measles and mumps and diptheria. They may have actually experienced them first hand. I have never seen any of those diseases. In fact I’m one of a few of my contemporaries who has actually parented a child with chicken pox. Instead of praising medical science for freeing us of fear of these child killing and maiming diseases, today parents fret whether or not immunizations themselves might be dangerous.
I’m one of them. I fret. I have a close friend who believes her son would not be autistic today had the MMR vaccination given to him been mercury free. I’ve read articles and seen some compelling evidence that certain immunizations administered unadvisedly can cause lasting damage. One of my own children may have been given some long term challenges by a dose of Pertussis vaccine administered at the wrong developmental moment. “May”, “might”, “possible” nothing is certain, I wish it were. Then I wouldn’t have to fret every time I take a child to be immunized.
My stand on immunization: There is definitely a risk in immunizing children. The health risks associated with immunization are much much smaller than the health risks of actually getting the disease. There are a few cases where parents must use their judgement about whether to delay or omit a certain immunization. That said, if you choose not to immunize your child you are not only putting your child at risk, but all the children your child comes into contact with. The more unimunized children there are, the higher the odds that these diseases will have outbreaks. None of the childhood diseases are extinct, there are cases of every single one of them every year. I’m scared, but I immunize.
This is on my brain today because I took Patches to get his DT immunization. The standard immunization is DTaP which includes Diptheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis(whooping cough), but having demonstrated that one of my children was sensitive to the Pertussis vaccine, all my children fall into the category of people who might want to skip this one vaccine. I elected to only immunize for Diptheria and Tetanus. This meant a trip down to the County Health Office since it is the only place that carries the specialized vaccine. Long lines, cranky kids, kids who know they’re about to get shots, elderly people wandering through wondering if this is the place for flu shots, Wheee. The good news is that the shot only cost $5. Everything else was pretty unpleasant. I’m glad to be home. Now if only I can get The back brain fretter to shut up the rest of my day could be nice.