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.
Immunization is a good thing in my mind too, unfortunately I have something of a phobia about hypodermic needles and so don’t like getting them, but I have.
Speaking of which, how did Patches to to the needle… I’ve been known to simply break down and cry, and I crindge when they give injections on TV…
We don’t let him watch and the injections are done very quickly. Patches is young enough that he hasn’t connected hypodermic to pain yet. Gleek was very anxious and very relieved that it wasn’t her turn. When she turns four and has her last round of immunizations it will be unpleasant for everyone.
Last round? Maybe, maybe not, I had to get shots when I went off to college, so the pain might not be done with… I understand Gleek’s reaction though, poor little ones…
Last round for this age. I remember having to get my MMR booster and a Tetanus shot (I think) before entering Junior High (12/13 years old).
I work for a medical billing office and because we might possibly just maybe come in contact with a patient, even though we’re located in a totally different building at least a mile away from the hospital or any of the clinics, we all had to prove we’re up to date on all our immunizations including TB. And we had to prove we’d either had chicken pox or that we’d been immunized.
And I agree with Sandra better to be immunized than to get the disease.
Boy, I’ve been going through the same fretting myself. I’ve got 2 kids under 2, and I did research for MONTHS… I finally decided that since no auto-immune disorders seem to run in either my family or my husband’s, that I would go ahead and vaccinate – but that I’d take it slow, and get them done one at a time so as to be able to pinpoint the source of any adverse reactions. Fortunately my doctor is very understanding and is letting me take the shots at our own pace.
Have you heard the new research they’ve done with mice? Evidently this group of mice have some sort of genetic abnormality, and when injected with immunizations they begin exhibiting autism-like symptoms… For me, that just seals it: there are SOME kids out there, that for whatever reason, react badly to immunizations. I just wish medical science would stop trying to cya, and would go ahead and do more research so we can identify which kids are susceptible.
I think the medical establishment is afraid to admit the possibility that immunizations can cause problems because they fear that the public will throw out the baby with the bath water. And they are right that 99% or more of immunizations are helpful rather than harmful.
My personal conclusion is that there are developmental windows that are more prone to damage than others. 18 months seems to be more prone for example. I also believe that some children/families are genetically prone to adverse reactions. It isn’t an easy tangle to sort out by any means.
It depends. With some people, the fear’s much less – especially if you get a SKILLED nurse (and I must emphasized the skilled part) to do the shots. The really good ones can jab a needle in, inject, and pull it out without the person feeling more than a pinch, if that. It’s more in how you push it in and pull it out, than in the actual fact a needle’s being jabbed into you, at least that’s been my experience. If they’re careful and know their stuff, the people who do injections can usually keep the pain to a minimum.
Also, the introduction of relatively cheap topically-applied local anesthetics about ten years ago helped with the pain-free injection thing too.. at least, for dentists. 😀
Some of the immunizations cause pain/discomfort of themselves independent of the needle. Topical anesthetic won’t prevent a burning sensation inside muscle. Also kid are usually getting these shots 3 to 5 at a time. Even with two nurses working two legs and the burning shot last can’t make the experience a happy one for the child.
Holding your child down while he struggles and nurses inject a fluid which makes you nervous ranks pretty high on the “Hard parenting experiences” list.
I really appreciate the thoughtful way you’ve presented this. Thank you.