Personal stories about vaccinating your kids? Opinions?

[hilmar2k]

Failure to vaccinate a child should be considered child endangerment. There is no argument based in logic against vaccination. Please don't buy into the anti-vaxxer hysteria.

As for autism...

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2014/04/16/Researchers-speak-to-new-study-exposing-link-between-SSRIs-and-autism/2211397679827/?spt=sec∨=hn

[Big C]

I guess the question would be why would you not do all the vaccinations your doctor prescribed?

Plus to get your child in school you must show proof that they have been done.

This is a fair question, but I guess I look at it this way: Coming from an insurance background, I've seen how the litigious nature of society has affected the way a lot of insurance professionals do business. Rather than being a trusted advisor and weighing the pros and cons of various coverages with their clients, lots of brokers now take a "CYA" mentality to doing business. They offer and recommend every coverage underneath the sun ("over insure" their clients, if you will), even if some of the coverages are not appropriate or necessary for the client in question. In addition to earning larger commissions, agents will insulate themselves against litigation in the future by behaving this way. Even if the risk of loss is very small (say one in a million), no one wants to be the broker that recommends their client go bare, only to have that one in a million possibility come to fruition and find themselves in a courtroom for Errors & Omissions.

I will admit up front that I have no knowledge about vaccinations, but I think it's fair to question whether the medical industry treats vaccinations the same way. Is every vaccination recommended to every child? It would seem that the answer is yes. The question I have is whether this approach unduly exposes certain children to greater risk than the protection the vaccination affords them. I think it's safe to say that in the case of MMR, the benefits of getting vaccinated far outweigh the potential side effects. But can the same be said for all 20+ vaccinations that the AMA recommends? I don't know the answer to that question and that is why I think it's fair to ask.

[Golfingdad]

I guess the question would be why would you not do all the vaccinations your doctor prescribed?

My thoughts exactly.  I'm not a doctor, and I trust my kids doctor, so I'm going to defer to their advice over random people on the internet when it comes to my care and the care of my family.

[billchao]

My thoughts exactly.  I'm not a doctor, and I trust my kids doctor, so I'm going to defer to their advice over random people on the internet when it comes to my care and the care of my family.

This, exactly. I mean, you want to have a little knowledge and understanding, but there's a reason they're experts and I'm not. I'm certainly not going to make a decision about my children's health based on something I read on the internet if my doctor is against it.

[Shindig]

Failure to vaccinate a child should be considered child endangerment. There is no argument based in logic against vaccination. Please don't buy into the anti-vaxxer hysteria.

I'm very pro-vaccine, but I want to point out: not every kid [i]can[/i] get vaccinated -- some immune systems can't handle it. That's part of why it's irresponsible to not vaccinate one that can handle it: herd immunity all but ensures that, even for kids who [i]can't[/i] (for genuine medical reasons, not due to having parental nutcases) get it, things that used to be death sentences are now mostly inconveniences. That having been said, only a [i]qualified medical doctor[/i] can make the determination if your kid can be vaccinated: it isn't something the parents can decide based on what they read online or heard from a Playboy model. Meanwhile, I can't send my nephew to school with a peanut butter sandwich because someone else's kid might react poorly to it, but others can choose to send their kid to school with measles?

[cipher]

Preventable disease is on the rise from what I understand.  My children are vaccinated.

[hacker101]

They had to have 26 just for kindergarten.

How many did your son have to have? Both of mine had over 35 total so far not including Flu vaccines.

To be honest I don't recall what it was, but Amanda is 19 and Justin is 16. I assume it was the same as your kids?

[hacker101]

This is a fair question, but I guess I look at it this way: Coming from an insurance background, I've seen how the litigious nature of society has affected the way a lot of insurance professionals do business. Rather than being a trusted advisor and weighing the pros and cons of various coverages with their clients, lots of brokers now take a "CYA" mentality to doing business. They offer and recommend every coverage underneath the sun ("over insure" their clients, if you will), even if some of the coverages are not appropriate or necessary for the client in question. In addition to earning larger commissions, agents will insulate themselves against litigation in the future by behaving this way. Even if the risk of loss is very small (say one in a million), no one wants to be the broker that recommends their client go bare, only to have that one in a million possibility come to fruition and find themselves in a courtroom for Errors & Omissions.

I will admit up front that I have no knowledge about vaccinations, but I think it's fair to question whether the medical industry treats vaccinations the same way. Is every vaccination recommended to every child? It would seem that the answer is yes. The question I have is whether this approach unduly exposes certain children to greater risk than the protection the vaccination affords them. I think it's safe to say that in the case of MMR, the benefits of getting vaccinated far outweigh the potential side effects. But can the same be said for all 20+ vaccinations that the AMA recommends? I don't know the answer to that question and that is why I think it's fair to ask.

In all due respect an insurance agent it not a doctor, but I agree that knowledge is power and you should ask questions when it comes to any and all medical information and reasoning.

The key is to have a good pediatrician, just like any job there are good ones and bad ones. And yes there are some that use the CYA as a guild line.

I was lucky a good friend is a doctor and although I did not use him (different insure then mine) he was always there to ask questions to.

But as he always said you have to ask questions and you have to demand answers, if you don't get a straight answer change the doctor until you do.

FYI he is also a professor of pharmacology at USC.

[Gunther]

My son is 22 and received all of his shots prior to school, I dont believe it was anywhere near 26, not to mention 35! He's fine. What I've seen lately is that vaccines should be more spread out than the docs currently recommend. So, maybe talk with your docs about a more conservative immunization schedule.

[hilmar2k]

I'm very pro-vaccine, but I want to point out: not every kid [i]can[/i] get vaccinated -- some immune systems can't handle it. That's part of why it's irresponsible to not vaccinate one that can handle it: herd immunity all but ensures that, even for kids who [i]can't[/i] (for genuine medical reasons, not due to having parental nutcases) get it, things that used to be death sentences are now mostly inconveniences. That having been said, only a [i]qualified medical doctor[/i] can make the determination if your kid can be vaccinated: it isn't something the parents can decide based on what they read online or heard from a Playboy model. Meanwhile, I can't send my nephew to school with a peanut butter sandwich because someone else's kid might react poorly to it, but others can choose to send their kid to school with measles?

I hate to even mention "herd immunity", as anti-vaxxer nutbags will cite this as a reason they don't have to immunize their kids. What they don't understand is that herd immunity only works if a vast majority are vaccinated.

[14ledo81]

[quote name="Golfingdad" url="/t/73951/personal-stories-about-vaccinating-your-kids-opinions#post_978834"]My thoughts exactly.  I'm not a doctor, and I trust my kids doctor, so I'm going to defer to their advice over random people on the internet when it comes to my care and the care of my family.

This, exactly. I mean, you want to have a little knowledge and understanding, but there's a reason they're experts and I'm not. I'm certainly not going to make a decision about my children's health based on something I read on the internet if my doctor is against it.[/quote] But what if Gilberg recommended it? JK, I'm just happy he's back. Seriously though, I do not like when customers ask for my proffesional opinion and then argue with it. I agree with going with what the doctor says.

[newtogolf]

My kids have all their vaccinations and my wife and I never thought about refusing to have them done.  I have read articles about some vaccinations causing autism, etc but I'm not sure there's substantive proof of what causes autism.

[hilmar2k]

My kids have all their vaccinations and my wife and I never thought about refusing to have them done.  I have read articles about some vaccinations causing autism, etc but I'm not sure there's substantive proof of what causes autism.

There's substantive proof it doesn't, in fact.

[Lihu]

My son is 22 and received all of his shots prior to school, I dont believe it was anywhere near 26, not to mention 35! He's fine.

What I've seen lately is that vaccines should be more spread out than the docs currently recommend. So, maybe talk with your docs about a more conservative immunization schedule.

My kids traveled abroad, so they might have given us even more than the normal amount?

[Shorty]

Failure to vaccinate a child should be considered child endangerment. There is no argument based in logic against vaccination. Please don't buy into the anti-vaxxer hysteria.

Absolutely 100% correct.

Parents who don't have their children immunised are lucky that the other kids at their schools/creches/whatever ARE vaccinated which makes the risk of their own child getting infected much smaller.

There is no credible argument for exposing your child to the risk of infection and risking them infecting others.

There is no debate. There are, however, ignorant people willing to question any medical opinions/advice/evidence. By and large, they are the types who resort to crystals and believe in the psychic world. They should be prosecuted for endangering the lives of others.

Again, the autism scare has been totally debunked. There is NO scientific argument to support it.

[billchao]

My kids traveled abroad, so they might have given us even more than the normal amount?

That's probably it. I'm from a foreign country and I have more vaccinations than my wife, who is born in the USA.

[boogielicious]

My son is 22 and received all of his shots prior to school, I dont believe it was anywhere near 26, not to mention 35! He's fine.

What I've seen lately is that vaccines should be more spread out than the docs currently recommend. So, maybe talk with your docs about a more conservative immunization schedule.

I think many vaccination shots are actually combinations of several vaccines.  So the number of injections is lower.

[newtogolf]

I think many vaccination shots are actually combinations of several vaccines.  So the number of injections is lower.

That's correct, there were at least 4 that were combinations of vaccines.