Vaccination Debate

About two weeks ago, I was sitting in my Holistic Doctor's office waiting for my daughter to start treatment. I know I have spoken about these treatments before, but I wanted to explain what prompted me to start them in the first place.

I believe I have found through research that my daughter's immune suppression started with the combination of the fertility drugs I used during IUI and IVF, cow's milk products when I started her on solid food at age one and vaccination overload. After my daughter's diagnosis of Hypogammaglobulinemia, I put a hold on vaccinations and milk products and started my daughter on NRT (Nutritional Response Therapy), goat's milk and organic food to help build her immunity back up. The conversation I was having at the Dr.'s office was with another mom who had brought her son in for treatment of Crohn's Disease. Traditional medical visits and prescriptions were not helping her son and she thought she would experiment with the Holistic route. She asked me about the reason for my daughter's visits and I told her what I thought. She questioned my point of view regarding vaccinations and I answered her honestly- having no idea she was a school administrator for the town I live in.

I went back and took a look at my kids' immunization records and found that they are only missing 2 vaccinations needed to start pre-school. I did not realize how many vaccinations my kids had already so I started to dig deeper into these vaccinations and see what I was having injected into them. If my children were to have more vaccinations it would compromise their already weakened Immune Systems which I have spent the last year building up. It is so against everything I believe in. I don't disregard the need for vaccinations, I just won't put my kids at risk to give them when the CDC or a Pediatrician says I have to. As we have all also mentioned in our past blogs, we have each had an issue with a vaccination or two- namely the live anti virus ones.

What is a "live virus" vaccine?
· A "live virus" vaccine is a vaccine that contains a "living" virus that is able to give and produce immunity, usually without causing illness.
· For most people with healthy immune systems, live virus vaccines are effective and safe. (In my daughter's case- a real problem!)
· Sometimes a person getting a live vaccine experiences mild symptoms associated with the virus in the vaccine.
· Other live virus vaccines used include measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox. (www.bt.cdc.gov)

Here are some key points I have found after digging into information on the vaccinations our kids are required to have before they start school:

Hepatitis B:
-Hepatitis B is not highly contagious, and is not easily communicable.
-The risk of a fatality from contracting Hepatitis B is approximately 1%.
-It is primarily an adult disease, and up until 1991 the vaccine was only recommended for high risk individuals.
-Hepatitis B is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids, generally through sexual contact or IV drug use.
-Babies born to mother's who are not infected with Hepatitis B stand little to no chance of contracting the disease in their childhood years.
-The Hepatitis B vaccine has been concisely linked to autoimmune system failures and central nervous system disorders . There have also been documented reports of infant deaths following vaccination. The CDC estimates that about 1 in 10,000 people will experience a life threatening reaction to the vaccine.

Diphtheria:
-Diphtheria is a bacterial infection (treatable by antibiotics)
-In 1999 only one case of diphtheria was reported in the US.
-Side effects occur in at least 50% of children injected with the DTaP vaccine.
-More extreme side effects occur in approximately 1.5% of people vaccinated

Tetanus:
-Tetanus is not a disease passed from person to person. It is a toxin that is introduced into the body when a foreign object penetrates the skin, or the Tetanus toxin comes into direct contact with an open sore.
-About 30-60 cases of tetanus are reported in the United States each year, of those victims about 30% will die.
-Death generally occurs among victims older than 50 years of age, and those with compromised or weak immune symptoms.
-10 years for continued immunity.

Pertussis:
-Bacterial infection (treatable by antibiotics)
-Approximately ..005% of infected victims will die from the disease, and an estimated 46% of victims are adolescents or adults. There are less than 7,000 cases of pertussis reported annually. Haemophilus Influenzae type B (live virus vaccination):
-Haemophilus Influenzae type B, or HIB is a bacterial infection (treatable by antibiotics)
-Less than 200 cases of Haemophilus Influenzae type B are reported annually, and not all cases result in meningitis.
- The vaccine has been known to cause Haemophilus Influenzae type B in the patient shortly after vaccination. There is also speculation that the HIB vaccine is linked to a rise in diabetes.

Measles (live virus vaccination):
-Highly contagious airborne viral infection.
-For most healthy children and adults, the disease is fairly mild. Complications can arise from secondary infections, and those with compromised immune systems are generally the most at risk.
-Each year approximately 4,000 cases of measles are reported with a ..1-.3% (less than 1 percent) rate of fatality in children.
-The measles vaccination is usually given in combination with mumps and rubella in a combined MMR vaccine.
-There have also been recent studies that indicate there is a link between children who receive the MMR vaccine developing autism.

Mumps (live virus vaccination):
-Mumps is a viral infection spread via mucus expelled when an infected victim coughs or sneezes.
-There are about 600 cases of mumps annually, and that number is decreasing. There hasn't been a mumps related death since 1998.

Rubella (live virus vaccination):
-The most severe danger Rubella poses is to pregnant women and newborns.
-Infection is usually mild; prognosis is poor if the child is born with Rubella
-The last epidemic in the US was in 1962-1965 and 2,100 babies born already having the disease died.

Polio/DTaP (live virus vaccination):
Polio is a viral infection spread from person to person only in saliva or stool. Even in infected individuals, the vast majority (about 95%) will show no or very mild symptoms that can include fever, nausea, vomiting, soreness or stiffness in the neck, back or legs. Only about 1% of infected victims will develop paralysis. Many people who suffer from paralytic polio will fully recover. The last reported case of naturally occurring paralytic polio in the US was in 1979. In the last decade, the only case of polio to be reported was actually caused by the polio vaccine. Naturally occurring polio has been eliminated from the US, and the Western Hemisphere.

Varicella (live virus immunization):
-Usually a very mild childhood disease
-The Varicella vaccine is only 80-85% effective at preventing the disease and length of immunity is unknown since the vaccine is still relatively new Pneumococcal Disease (live virus vaccination): Pneumococcus is actually a generalized name for about 90 different strains of bacteria. Pneumococcus bacteria are responsible for a wide variety of infections such as meningitis, pneumonia, and ear infections. The severity of these infections is contingent on a wide variety of factors including the health of the victim, and how promptly medical attention is obtained for the infection. 40,000 deaths are attributed to Pneumococcus infections each year, the majority of which occur in the very young and the very old.

The most common Pneumococcus vaccine in use today was created to combat 23 of the 90 strains of Pneumococcus bacteria (23-valent vaccine), but can only be used in children 2 years old and older and adults. In 2000 a Pneumococcus vaccine for infants and toddlers was approved for use. It is effective against 7 of the 90 stains of Pneumococcus bacteria (7-valent vaccine). The 7-valent vaccine is given in 4 injections between 2 and 15 months of age. The 23-valent vaccine is given in one injection for patients 2 years old and older. The vaccines are only about 50-70% effective against the strains of bacteria they are designed to protect against, they provide 0% protection for other Pneumococcus bacteria. Side effects occur in about 50% of vaccine patients and include injection site soreness and swelling, fever, and an overall feeling of discomfort.

I see no reason to place my kids at risk by following this schedule. My twins have weakened Immune Systems and a number of these vaccinations can cause them severe harm. Being multiples, my children were born at 39 weeks which I know is terrific but it is still early. I feel that multiples and singletons born early should have a completely different vaccination schedule than normal gestation babies to protect their immune development. I cannot stress the importance of vaccination education and doing what you believe is right. I know there are a lot of parents out there that think I am a horrible mother because I have put a halt to my kids immunizations. I do not judge a parent that has stuck to the schedule and I would expect the same consideration. I have done what I think is right by my kids.

On that note- Happy Thanksgiving to all! I am grateful for the chance to share my thoughts on this blog!

Gina