BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Pediatrics Unbiased immunization info?

I know some parents who are looking for truly unbiased information on immunizations, their safety, and their necessity. There seem to be hundreds of sites for and against, but none that cover both sides in a non-judgemental way so a parent can make an informed choice. Any suggestions?

I wish you the best of luck.

needless to say I haven't managed yet <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Terrie:

Great question. There are many excellent web sites that address the major issues, the pros and the cons. Let me start with the two sites I use the most and refer families to:
1. CDC web site I know some folks worry that a government web site is going to take just the party line but I've not found that to be so in the immunization world. No one wants to give kids shots that cause problems and that is why the CDC keeps studying the safety over and over again. And, so far, all the studies have proven the safety and lack of association with autism.

CDC Immunization Pages

2. Immunization Action Coalition Very nice site that covers all the ins and outs of all the vaccines, why they are needed and what the world was like before immunizations. Immunization Action Coalition

This will get you going and I'll pull together more resources soon.
<img src="/images/graemlins/music.gif" alt="" />

THank you! I'm going to be quite interested if anyone ever actually goes through with the so-called Amish study. it's always frustrated me when they said there weren't enough children to study, because they all get immunized, when of course, there are many who aren't.

I did vax, but there was one my children couldn't have under doctor's instructions. So the topic interests me as well.

My pleasure!

I'm with you on the Amish study. I'm sure part of the problem is how private the Amish is - as a group they don't like attention called to themselves.

If you dig up any immunization material that seems questionable, forward it on and I'll take a peek. I'm finding many reports in newspapers a bit faulty on the reliability front. And, some parenting magazines pull the heart strings at the expense of data and facts.

There are definitely times we hold on shots for kids but they are case by case and rare especially these days.

Honestly, I've yet to find unbiased info either and I've been looking for 10 years now. Frankly, I don't trust the CDC or the AAP enough to value either when it comes to vaccine issues, and I also don't trust the non-vax sites either since they are so on the other end. I go with my gut now, which means selective and delayed vaxing.

meg

Meg:

I'm so saddened to hear you have lost faith in the CDC and AAP. Hopefully over time your faith will be renewed. There are no hidden issues here, really. Both groups look at the facts and both have retracted incorrect statements. I'm not just saying this because I'm a doctor and fellow of the AAP - I say this as a scientist who has looked critically at the issues and the studies cited.

Look at it this way, pediatricians are also parents, usually. Would we give our kids something dangerous?? In medicine, we take the "do no harm" oath really seriously. Sometimes to a fault in fact.

Dr. G

Beyond the usual data, I also look at risk of non-immunization vs. immunization. Whooping cough is on the rise where I live. To me, that's inexcusable when there's a proven vaccine that can mitigate the incidence of this awful illness. If the risk of damage/death from the illness/disease is greater than the risk of damage/death from the vaccine, that clinches it for me. Both of my kiddos are currently vaccinated against everything the CDC/APAA recommends they should be vaccinated against.

>Would we give our kids something dangerous??

I'd like to think not, but there are things *I* feel are dangerous that others don't.

Some vaccines I truly believe to be dangerous and not worth the risk. I think circumcision is unnecessary and dangerous. I believe introducing baby food and baby cereals before 9 or 10 months (or later) is more dangerous than helpful. I believe giving a child benedryl before a long flight to quiet them down is dangerous. There are plenty of parents who don't agree with me, but at the very least I can say I educated myself on all sides and came to my own conclusion through independent research and personal experience.

I had a child experience a life-threatening reaction to the MMR shot. All of the low risk statistics in the universe spouted by every expert in the universe won't prove to me that the vaccine is safe, it just plain isn't in my experience.

When the ped gives me his annual speech about how vaxes are "relatively" safe I asked who funded the studies he's quoting and that "relatively" isn't good enough for me. He says "okie dokie" and lets me make my own decision. He is selective about his clients and apparently I made the cut despite my idiosyncracies <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

There is a reason the govt is making a move to take vaccine safety out of the jurisdiction of the CDC and into it's own cubby, because every day children like mine are being injured by something considered "relatively" safe.

Meg

Our pedi office, and I agree, believes that a lot of the new bad reactions are a result of the combo shots. There are trials now where they're putting 5 or 6 shots into 1. Talk about system overload!

We don't do the combos--we do the single shots (they can be had, even the MMR can be split). And you should revisit family history and allergies/immunity issues every time a kiddo comes up for a shot to help prevent reactions. But nothing guarantees your child won't have a bad reaction--can't guarantee you won't get hit crossing the road either.