mamagotcha (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mamagotcha) wrote2009-10-31 08:33 pm
mamagotcha) wrote2009-10-31 08:33 pm
Home safe and some pondering on vaccines
We're back safe and sound, the van is unloaded, and the cats have shown their disdain at the return of the dog. We tried to go see the Midnight Circus at Daley Plaza, but only got there for the last 30 seconds of the finale. Still, we had a nice outing in the brisk autumn air. Hardly any trick-or-treaters here tonight, and Linc made a huge haul (that he kindly shared with his big brother). Bill made some cinnamon rolls, and I've been puttering around unpacking, reading magazines, and fooling around on the computer.
I've been seeing posts about that WIRED article about vaccines, and had several people questioning my decision process about choosing not to vaccinate my own children.
For those who are new to the story... I dutifully took Cordell in at the age of 4 months for his first round of shots (this was at the recommendation of the family practice doctors who provided care for the clients of the midwives who did my homebirth). He was given several shots that day, including MMR and DTP, and within a day he had a very high fever, with bright eyes, red cheeks, and no crying... he just sat there and didn't move for several days. I know I called and asked about this reaction, and was told that it was perfectly normal, everything was fine, don't worry about it.
This set off every alarm bell in my new-mama brain, and I finally started doing some serious research about vaccines. I dug through the UCD library (the internet as we know it wasn't around 21 years ago), asked a lot of friends and professionals about their experiences, and finally concluded that I didn't want to muck around with my baby's developing immune system. Like circumcision, I figured I could do it later if I changed my mind... but I could never, ever undo it, and until I was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was the right thing to do (and fully willing to accept the risks and consequences), I wasn't going to do it.
I have one particularly strong memory of that time. I asked another mom who had given birth around the same time as me what she thought of vaccinations... she was an experienced veterinarian, who worked with valuable racehorses. She said she wasn't going to vaccinate her babies until they had weaned, just as no veterinarian would dare to upset a foal's developing immune system before weaning. This reasoning resonated with me at a deep level.
When I look for studies comparing the rates of SIDS, autoimmune problems (allergies, arthritis, asthma, Crohn's, diabetes, eczema) and neurological disorders (autism, Asperger's, ADHD) between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations, it seems that there is very little to be found. I did see the Generation Rescue survey, focusing on the increased rate of NDs among vaccinated boys, and a study showing an increase of diabetes corresponding to the increase of vaccinations. Then I see sites like this, and wonder how valid those statistics are...
This call for a federally funded look at the long-term effects of vaccinations is extremely heartening to me. Perhaps my reluctance to vaccinate will, if nothing else, help provide a larger sample for Science to settle the answer once and for all.
The whole "FEAR" thing feels inappropriate to me... not only do I think my not-vaxing was a very careful and studied reaction to something that very easily COULD have been entirely dictated by fear, but I was amused by a front-page article in USA Today that quoted a pediatric clinic worker as saying that parents were "in a panic," resulting in a lot of verbal abuse. Seems to me the fear is kinda working the other way...
As I look through discussions, the terms "pro-disease" and "anti-vaccine" really irk me, too... the whole "pro-abortion" thing over again. Raising emotions and using inflammatory rhetoric won't help anything. Nobody is "pro-disease," we are instead choosing a different set of risks to assume than those who accept the whole (or partial) vaccination schedule from their physicians.
There isn't even really an agreement on when the human immune system is fully developed... I can find sources saying 6-8 months, 7-8 years, and 14 years. The 7-8 years sounds most likely to me, because that's around the time human children would wean naturally, and so the fully developed immune system would coincide with the loss of immune support from mama milk.
My thinking was that Julia and Cordell's systems were developed enough when they both decided to become vaccinated in the last few years (Cordell so he could go to Japan, Julia for her entry into Clark), and this was confirmed when I spoke with our family physician at that time. Clay is old enough to make his own health decisions, too; we will of course help him get whatever vaccines he decides to do.
I don't think Lincoln is ready yet, although I do think he's far closer to it than he was when he was younger. I might do something like pertussis or measles if those start going around, and I would definitely look into specific vaccines if we were going to travel overseas. I would consider doing H1N1, but I suspect that he has probably already had it... I know he (and I) have been exposed at least twice on this trip to cases who were later confirmed H1N1, and he (and I) didn't come down with anything (he also had vomiting, fever and a cough for a few days just before we moved, and I had a similar but less nasty case right after). I'd rather he caught wild chickenpox, but will revisit that once he's heading into puberty.
Anyway, I wanted to put all this into one place, since I've been typing out versions of it recently and thought it would be nice to have a link.
ETA:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jedusor has one of those conversations going on over in her LJ.
I've been seeing posts about that WIRED article about vaccines, and had several people questioning my decision process about choosing not to vaccinate my own children.
For those who are new to the story... I dutifully took Cordell in at the age of 4 months for his first round of shots (this was at the recommendation of the family practice doctors who provided care for the clients of the midwives who did my homebirth). He was given several shots that day, including MMR and DTP, and within a day he had a very high fever, with bright eyes, red cheeks, and no crying... he just sat there and didn't move for several days. I know I called and asked about this reaction, and was told that it was perfectly normal, everything was fine, don't worry about it.
This set off every alarm bell in my new-mama brain, and I finally started doing some serious research about vaccines. I dug through the UCD library (the internet as we know it wasn't around 21 years ago), asked a lot of friends and professionals about their experiences, and finally concluded that I didn't want to muck around with my baby's developing immune system. Like circumcision, I figured I could do it later if I changed my mind... but I could never, ever undo it, and until I was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was the right thing to do (and fully willing to accept the risks and consequences), I wasn't going to do it.
I have one particularly strong memory of that time. I asked another mom who had given birth around the same time as me what she thought of vaccinations... she was an experienced veterinarian, who worked with valuable racehorses. She said she wasn't going to vaccinate her babies until they had weaned, just as no veterinarian would dare to upset a foal's developing immune system before weaning. This reasoning resonated with me at a deep level.
When I look for studies comparing the rates of SIDS, autoimmune problems (allergies, arthritis, asthma, Crohn's, diabetes, eczema) and neurological disorders (autism, Asperger's, ADHD) between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations, it seems that there is very little to be found. I did see the Generation Rescue survey, focusing on the increased rate of NDs among vaccinated boys, and a study showing an increase of diabetes corresponding to the increase of vaccinations. Then I see sites like this, and wonder how valid those statistics are...
This call for a federally funded look at the long-term effects of vaccinations is extremely heartening to me. Perhaps my reluctance to vaccinate will, if nothing else, help provide a larger sample for Science to settle the answer once and for all.
The whole "FEAR" thing feels inappropriate to me... not only do I think my not-vaxing was a very careful and studied reaction to something that very easily COULD have been entirely dictated by fear, but I was amused by a front-page article in USA Today that quoted a pediatric clinic worker as saying that parents were "in a panic," resulting in a lot of verbal abuse. Seems to me the fear is kinda working the other way...
As I look through discussions, the terms "pro-disease" and "anti-vaccine" really irk me, too... the whole "pro-abortion" thing over again. Raising emotions and using inflammatory rhetoric won't help anything. Nobody is "pro-disease," we are instead choosing a different set of risks to assume than those who accept the whole (or partial) vaccination schedule from their physicians.
There isn't even really an agreement on when the human immune system is fully developed... I can find sources saying 6-8 months, 7-8 years, and 14 years. The 7-8 years sounds most likely to me, because that's around the time human children would wean naturally, and so the fully developed immune system would coincide with the loss of immune support from mama milk.
My thinking was that Julia and Cordell's systems were developed enough when they both decided to become vaccinated in the last few years (Cordell so he could go to Japan, Julia for her entry into Clark), and this was confirmed when I spoke with our family physician at that time. Clay is old enough to make his own health decisions, too; we will of course help him get whatever vaccines he decides to do.
I don't think Lincoln is ready yet, although I do think he's far closer to it than he was when he was younger. I might do something like pertussis or measles if those start going around, and I would definitely look into specific vaccines if we were going to travel overseas. I would consider doing H1N1, but I suspect that he has probably already had it... I know he (and I) have been exposed at least twice on this trip to cases who were later confirmed H1N1, and he (and I) didn't come down with anything (he also had vomiting, fever and a cough for a few days just before we moved, and I had a similar but less nasty case right after). I'd rather he caught wild chickenpox, but will revisit that once he's heading into puberty.
Anyway, I wanted to put all this into one place, since I've been typing out versions of it recently and thought it would be nice to have a link.
ETA:
jedusor has one of those conversations going on over in her LJ.