05-14-2009, 02:48 PM
Ali, my mother and i noticed a pattern of strange reactions to vaccinations in our family, where auto immune disorders are rife and seemed to be linked to vaccinations, so I thought long and hard about this issue in deciding whether or not to vaccinate my son.
I decided I was comfortable with single shots of non live, well established vaccines, spread out, avoiding mmr and the 5 in 1 shot (which 8week old babies are given in the UK) specifically because it contains the whooping cough vaccine which i reacted badly to as a child
I had numerous conversations with my vaccination nurse who thought my choices were right given my concerns and with my brother who is a surgeon and who did some reading on my behalf, which was handy
my brother came out with a statement which sums up my view on this issue:
'the benefits to society are so great that you should always vaccinate, but the risks to each individual child are so great that you should never vaccinate.'
but you're right, it's a terrible thing to be wrong about, i guess it comes down to making a decision on what risks are acceptable for each and every child
I decided I was comfortable with single shots of non live, well established vaccines, spread out, avoiding mmr and the 5 in 1 shot (which 8week old babies are given in the UK) specifically because it contains the whooping cough vaccine which i reacted badly to as a child
I had numerous conversations with my vaccination nurse who thought my choices were right given my concerns and with my brother who is a surgeon and who did some reading on my behalf, which was handy
my brother came out with a statement which sums up my view on this issue:
'the benefits to society are so great that you should always vaccinate, but the risks to each individual child are so great that you should never vaccinate.'
but you're right, it's a terrible thing to be wrong about, i guess it comes down to making a decision on what risks are acceptable for each and every child