Input on the MMR Vaccination -

Hi C.,

Making a decision about vaccines in this day and age is really difficult and very personal. I can recommend an excellent book that really weighs the pros and cons of vaccinations: Vaccines: A Thoughtful Parents Guide (How to Make Safe, Sensible Decisions About the Risks, Benefits and Alternatives) by Aviva Romm. Aviva is a certified public midwife, president of the American Herbalists Guild, the mother of 4 and currently in medical school. Unlike a lot of the books out there, she cites everything she says from medical journals.

After reading her book, I actually made the decision to vaccinate my daughter, because of our lifestyle, my personality and ability to deal with sickness, and our love of travel. However, I found many helpful bits of information from her book about how I wanted to deal with vaccinations. The most important thing that I got from it is that a child's immune system needs to be strong before giving them vaccines. So, if there is the slightest sign of a cold, delay them! It's no big deal. Don't make a baby fight to build antibodies to a vaccine if they're already fighting some other illness. Also, she had suggestions for getting extra vitamin C in to baby. I was nursing, so I wuld take a megadose of Vit C for a few days before the vaccine was scheduled. There are also homeopathic Vit C tablets you can give to baby that are safe, to help them build up their immunities.

As for vaccines + autism, it seems this is still a huge battleground without too many studies supporting the connection. However, Mothering Magazine (www.mothering.com) has done a series of excellent articles on the issue. Their most recent issue also featured a disturbing article on aluminum in vaccines, and the fact that there is no data supporting the safety of aluminum in babies. I highly recommend you check it out.

Hope this is helpful!

C.,

If you feel in your gut not to do it don't do it. That could be the Lord telling you not to do. I have a 4 year old that progressed perfect until about that age then declined. He is now autistic. You would be devastated if you went against your gut feeling and something went wrong. There is nothing that could convince me that in SOME cases, not all, that there is no link between the two. And, there are studies out there linking the two if you really dig, they is just no funding brought to the aid. You can always get them in a few months or in single doses. I would pray hard about it. Good Luck.

Only you and your doctor can decide what's right for your child. Personally, I think the risks of not getting vaccinated far outweigh the risks of getting vaccinated.... especially because the shots do protect against disease, whereas there is no definite proof that autism is related to vaccines. I read a study recently that suggests the rise in autism might be due to the fact that people are waiting until they're much older to have children. I don't think anyone knows yet. However, I saw this article today and thought you might be interested: http://www.babycenter.com/204_mercury-in-childhood-vaccin...

Hi C.,

Our daughter is 17 months old now but at her last visit last November she was scheduled for the MMR. We actually discussed it with our pediatrician and inquired about getting the MMR shot separated. He did say although the studies show no connection between autism and the MMR vaccine he has had children come in at 12 months with normal development who got the shot and at the 15 month check up they had regressed and were showing early signs of autism. He said if it were him he would have them done separate just to be safe even though the studies show it should be okay. He told us to follow what our gut was telling us.

So we are getting them separated. That day she got the Rubella. There was a shortage of the measles and mumps vaccine so just last week she finally got the mumps and in a month will be able to get the measles.

To be honest I think it is more of a coincidence with the timing of the shot and autism symptoms starting, but my gut feeling was telling me to just separate them to be on the safe side. I am so glad we did. Good luck!

Get yourself all the information you want, read books, ask your doctors so that you feel comfortable doing what's best for your child. The FDA website has some good information on vaccines http://www.fda.gov/CbER/vaccine/thimerosal.htm. I knew I would vaccinate my daughter and read up nonetheless. But, let me just say that for your child and all other children to whom he will be exposed, I hope that you decide on vaccination. Not getting vaccines due to the associated risks would be like not wearing a seatbelt because of that one guy who might not have been killed/paralyzed in an accident if he hadn't been wearing it because he would have been thrown free from the car. A lot of the diseases for which we now give vaccinations seem harmless, but that's really only because we do vaccinate and we are never exposed to anyone who has them so we're not familiar with the consequences. If you recall, measles killed countless Native Americans when they were exposed to it by white settlers (who didn't get sick/as sick because they built up some immunity through exposure)- your child won't have that natural immunity because it's no longer something to which he would be commonly exposed. That's just one example, there are lots of others out there. Many of these illnesses caused death, disability, sterility and other serious permanent damage. I understand your concern, just don't make your decision based on uneducated disinformation of conspiracy theorists.

My son is two and a half and has all of his vaccines on schedule with no reactions/complications whatsoever. I haven't come across any studies that have enough evidence to outweigh the risks of NOT vaccinating my children.
What the studies point to most with any suggestion of correlation, is the mercury that used to be in vaccinations, which is now absent and strictly enforced by the FDA. However, mercury is still in flu shots, so our family doesn't do those.
I believe Autism is more easily diagnosed these days and it is simply a matter of timing... the "symptoms" all reveal themselves normally on a predictable time table... which happens to coincide with the same years that kids are vaccinated. But I don't believe the shots are the cause. Just my opinion.

I chose to have each vaccine administered individually, waiting 6 weeks between shots. My son reacted the most negatively to the measles shot.

We will not give our baby ANY vaccinations at all. There are too many risks. Besides MMR used to be a mild childhood diseases that everyone got and survived. The 1yr old immunizations have the highest rate of negative reactions.

www.vaclib.org

My biggest concern is that parents do not know they have a choice. I am a physician who was not vaccinated as a child. The number one excuse I hear from parents to not get informed is that their children can't get into school without them. Each state is different, but I got into lots of schools without them. My intention in saying that is not to make a decision for you but to make the point that we should all get informed information. It is very important to check references when doing research too. For various reasons some research may be persuaded by other factors. There is no right or wrong answer to this debate. You will always be able to find research to support whichever view you hold on the topic. Being a parent is full of great responsibility and we all do the best we know how to do. I am a parent myself and I have to live with the decisions I make for my own children. I hope you will get well informed and do what feels right for your family. I hope it all works out for the best.

I personally do all vaccinations and on schedule. I haven't come across one study that shows any REAL correlation between vaccines and autism, it may very well be just genetic. The reason we see so many more cases of autism is not because of more vaccinations and the newer combonation ones, it's because we have become better at diagnosing the condition. But that's just my opinion.

Read The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears before you make any final decisions. I'm reading it right now and it's the most logical approach to vaccinating that I've read. He's not pro-vaccine and he's not anti-vaccine, he has just complied ALL the information that you would ever need about every vaccine, laws, travel, pros, cons, etc. so that you can make a truly informed choice that is right for you and your child. http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/

I was petrified to get my first child her vaccinations. All of the vaccinations could potentially give them autism. They have mercury in them used as a preservative and they have linked the murcury to autism. At the end of all the info sheets the doctor gives you about each vaccine there is a little section about if your baby has serious side affects or if the vaccines "break" your baby the US will compensate. They are a dangerous thing and I am not a fan of them but the disease they are preventing is worse. Good luck:)

Hi! This vaccination (as are all the others) are very important for your baby to get. There is no link between the MMR vaccination and Autism that has been proven. What I have read is that it's merely coincidence that austism seems to appear shortly after receiving this vaccination. There has also recently been some new information that there is a gene (Chromosome 17) that has been linked to some cases of autism.

C.,
I was just talking to my Pediatrition about this yesterday. He reassured me that it is ok to be scared. And if I am then just postpone it until he is 2. He said there is no evidence that splitting the MMR up makes a differnce either. He did say that getting the MMR does make the brain swell. It is a fact that this vaccination does this, but that is because of the chemicals/vaccine/disease itself. He told me about a Doctor friend that has an Autistic son & that he still vaccinates all his patients & he even said they are doing a study right now that found a common gene in the study group of autistic people. In my heart I believe it is not the vaccine that causes it but knowing it doesn't make it any easier. Hope that helps.

C.,
Check the law in you state. Also check what the policy of your local school board is. There are many school districts that will not let your child attend school if you are not current with immunizations. My son is now 3, he did great with shots. I gave him baby tylenol before going and he never ran a fever. I know that there are people that are scared that something will happen to there child after immunizations. What worries me is what is going to happen to there children without them. As far as the MMR being related to autism, there are no correlations between the two. To put your fears to rest keep doing your homework on MMR and come to your own conclusion.

Hi C.-
We have to get my son's MMR in a couple of weeks also, and we definitely will, as he has gotten all of his other vaccines on time also. All of the scientific data support no correlation between the vaccine and autism; it is more likely that the child is old enough to display signs signaling the disease, plus the doctors are so much more aware of autism and probably even more liberal at diagnosing it. I must tell you though, even though I myself am a scientist, I did read Jenny McCarthy's book and even though I am convinced that there is no connection with the vaccine, I'm still a little scared! However, in her book, she reported there were several signs she had observed long before he had the MMR vaccine. If you want to feel a little better, go to the FDA website for real information. Don't believe the quacks! Best of luck - I'm right there with you!

M.

You have to go with what your gut tells you. Only you know what's best for you and your children, even if others think your crazy for the choices you make. Just remember, that you have the choice as a parent, the doctors can't force you to do it.