Unfortunately there are too many anti vaccine idiots who think vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent.

Each has their own opinion!

I was vaccinated and still caught it. My 8 week old son caught it too. He wasn’t even old enough to get his shots so try again. I’m so tired of the war over whether or not to vaccinate your kids! Maybe after so many years of vaccination, it’s not as effective as it use to be, or maybe there are 4.4 billion people on the plant and as a result, diseases have bigger petri dish. Propaganda from both sides prevents actual hard facts. I do not trust big pharma. I don’t trust studies funded by the people who will ultimately rake in the dough. And I’m not even a conspiracy theorist!

Like the Measles Outbreak at the Mount Cheam Christian School in Chilliwack? Imagine their surprise when a strictly religious school, that opposes vaccinations, gets shut down by the Health Authority after about 100 of their students get sick with the measles.

Too many people disregarding science and listening to ex-Playboy bunnies on the subject and we’re surprised when these dieases come back to bite us?

Interesting thing about Pertussis. The last couple of “outbreaks” have been primarily in fully vaccinated children. No information in this article whether that is the case this time as well, but I have to agree with uyterlindekel here. Some things need to be re-evaluated.

JohnnyBelt, I know many non vaccinaters and they all think Jenny McCarthy is a wing nut. I do not know anyone who views her as a reliable source of information.

Here is the thing…..at the end of the day parents who question vaccines (in my interatcions) are questioning the schedule, NOT the vaccines. At the 2 month visit your 8 week old infant recieves TEN vaccines in 4 needles. That is a lot for a small body to handle. As health authorities listen to parents who want to vaccinate on an alternative schedule, meaning coming in more frequently to spread out the vaccinations, and allow them the opportunity to do that (as recent as 5 years ago it was their way or no way) more children will be vaccinated and will end up fully vaccinate within the current schedule, just not so many at once.

There is an 8 week break between each of the infant vaccination visits, for parents that would rather separate and come in every 3 or 4 weeks that should be fully acceptable. There is also no arguing that infants and children do receive unnecessary vaccinations. In the 6 years between my oldest and my youngest being born 3 or 4 additional vaccinations were added to the cycle. some totally unecessary, some that are not necessary until later in life.

Vaccines…good, valuable, important. The current schedule……no good. For those who are fine with it, perfect, let them follow it, for parents who want something a little more spread out but still within the time confines, it should be fully accepted.

Some people otta think back to 1940s,50s and 60s when kids and people died from these supposed erraticated diseases, which are making a come back from lack of immunizations to protect your own kids and others from a preventable disease……
Like the commercial says;;;;;;
Have a word with yourself……..

chey: “There is also no arguing that infants and children do receive unnecessary vaccinations.”

“Vaccines…good, valuable, important. The current schedule……no good.”

Are you in health care or a scientific researcher in the field? Which vaccinations are unnecessary in your view?

Unecessary perhaps isn’t the correct word. They are not necessary at the time given….perhaps some are not needed at all in low risk situations.

Hep B for example, (unless child is in a high risk category ie: someone they are in contact with is positive) This is PRIMARILY a sexually transmitted disease. Why are we vaccinating for this at 2 months old? Until recently standard practice was the vaccine was given (optionally) with the 9th grade boosters. The fault in giving it at birth is that it STILL requires a booster in the teenage years to remain effective. So you are vaccinating an infant for something that is almost always sexually transmitted. This one in most cases can be held off until child reaches the age of sexual activity….unless the child is regularly in contact with someone who is positive. I have seen no evidence that vaccinating at 2 months old as opposed to as a teenager has lowered the rates of Hep B.

Rotavirus, a new addition to the schedule. A stomach virus that is transmitted in unsanitary water condition. Also something that is relatively benign when transmitted, the overwhelming majority will show no symptons. A vaccine that is important for high risk categories of people (poverty etc…) but for the general public not really necessary. How many people do you know who’s children have had rotavirus? This vaccine has been added in the last 4-5 years, prior to then infants and children were not vaccinated for this. Contracting this normally quiet virus also makes a person immune to it in the future.

Varicella, the vaccine is given at 1 year old and does not offer lifelong immunity, a booster is needed in adult hood to maintain immunity. Getting Chicken Pox as a child in most cases is tolerable and having the illness ALMOST always offers lifelong immunity. The Varicella vaccine is potentially opening up a generation of adults who will not be immune and having chicken pox as an adult is far worse than as a child. Interestingly I have two children who have recieved this vaccine and one who has not. One of the ones who has had the vaccination has had chicken pox, the one who hasn’t has been exposed twice and no pox. Upon reaching puberty his titers will be checked and if he is immune we are good to go, if he is not we will vaccinate at that time. I myself was never vaccinated…..in my time they had Pox parties. LOL. I was exposed, never had full blown chicken pox but I have and my titers checked (it is part of the first prenatal blood panel) and I am immune.

Gardasil…..given in grade 6 to girls. This vaccine is still WAY too controversial for me (and a large number of the population) to be comfortable with it. I am a female who underwent 5 years of treatment for the exact thing Gardasil protects against and I still wouldn’t be comfortable with my child having this vaccine at 11 years old. Something I would prefer to revisit at a later date.

an 8 week old infant is given TEN vaccinations in 4 needles. Way too much at once. Again it is the schedule I am uncomfortable with more than the vaccines themselves. Combination vaccines should be given in the absence of all other vaccinations. Of the 4 needles given to an 8 week old one of them contains 7 vaccines in one. Up until recently this combo came in 2 different needles but once they added a rotavirus vaccine they combines the combo vax in to one big vaccination.

For parents who are fine following the mass routine set out by Health Canada then by all means, but for those parents who want to vaccinate on an alternative schedule this should be welcomed as well. There has been a ton of headway in this subject in recent years. Public health is realizing more and more that working with parents will net them better results and a higher rate of vaccinated children then telling them they have to do all or nothing.

I am not “in health care” but the subject was discussed in great detail with both my pediatrician and family doctor (as well as a locum filling in for my family Dr), all who have independently said my questions, concerns and decisions have been well informed and not based on “fear”. Important to note as well that there are a large number of Drs and pediatricians who delay and selectively vaccinate their own children. When you start asking questions you start to hear things that are unexpected.

There are still a great number of crazy right wing parents out there who love Jenny McCarthy and who still believe in Dr Wakefield’s debunked study, but there are a great number more who have just asked a lot of questions, and who still respect the value of a vaccination, but who would like to be allowed alternatives to the current schedule as set out by Health Canada. It is set out the way it is because they think it is hard enough to get parents to bring their kids in every 8 weeks. Those of us who want an alternate schedule are more than willing to come in as often as needed.

Another note, if your infant is getting 8 vaccinations at once and has an adverse reaction how on earth do you know which one caused it? I had a terrible reaction to a vaccination in one of my childhood boosters and no clue which one caused it thus no idea which vaccination to be wary of myself and my kids in the future.

Big pharma doesn’t care about the little people, they are not required to release the results of their testing. Something that to me seems like it should be mandatory. We are taking their word that a vaccine is safe at face value. Over 100k doses of the H1N1 vaccine were recalled in 2009 because of a high number of allergic reaction. A vaccine that was stressed to us as necessary and completely safe, before it was sent out. If they were required to release this information for public scrutiny, perhaps they would use a little more due diligence.

a notable number of Recent outbreaks of pertussis in Canada and the USA have also been in areas with high vaccination rates and in vaccinated children which leads me to believe it might be time to re-evaluate the effectiveness of some of the current vaccinations against some of the current strains of illnesses out there.

Again, the vaccination schedule is not one size fits all.

No, nothing is one size fits all. Very few things in life are 100% guaranteed and without risk.

It seems that a growing number of parents are pointing to isolated incidents as a reason not to vaccinate their children, which is a dangerous way of thinking, IMO.

As recent as 5 years ago the health unit here in PG was telling parents it was their way or they didn’t want you in their office (at least that was what they told me). Period. Now my understanding is that they are far more willing to work with parents, I view this as highly productive and forward in thinking. Most parents don’t want their kids completely unvaccinated. Most (but not all) parents are well informed on the subject. I do agree that there are still far too many right wing Jenny McCarthy / Wakefield supporters out there.

To counter what you state as isolated incidents, it goes the other way too, the media blows up isolated incidents (in specific demographic communities) of illness to push parents to vaccinate on big pharma terms. The pendulum swings both ways.

Unfortunately until big pharma is a little more transparent, there will be more and more parents who question vaccinations and what is in them, how they are tested, incidents of of severe reaction. Because of this health care professionals will HAVE to be more lenient about meeting parents half way. A wise person once told me you catch more flies with honey than vinegar :-)

For anyone interested all REPORTED cases of reaction from a vaccine information is available on the CDC website. It is not user friendly nor easy to decipher (not categorized in any way, just listed as they come in), but it is there for anyone interested in viewing it. The number of reports is astounding which makes me wonder how many go unreported.

I sit on both sides of the fence on this topic. I have 3 kids all vaccinated to varying degrees. My youngest will be fully up to date on his vaccinations before he enters kindergarten, with the exception of MMR which will stil be completed within the “typical” window outlined in the Vaccination schedule for BC. I absolutely would have begun vaccinations much earlier than I have if I was not given such an abrupt cold shoulder from public health. It was that cold shoulder that led me to numerous long discussions with our family Dr and my youngest son’s pediatrician. Together we came up with a plan for MY family.

Thanks for a valuable discussion. I rarely participate in vaccination discussions simply because I sit in a non typical spot….neither pro or anti but with one foot on either side of the fence.

Your frequent use of the term ‘big pharma’ gives you away, chey.