Vaccination Brain Picking Question

EvenI

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 1:33 pm

What reading material about vaccination does anyone recommend, and why? Who here was cautious about vaccinating, came to a decision, and feels confident about it? If so, what made you cautious about it, what was your decision, and how did you arrive at it? If you believe in trusting government recommendations or laws (depending on where you are), what is the basis of that trust?

newbie

Thu, May 30 2013, 9:33 am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22527480

http://www.guardian.co.uk/scie.....ansea

Sometimes reality just shows us what's the right thing to do. In Wales less and less people vaccinated their kids and now there is an outbreak of this disease that was supposed to be under control. But unfortunately some people will never believe the evidence but rather some weird sites they found on the internet or some speakers who have "found the truth". I have had case in my and my husbands family of Polio (older generation where vaccinations weren't standard) and when you've seen this as a child, you vaccinate your children.

And there is hope- sometimes even die hard anti vaccination parents face reality:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm.....nated

I already know what posts will come after mine....

GetReal

Thu, May 30 2013, 10:25 am

There is so much info on both sides of the fence and it's so hard to know what to trust! I like Dr. Sears book because it's in the middle, informative, practical, based on numbers and hard facts. He looks at each vaccine one at a time, the ingredients, the risks, etc and has a delayed, spread out schedule. Could be he is wrong and vaxing 10 at a time is no big deal. Could be he is wrong and vaxing at all causes allergies, asthma, ADD, etc. But I feel like this way I am doing my hishtadlus and Hashem will do the rest.

amother

Thu, May 30 2013, 10:26 am

Please o please somebody share your wisdom!

I must make a decision this summer if I'm going to vacccinate or not and I'm so lost! I tried doing the research but I'm terrible at it. My kids life depend on me and I'm so undecided!

Even trustworthy research sources will be enough! I just dont know what to believe anymore...

mandr

Thu, May 30 2013, 10:42 am

amother wrote:

Well, what does your doctor say?

seeker

Thu, May 30 2013, 11:59 am

You should start with "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Sears. The more recent edition. You might want to continue with independent research as well, but it is an excellent starting point because it gives a full background of all the issues in a very organized way. I felt that it was pretty even-handed and stuck with the facts - including which facts are missing, instead of making up things (e.g. some anti-vaxers say things like "There is no data about XYZ, that's because XYZ is deadly and they're hiding it from us because of a conspiracy!" whereas Dr. Sears is more like "There is no data about XYZ. So we don't know about XYZ. It might be this or it might be that, but we don't know. So here's what you might want to be cautious about.")

Marion

Thu, May 30 2013, 12:22 pm

amother wrote:

"To vaccinate or not" makes it sound like an all or nothing proposition, which it's not. You CAN selectively vaccinate, giving the ones you feel you need to and skipping/delaying others.

curiousgeorge1

Thu, May 30 2013, 5:51 pm

Here's the problem with refraining from vaccinating your kids: in reality you are depending on everyone else who does vaccinate their kids. It is true that outbreaks of these diseases are rare, but if a large percentage of ppl stopped vaccinating then these diseases would be rampant. It is true that vaccines come with some risk, but the risk is very low compared to the alternative of a horrible disease. And it is selfish to not vaccinate when you are putting others at risk. Even if the disease is one that is only fatal for infants and the elderly, by not vaccinating your child you may be putting your future babies at risk and other infants and elderly that your child will have contact with. I do agree that there are some vaccines given for diseases that rarely have bad complications and you may want to research which vaccines you want to avoid. I understand if you don't want to give your child the vaccine for chicken pox. But for diseases like polio, not giving your child the vaccine is selfish and unfair to society. There are email things we do in life that have small risks but the benefits outweigh the risk and this is one of them.

Cookies n Cream

Thu, May 30 2013, 5:54 pm

curiousgeorge1 wrote:

THIS

yogabird

Thu, May 30 2013, 7:14 pm

Esther23 wrote:

The sears book is very informative and not biased. NVIC.org is also very informative but biased against some vaccines.

how do you know it's "biased against some vaccines" as opposed to simply "against some vaccines"?

vintagebknyc

Thu, May 30 2013, 7:34 pm

OP, you might want to ask this question in the natural parenting section, there's a board for it and it says it's "safe" to express non-mainstream ideas.

personally, I'm with curious george. it's part of the social contract, and not generally harmful. as I mentioned in another post, I was raised by physicians and don't tend to believe they're out to harm me. (big pharma, another story for another day.) I also have a wonky immune system, and a good friend who does not vaccinate her children. I find it hard to be with them; they recently had a near miss with pertussis, and I stayed far away.

SJcookie

Thu, May 30 2013, 9:43 pm

I trust doctors. Most pediatricians say to vaccinate. That's enough to convince me.

I don't often get worked up about people's parenting decisions, but not vaccinating children is one of those things that gets my blood to boil.
It is so irresponsible and can put others people's children at risk.

Just last week, there were over 20 cases of measles in Monsey and Brooklyn. If someone's child didn't receive the measles vaccination, they're way more proned to have that disease c"vs.
That disease spread because ONE kid wasn't vaccinated. That kid visited a grocery store. Hundreds of mothers who visited the supermarket that day had to worry about their babies who did not yet receive the measles vaccination.
Irresponsible and very upsetting.

Here's the article:
http://www.lohud.com/article/2.....eck=1

Dandelion1

Thu, May 30 2013, 9:58 pm

SJcookie wrote:

I totally agree. I cannot understand the logic at all. I hate feeling so intolerant but the philosophy seems like such a modern luxury to me. If there were G-d forbid a smallpox outbreak people would be climbing over each other to get their hands on a vaccine.

granolamom

Thu, May 30 2013, 10:09 pm

there's a lot of literature surrounding the question of why certain people did not contract contagious diseases before vaccines. there are other things people do to ward off disease, including boosting the immune system and homeopathics.
in general, whether or not to vax is a highly individual question. individual to your lifestyle, beliefs, health, immune status, risk factors, etc.
for example, one of my kids had an adverse reaction to the DTaP, my ped did not complete the series and also did not bat an eyelash when I declined the DTaP for my next baby. he wouldnt sign a medical waiver, but agreed that it was wise not to risk it.
and like others have said, its not a package deal. you can vax for some things and not others, depending on your childs risk level. also not all diseases are the same in terms of risk of terrible outcome. measles is not the same problem as small pox. or varicella. or polio.
do some more reading so you will feel more comfortable with the decision you reach.

rydys

Thu, May 30 2013, 10:19 pm

Here's another perspective, from a hashkafik point of view. What do our Gedolim and Rabbonim say about vaccination? What about the Skvere Rebbe, who is so knowledgeable about medicine that non-Jewish doctors consult with him and follow his advice?

With the exception of a very few Rabbonim who are not well known or universally followed, ALL the Gedolim say that we should vaccinate our children. I'm talking Chassidishe, Litvishe, Sefardishe, Modernishe and all the other "ishe"s that you can find.

Our goal in this world is to follow the Torah as well as we can, and our Rabbonim are here to help guide us. With all the diversity and disagreements among the different "factions" of Yiddishkeit, when EVERYONE agrees on something that must surely be what the Derech Hatorah is.