from the mom
I just read The Vaccine Book by Dr. Bob Sears. This book is pretty much a must-read for any parent. It is very well-researched, contains a lot of information, and will leave most parents confused at the end. But more knowledgable.
Dr. Bob (as he refers to himself) is a California pediatrician who advocates the use of vaccines. And then writes a book that exposes all the dangerous ingredients in vaccines, the lack of creditable research on reactions, and points out which diseases really don't pose much of a threat to our modern society. At every step he says you should vaccinate but then gives more evidence for parents like me who choose not to. And he's pretty easy on us.
If you would prefer to just bury your head under a rug and not know what vaccination involves, this book is not for you. But if you feel an obligation to know, this book is helpful.
Vaccinating Ben is not an option. He had a reaction to the two vaccines he was given (Polio and HIB) which are two of the least dangerous vaccines to get. He is likely to react again. But I decided to investigate anew for Kyri's sake. Especially since she is exposed to more with Ben in preschool.
Dr. Bob gives great information for parents who don't vaccinate including breastfeed until age 2 if possible because antibodies in breast milk provide a lot of protection against childhood diseases. He also says these children shouldn't be in daycare, even the church nursery.
Along the way he is straightforward that vaccines are tested on the general population and often problems are not found until they've been in use for 30 years (as is the case with the old DTP vaccine). He brings up some of the troubling studies on: Does the MMR Vaccine Cause Autism? (There is an awful lot of evidence.) There is also research that demonstrates the rubella vaccine causes significant arthritis in 12- 26% of teenage and adult women who receive the vaccine for days, months, or years. He brings up aluminum use in vaccine and points out that there are clinical studies showing the dangers of aluminum in other uses but that they fail to mention that it is a key component of nearly all vaccines and that it is usually at dangerous levels. He also writes about other chemicals as well as animal and human cell and tissue use and some of the ethical and health issues involved.
He doesn't fail to point out that Merck Labs knew in 1991 that their vaccines contained dangerous levels of mercury (thimerosal) as evidenced by a memo from a Merck doctor to the president of the vaccine division. Merck knew vaccines given before 6 months had eighty-seven times the level of mercury thought to be safe. But not until 2002 did they do anything about it. Eleven years of hiding the truth is a serious blot.
Sears concludes that vaccine safety research is pretty much unavailable and lacks comprehensive data. He then says he wants this research to be done so he can feel better about being a vaccine proponent.
Overall, the research in this book was really good and if you want justification for vaccination, you can find some. But I have to say, I came away even more certain that I won't be doing any vaccination any time soon.
5 comments:
We just got Daph's first round of vaccinations last week (the nurse was absolutely astonished that we hadn't gotten them earlier than 17 months). I wondered, "What would Rachelle think about this?!"
I understand there are concerns about vaccinations, but how can these diseases not be a threat to our modern world? They aren't a threat because we're immune to them. Stop vaccinating, and won't they come back in a generation or so? I read about the polio epidemic in the 50s. It was tragic. I don't want to risk that for my children.
Vaccinations, except one or two, no longer contain mercury (I checked with the doctor beforehand.)
I don't at all question your decision not to vaccinate Kyri, especially considering Ben's reaction. But there are risks with either decision. I guess it depends on which ones are scariest to you.
-- SJ
I have chosen not to vaccinate for a number of reasons, one of which is that Will had a brother who died after having a reaction to infant vaccines, and I just am not willing to take that kind of risk since my own child has some of the same genetic makeup. I get strange looks, and the occasional "what if..." kind of questions, but to that I just answer that I am off to put on my Birkestocks so that I can make granola while I smoke some fine pot. :) No,I really don't say that - but I have thought about it.
As an aside, I just want to ask why we "need" to vaccinate against polio since it has already been eradicated years ago?
polio is not eradicated.
http://www.polioeradication.org/casecount.asp
immigration around the world is at an all time high, so though the cases are in developing countries, they could still show up in your child's classroom.
With one exception (an immigrant from a 3rd world country) every case of polio in the US in the last 30 years has been caused by the polio vaccine. Because of the high numbers of people getting polio from the vaccine the oral live vaccine is no longer given to children in the US. Ben's doctor told us the current vaccine is so watered down it would do nothing to prevent a polio outbreak.
I'm pretty convinced that polio was on its way to being eradicated in the US when Salk invented the vaccine. But that is a controversial position even among natural medicine proponents. What is pretty certain is that modern medicine is much more capable of treating polio and its effects and even if it were to pop up in the US again, it wouldn't cause nearly the negative effects it did in the early 20th century. We've come along way since the iron lung machine.
Ultimately, a seminar I attended asked the question: Are you going to feel worse if you don't vaccinate and your child gets a serious childhood disease or are you going to feel worse if you vaccinate and your child has a reaction?
M had a sibling with a severe reaction to the MMR shot; Ben reacted to polio (which we gave him because we were told it was one of the safest). I'll take my chances with the diseases. I'll feel horrible if I lose a child to one, but I'd feel worse losing a child to a vaccine reaction with everything I know.
-rlr
Thanks for broaching this subject Rachelle. I know it is controversial but I think it's very important. I'm glad for the book review. I have been trying to decide what books to read on the subject because I haven't read much yet. We haven't immunized either of our girls yet. We weren't sure so we just didn't do anything! (And whatever position people end up taking, if they've read about it and thought hard about it, I respect that more!)
Our ped in CA was fine with no immunizations. But we've been hard pressed to find one here who agrees w/ that position. The most thoughtful and tactful doctor here said the arguments against immunizations are "junk science." But that doctor also said for Meredith it's not a huge issue to get immunizations now that she's past age two. It's only in the first two years of life that those diseases are deadly. But he did strongly advise for her to get a tetanus shot in case she steps on a rusty nail. So, I'm going to read some more! Mostly to see what I should do for Clara (since she's under two) and any other kids that come.
Thanks again!
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