Are childhood immunizations more harmful than helpful? Do they carry a significant risk?

Question

I have heard conflicting information about this topic. Although, my child has all immunizations, I have to wonder about the risk. There are a few people I have heard about that are totally against immunizations, saying they do more harm than good. Please list some websites that give more info on the topic.

Answer 1

The only children that I have ever heard of having extremely harmful reactions to immunizations are the one who are immuno-compromised. All of my children will have their vaccinations.

The shots are like seat belts. 99% of the time, they save lives. There is that 1% that can be killed or harmed. Nothing is definite.

The two best sites that I've ever used are:
http://www.webmd.com
http://www.babycentral.com

Answer 2

"A Shot in the Dark" is an older book but has great info. They have removed the mercury from most if not all vaccines which is much better because it causes serious harm. Look at what is actually in a vaccine, aluminum(associated with Alzheimers diease and seizures), formadehyde(disinfectant and known cancer causing substance), Phenol (disinfectant/dye), Ethylene glycol (antifreeze), Benzethonium chloride (disinfectant), Methylparaben (antifungal/ preservative). One of the biggest things is that vaccines are given to infants under the age of six months. They do not have a fully functioning immune system until six months. There is a lot of info out there. Get more info before you put something in your body or your child's body, that you don't know the ingredients.

Answer 3

Yes, a number of foolish and ignorant people oppose all vaccination due to some disinformation and poor science that puts children and adults at unnecessary risk. Some of these people are intelligent and should know better but have chosen to ignore facts and history.

Any medication, including a vaccine, has risks,. but the benefits of vaccines far outweigh the small risks. I'm old enough to remember many of the "usual childhood diseases" firsthand, diseases that vaccination made no so usual. And I remember people blinded by measles and retarded by mumps encephalitis and other complications and even deaths. I also remember the terror of polio.

A common scare tactic is the uproar over mercury, despite the failure of many studies to show a convincing link of this preservative to any illness, including autism, and despite the simple fact that only one common vaccine even contains it now, and that also comes in a mercury-free variety.

The best comprehensive source of information is on the CDC website :
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/menus/vacc_safety.htm

Answer 4

Hi,

The scientific way immunizations work, is that a child is given a mild dose of the virus they are trying to make the child immune to,the virus causes white blood cells to muliply and build up a defense to certain virus's, by doing this some children, yes will get sick, but it prevents them from further damage in the future!

I am a qualified nurse and i have given hundreds of children immunisations and vaccines, and have yet to see a patient of mine react to the immunisations, yes i have definatly heard stories and read articles but my proffessional advice would be to immunise children, due to people not immunising children we are the only country to still have polio cases for example!

But it is fully up to the mother and father and their views on immunization

Answer 5

Immunizations have all but wiped out many childhood diseases...yes, there are a few, VERY FEW, children that have nasty reactions to them, but as a rule, there is no reason not to have children immunized. What we think of a basically harmless childhood diseases are NOT harmless. Mumps can come back and cause Diabetes type I...total insulin dependency in later life. Chicken pox can become Shingles....many of these virus NEVER go away, they live quietly in one gland or another. Better to prevent the illness than to become immune to it via infection. We now have a very long life expectancy, in no small part due to vaccines. There was a time when polio left so many crippled, unable to breathe on their own. Small pox killed so many people it is unbelievable. Mumps leads to deafness, sterility, and diabetes, Chicken pox can lead to very, very painful shingles, and on and on. There was a time when many, many babies and children just didn't make it due to whooping cough, pertussis, or diphtheria..today, these diseases are all but gone.

Answer 6

for the love of god, people who do not immunize their children are seriously asking for trouble.

The benefits of vaccinating kids FAR outweigh the risks. It's not even a question. Ask any doctor, any microbiologist, any epidemiologist, anyone who actually has professional education in the field--VACCINATE YOUR KIDS

Answer 7

No

No

Yes - there are people who feel strongly opposed to children being immunised

Start with the wiki pages

Answer 8

I've heard all kinds of things but really would you rather you child get the virus that it protects you from..... I gave them to my son and he seems to be fine.