Questions for parents WHO DO vaccinate?

Question

I'm doing a research paper in my college english class about why vaccinations are bad/harmful- and I want to get some answeres from parents who believe in vaccination. thanks in advance.

1. Why do you choose to vaccinate?
2. Have you always been for vaccinations?
3. If you haven't- what changed your mind?
4. Do you get a lot of 'flack' from other parents/doctors about your decision?
5. What is your response to them?
6. Do you 'spread the word' about your views or do you keep quiet?
7. What is your opinion of parents who choose to NOT vaccinate their children?
8. any other comments/stories etc... you can add them here.

Answer 1

I dont believe in all vaccinations. I was given Bacterial Meningitis as a 5 year old by one of the original 1980's live culture HIB vaccines. This was during the time of the voluntary recalls by doctors- despite the dangers my doctor insisted I needed the vaccine, when I got sick he assured my mom is was nothing and to NOT take me to the hospital NO MATTER WHAT. I nearly died, it took me nearly 4 years to recover.

All that said, I do trust certain vaccines, but only at certain times and in certain ways.

1) I vaccinate my son because the diseases he is vaccinated against are previlant in the area's of the world where we live an/or travel.

2) No, I am still not FOR vaccinations.

3) Knowing that we go out of the country to places where tetinus and Measles Mumps and Ruebella are common compells me to protect my child in any way I can.

4) I dont get all the vaccines. No parents have ever talked with me about it, my doctor respects my ability to make good choices for my child.

5) The same HIB story I gave you, and the fact that they can vaccinate their children so that my child does not infect theirs- if thats their fear.

6) I do spread the word when opportunity arises.

7) People who vaccinate their children have nothing to worry about once the vaccine is over, their children are protected from parents who dont vaccinate. Parents who dont vaccinate have every right to make that choice for their children. We all have the right to CHOOSE our health care, and what kind of health we want.

8) I only give my child ONE agent at a time, it means breaking up the all in ones (which is better since those use mercury as a stabilizer). Vaccinating against things like the runs, the flu, chickenpox, etc, is just dangerous. Mostly because the vaccines MAKE people sick, and they cause the viruses to mutate into harder to control and survive strands over a long period of time. Look up the new small pox epidemic we're facing, or the killer flu.

You have to use common sense. One vaccine at a time (also helps to know which your child reacts to), given only when a child is in good health, and doing research about the BRAND of vaccines your doctor is using. You have GOT to be proactive about your childs health care, trusting it all to ONE man who is caring for THOUSANDS of different people is just dangerous.

Answer 2

1) Honestly, ignorance and going with the flow. I've vaccinated all four of my kids.
2) I wasn't for or against it but I did it. I had my first child vaccinated on schedule. My 2nd was very ill with RSV(I was convinced then and still am that it was partially due to having her in the germ infested doctors office to be vaccinated) and I though I still vaccinated, I delayed the schedule a bit. She was a much healthier child than my first. He had constant ear infections and caught every virus that came to town. She didn't. I delayed with my 3rd and 4th (I also didn't take them for a vaccination during the winter months)and they have been my incredibly healthy kids. I started having some kind of gut feelings that these vaccinations were related to my children's infant health. I kept vaccinating because I thought it was what I was supposed to do.
3. What changed my mind was my own experience with my children and my intuition that something just wasn't right. I started doing research on the topic and found out a few interesting facts about vaccinations. First, many of the diseases we vaccinate against were already on the decline before the vaccines were implemented. Second, the rising autism rates have been connected with vaccines and yet most all doctors will deny this as a truth. I have yet to see a comprehensive study on the issue. I find it interesting that communities that don't vaccinate have dramatically lower autism rates. (US rates 1 in 166...Amish rates 1 in 15,000). That's a statistic that really makes you wonder.
4. My doctors would look at me like I was a nut job when I would delay the vaccinations. This was before I researched it and I would explain my own experience with my first two children and they would almost laugh me off. My got told me to stick to my guns and I don't regret it at all.
5. I explain my views.
6. I spread the word about the research that I've done on my own. Had I known what I know now I'm not sure I would have vaccinated except for the illnesses that are common to our country. If I were traveling abroad with my children I would include vaccines common to foreign countries as well.
7. Parents who choose not to vaccinate are making their own decisions based on what they know. I think they have every right to make decisions about their child's health care. The best argument they can give to parents that disagree is this. "If your child is vaccinated and you feel they are protected, they are safe from my child not being vaccinated". I'm not sure why it matters so much to parents that DO vaccinate. To me, it's a personal choice. There are no laws about vaccination only state recommendations. People need to read up on the laws. People have every right to opt out.
8. If anything, parents need to wake up and at least read up on the facts on this topic. Parents and the medical community should work together to find answers to the questions that are out there. This should be about doing what's right for kids, not an argument over who's right and who's wrong. I have two daughters and will be refusing the new HPV vaccine. There have been major issues with it. We should all fight against state mandated for vaccines that have not been properly tested. I don't want my children to be guinea pigs.

Answer 3

1. to protect my kids from serious and potentially deadly diseases, and to protect other people from those diseases, too by making sure one less person is likely to spread them. i believe it's a social responsibility to protect the community as a whole. if everybody gets vaccinated, the benefit to your child from getting vaccinated is admittedly fairly small, since it's unlikely that anyone would spread the disease. however, if nobody got vaccinated, thousands of people would be dying from these diseases. i don't believe my family should "free ride" off other people's immunizations. we all need to get vaccinated to protect each other.

2. yes

3. n/a

4. certainly not from doctors. nor from any parents i know. plenty from other parents on this forum!

5. see #1

6. i will answer someone's question about whether and why i choose to vaccinate. if not asked, i don't volunteer.

7. that they're trying their best to prevent their child from getting (very unlikely and often unproven) side effects, but that they are making a mistake in their calculation of risk v. benefit.

8. however, i would be cautious about trying a new vaccine that had not yet been tested in a large number of people and studied for effectiveness v. short- and long-term side effects.

also, people who are vaccinated are *not* 100% protected from people who don't, since no vaccine is 100% effective. there are also people who can't get vaccinated for health reasons or because of their age or other considerations. i think people who don't vaccinate (who could) inappropriately put those people at risk.

Answer 4

Because it's the right thing to do.
No flack here, because friends and family who have kids are smart and informed properly as well. Think those who don't are just sucked in by propaganda.
The only question parents have to ask - is when was the last time they met someone with polio??? For me, when I was at university in probably around 1979, there was a lovely young woman starting university who was terribly afflicted by polio. Strong mind, but wasted away body.

Answer 5

We don't vaccinate so I guess I can't help you.

Answer 6

i vaccinate because i love my children look at the death rate of children in places like Guatemala, all because they could not be vaccinated very sad

Answer 7

vaccinate so my kids do not get horrible diseases like rubella. It should be a crime not to vaccinate.