3/16/11 – Topic #8 – Vaccinations

Today was a pretty low key day. Just the normal…no sleep (back to normal here), work, home, clean, cook, eat, play. We’re just gearing up for another sleepless night! Christian did have his ear surgery today though, and everything went well. They biopsied the tissue they removed and everything came back just fine, thankfully. Now we just wait for it to heal, and pray that it’s finally gone for good. They want him to continue coming back for a while, every other month, to get the injections still.

A local report came out today regarding an “outbreak” of measles in our area. I quote outbreak because it’s a VERY small number cases, but for a disease once basically extinct, it’s very sad to see. Seeing this report made me want to chat about that today.

Vaccinations are a very controversial topic. It all seemed to have started with a (now debunked) report linking vaccinations (particularly the MMR vaccination) to Autism. There are basically three roads people follow when it comes to vaccinations…vaccinate on schedule, vaccinate on delayed schedule or even choose to skip some vaccinations all together. If you plan on putting your children in public school, the only way to skip vaccinations all together (other than proven record of reaction) is to claim religious reasons, and I have heard of many people lying to claim this reason (which upsets me greatly).

We fully vaccinate, on schedule. I can understand parents that vaccinate on a delayed schedule, and I honestly don’t see anything wrong with that. I think if I were a stay at home mom, or at least had more time options as far as trips to the clinic, I would consider it. But, I just cannot understand not vaccinating, or skipping any of them. With the exception of the chicken pox vaccine, which I’m slightly uneasy about.

People who do not vaccinate, and catch flack for it, often argue “why should you worry…your child is vaccinated, so you shouldn’t be worried about other children”. Yes, that’s true…my 2 year old is vaccinated. My 7 month old however, is not old enough to receive several of the vaccinations, leaving her defenseless in the meantime. So, we go out in public, around other children, and have to risk her safety. It makes me sad, and it’s something I constantly worry about. I remember (vividly) an episode of Law & Order: SVU from a few years ago…a young mother’s very young toddler child passed away, and she thought it was a result of spanking her, so she tried to cover it up. They realized she passed away from a bought with Mumps. They ended up finding out that she had contracted it from an older, unvaccinated child, at the park. She was too young to be vaccinated against it herself; leaving her helpless once it took over. They ended up linking this kid to several cases of Mumps, and I believe they ended up trying the mother of the unvaccinated child for manslaughter (extreme in real life, I’ll admit). This broke my heart. I realize it’s only a TV show, but it’s very true, and something that is now happening in reality.

Anyway, my ultimate hope is that they will separate the MMR vaccination so people feel more comfortable getting it for their children, maybe even spread out the schedule of vaccinations, and hopefully every parent will start feeling a little more at east about something so important, not only to their own children, but to the safety and welfare of those around them.

Here is Amelia downward dog…I swear she is in this position ALL day long!