vaccinations: request for input

[kimdons]

Aria's 2 month birthday is coming up quickly, and that's when the US starts their regular vaccination schedule, so we have to make some decisions. We're doing our own research on vaccinations, but we'd also really like to hear from any of you who have recommendations on reading material, experiences to share, information, etc. What did you decide?

Comments

Re: Problematic

[kimdons]

Our pediatrician said they vaccinate babies for Hep B because the campaign to get teenage vaccinations failed so they decided to recommend them early when parents are already coming in for other vaccinations. She said she'd fully support us waiting until the teen years to do that one.

As for the "freeloading," i.e. relying on others' vaccinations and not getting them yourself to reduce your personal risk -- this does seem like it could be the case, but I recently read something that showed that some vaccinations are causing the disease population to shift, i.e. since some vaccinations lose potency after many years, people are getting "childhood" diseases much later in life, when the consequences can be more severe and immune systems can be lowered (in, say, elderly people). With that information, one could say that they are doing the population a favor by not getting vaccinated so that more people can get the disease when we're "supposed" to, i.e. at the time in our lives when our systems are better able to deal with them.

I totally agree with the frustration at lack of real research and interpretable results. Even the data that is out there is poorly controlled and poorly interpreted. :-(

Re: Problematic

[olstad]

Actually that's why we're recommending re-vaccinations at about 65 years of age. Don't forget that just because you have a disease does not mean you are "immune" either. People who have had chicken pox are actually more likely to have a more serious form of the disease later on in life than those that have been vaccinated...