I was reading an article in an old Parents magazine about the need of vacinations of today and why they were needed years ago.

In a nutshell, it was saying that the strains of diseases (measles, chicken pox, whooping cough, etc.) of today have become stronger in their attacks and once again are on the rise.

I made sure Peter got all his baby shots, but my mother was saying that she was amazed at all the warnings that a parent is given before the baby gets the shot. My brothers and sisters all got their shots and Mom said that the Dr. never warned her of any side effects.

There are still lots of kids that do not get vacinations today and I guess because of more of a population of kids that the germs are mutating. With all the warnings of side effects maybe that is scaring parents away from safeguarding their kids.

MuseMom

There are still lots of kids that do not get vacinations today and I guess because of more of a population of kids that the germs are mutating. With all the warnings of side effects maybe that is scaring parents away from safeguarding their kids.

I thought kids weren't allowed to start school unless they'd had all their vacinations? Is that not true? You would think there would be a way they could force people to get their children the vacinations that are medically necessary. They can make you get your dog shots, and they can't do anything for the children? That's pretty sad.

There are exemptions from vaccinations and because of that no, no child has to be excluded from school because of vaccination status.

The reason that these exemptions exist is because vaccinations can and do kill, although rarely. If you take the time to read the vaccine insert all will list death as a possible reaction. The reactions list that is possible is in fact large and varied and includes things like anorexia and encephalitis (swelling of the brain that causes what is known as the pertussis scream).

For this reason, given the fact that each and every time your child is shot up you are taking a risk of a reaction that might just take your child from you, they cannot and will not ever force people to accept vaccinations. Doing so would be like forcing you to play Russian roulette. For some people it doesn't matter how rare the risk is, it is still unacceptable. Imagine how you would feel if you were the one it happened to?

Besides, what is medically necessary has changed greatly over the past thirty years. People of my generation and in fact even young parents today in UK (where they don't fear chicken pox as a killer disease) question this vax because we all went to pox parties and in my school of 1200 no one suffered more than the itchies. Every decade more and more diseases that we were brought up thinking were just a passing milestone are being made into killer diseases.

The above is just playing devil's advocate, and trying to help people see why freedom of choice in any medical procedure is necessary as every medical procedure carries risks.

My first born has had all of his shots (age 5 now), and has started school. My second on the other hand, has had only the shots from the date of birth before leaving the hospital. I was just informed today that my state will allow exemptions for this, which is good. My girl is turning 1 this month, and even having a long way to go, I feel better knowing that I have this choice, rather than having to home school my child due to our beliefs.

Let me give you a breakdown:

Son born in early -02, in the past 3 years he has went to the ER room 3x for being sick (majority of these were bronchitis related). He had all his shots.

Girl born last Oct in 06, never had anything more than the sniffles 2-3 times, and I think that is only from the allergies I deal with when people cut the grass outside, etc. She had ONLY the shots from birth.

I had all my shots too, and I went through getting bronchitis/strep throat AND tonsillitis all at the same time, every winter from about 85 til 99. Doesn't that seem a little odd?

I think choice is important... however, people need to understand all the risks. I have a nephew that almost died from chicken pox. He was in the hospital with a temp of 105 while he was on a cooling pad and had the most horrid pox you could imagine. He is fine now but has some bad scars. His sisters also were terribly sick with the chicken pox. Not bad enough for the hospital, but enough to be very worrisome.
And I have a friend who's vaccinated daughter came down with whooping cough when she was 16. Apparently the vaccine wears off in the late teens, but kids are better able to handle the disease at that age. It was terrible enough watching a 16 year old deal with the not breathing and hard coughing, I can't imagine an infant going through that.
I get my little guy all his vaccines on time. Yes there are risks with the vaccines, but they are less than the risks of getting the diseases.

It is true that viral diseases nowadays are more resistant to medicines than it was before. Sometimes even vaccinations can do no help in preventing a child to catch the disease. The best thing we can do is to make sure that our little ones are healthy all the time, giving them proper diet, enough rest, and other things to keep them healthy.

But after all is said and done, I think we still need to have these vaccinations just to be sure.

How long does a vaccine wears off? How often does a child needs a shot of a vaccine to be really protective from these diseases?

Viral diseases were never treated with medicines, so perhaps you should do a little reading into the disease and vaccine process before making decisions about something that can kill your child, since you are misinformed about this. Of late there are meds that are sometimes used to treat the flu and diseases like shingles, but they are not the norm, and in fact it is when certain meds (fever reducers) are given at the outset of chicken pox and other viral illnesses that complications are more prone to occur.

Fever is not a disease. Fever is not a bad thing; it is the body's tool and mechanism for burning out the disease that is within it. Take that away and the disease runs a worse course.