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Yesterday, the medical journal the Lancet retracted a study it published back in 1998 that linked the MMR vaccine to Autism. The study kicked off a major discussion of vaccinations, and led many parents to leave their children vulnerable to preventable diseases for fear of consequences from the vaccine.
You can read more on the story from CNN here. As a parent, this reinforces my belief that you should be as informed as possible, but not overly reactive. I lost a childhood friend to measles because she wasn't vaccinated, and so I know that has impacted my views on vaccination.
I don't ever doubt that things we put in our food, products, bodies, can affect us in adverse ways. We have made more and more of an effort to eliminate processed foods from our diet, and to find more natural skin, hair and cleaning products. That being said, I look at how much vaccinations have completely eradicated childhood illnesses that were at one point in time commonplace and often ended many otherwise healthy lives very prematurely. My husband and I read as much as we could, discussed it with our doctor and each other, and ultimately decided that the benefits far outweighed the risks and that we must vaccinate our children. We have, though, spread some of the injections out a little further apart, rather than 4 or 5 different vaccinations all being given at the same time...that always seemed to be a lot for a little body to handle to me.
It will be interesting to see if this development will change any opinions.
2 comments:
I am a mother of a child who has been diagnosed as "showing signs of autism/ PDD." I also vaccinated my child, believing that the small risk of something like autism/ PDD was far worse than the risk of measles or some other disease.
I do not regret vaccinating my child, nor did I ever think that doing so caused his situation. But I have dealt with comments from other mothers who said things like, "Oh, well, you vaccinated him." As if that did it.
The truth is, no one knows what causes autism and PDD. But at least I know that my child is safe from the demons I DO know. :)
So interesting. It's nice to find someone else who spaces them out. My mom begged me to do that, and I try to do so, despite getting raised eyebrows from the doctors and nurses. I'm not opposed to the vaccine, but totally agree that it sure seems like a lot for their teensy little nervous systems to handle. Cheers to you and your husband for doing your research and homework, and not just taking what's shoved your way!
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