Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A sober "just saying..."




Portrait of a Man with Raised Eyebrows

Giovanni Battista Moroni (1570)


It's the beginning of winter down under, and apparently our fellow planetary citizens in Australia are preparing for flu season. A friend of mine who works for the federal government recently sent me an article issued by the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health and Ageing of the government of Australia. This is the title of the letter:


Seasonal Flu Vaccine Remains Suspended for Young Children Without Risk Factors
The letter states that a much higher rate than usual of fever with convulsions has occurred this season, following the administration of the vaccine in children under the age of five years. The rate of fever with convulsions in any given year is generally less than 1 per 1,000 children. This year, the rate is 9 in 1,000, an increase alarming enough to warrant investigation of the safety of the vaccine which includes notifying the CDC here in the United States and our own Department of Maternal and Child Health. You can read the full text of the letter by clicking "an article" above. You can also read more about it HERE.


The reason why I've posted this is NOT to state that I am anti-vaccine, but to highlight what I believe to be the NECESSITY of safer vaccines for all of our children. In the endless debate about vaccinations, calm and rational discussion is almost always foregone for extreme hype and simplification. Those of us who do not vaccinate our children (in my case because of the unexplained seizure disorder that developed soon after infant vaccinations in my daughter) are often vilified, called "irresponsible" and worse. Our voices are often lost or misinterpreted, drowned out.


It wasn't long ago that all that hysteria surrounding the swine flu and vaccinations hit this country. I maintain that it behooves all parents to educate themselves about the risk of vaccines, even if it means facing those who deride you. Making a responsible decision, armed with facts and your own experience is essential. Being skeptical does not make one foolish. No one with any sense at all will claim that all vaccines are bad. But no one with any sense at all will claim that all vaccines are safe. My eyebrows are raised.

6 comments:

  1. the last time I looked into it (about 3 yrs ago) the flu vaccines still contained thimersol ..... I don't know if that's still the case ..... thanks for the input Elizabeth :)

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  2. "PACE Health Committee denounces ‘unjustified scare’ of Swine Flu, waste of public money"....read about it HERE (http://autisminnb.blogspot.com/2010/06/council-of-europe-committee-report.html)

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  3. When Lily was asked if she wanted Owen to get a flu shot, she said without hesitation, "No thank-you."
    I was proud of her.

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  4. new to following your site, love the mermaid, and i totally agree. it seems that those who are for and those who are against refuse to sit down and come to a conclusion that could benefit all.

    In the meantime, we don't vaccinate our 16 month old daughter. we also don't tell anyone and even take special leave to 'go vaccinate'. my doctor knows. he's a homeopath and a GP so i trust him and he lets me be. we work around it.

    it would just be nice if those for it would admit there is a degree of danger with no guarantee and those that are against would admit that there is a possibility and perhaps even a need for this to work.

    looking forward to catching up on your blog.

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  5. Thank you for continuing to bring attention to this even as it cycles out of our news. It's become apparent that our government regulators on every front have been dismantled over the past few decades. Sadly, now we have to rely on more responsible governments for valid information.

    (Also Oliver's compound wordplay made me LOL.)

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  6. I go against the VERY strong tide in our practice regarding recommendations for immunization. It is my opinion that big pharm has pushed certain immunizations through FDA approval and onto the market prematurely. Pharm marketers also tweak statistics and use fear to manipulate both parents and health care providers into administering what I believe to be unnecessary vaccines.

    The flip side of that is that there are certain immunizations that protect young children from "real" infections that are real threats. Polio, for all intents and purposes, is not real. Haemophilus influenza b and pneumococcus are real. I've seen kids get REALLY SICK with both these and I am glad we now have immunizations against them.

    I've never been on the flu shot bandwagon, and found the "swine" flu scare tremendously frustrating.

    What I do love is when I give the objective "the AAP recommends blah blah blah" most moms look at me and ask "what do you do with your own kids?"
    That's how much they trust me.

    Just my longwinded opinion as a mom and PNP

    xo

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