OT Should Parents Have A Say In Whether Or Not They Vaccinate Their Children?

[nicolee]

Not at all true.
I have worked in "the healthcare sector" (physicians offices, business offices and in-patient settings) for decades and have never been asked to submit any immunization paperwork. That paperwork wouldn't exist at this point anyway. Furthermore, no hospital requires staff to even get a flu shot, regardless of recommendations. Staff and vendors that choose not to receive the vaccination are required to wear a mask at all times, though, during the peak flu season months.

For the OP - my opinion as a parent is that it should work that way for all kids whose parents choose not to vaccinate. No immunization, wear a mask at all times. Pretty selfish, yes, selfish, to put others at risk for your personal belief and/or necessity.

To be honest, that genuinely shocks me. Where I'm from no nurses, doctors, physician's receptionists, dental nurses, etc, would ever be able to get a job without immunization confirmation. Medical students aren't allowed to set foot in a hospital, even to stand and watch a procedure from afar, unless they've had bloodwork to confirm immunizations and the latest flu shot.

I don't mean to sound rude, and I don't know how much you know about the science behind infection, but masks are definitely not good enough to prevent spread when compared with immunization. There are other ways that infection can be spread apart from by orally-propelled particles, and masks are nowhere near foolproof. An un-immunized worker with even the slightest bit of contact with inpatients is putting people at grave risk.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

I don't think I can judge someone who isn't getting a vaccine because of medical reasons and someone who isn't getting them because of religious reasons equally. Medical reasons I get. It would do you more harm than good. Herd immunity protects those people who fall into that category. Not religious people who are healthy enough to receive them. The religious part I have a harder time accepting. I'm sorry, I don't agree with that. I think the government has the right to protect the community as whole. Vaccinating your kids protects the community as a whole. And the only exceptions would be medical reasons.

 

[cheer25mom]

My cousin almost died of rubella at 11 months old, contracted from an unvaccinated older child. He was in PICU for 2 weeks. It was touch and go for a while. I say this to say that my views on this are likely colored by that.

I have no interest in risking my kid getting polio, rubella, or any of the other preventable diseases that can and do kill children. The risk of vaccine injury is orders of magnitude lower than the risk of dying from these diseases.

Herd immunity only works as long as "everyone else" is vaccinating. The other risk that no one wants to discuss with herd immunity is viral mutation. We have to have a new flu vaccine every year in part because different strains are more common, but also in part because the virus mutates in human hosts to be better at what it does, infecting humans. Many of these diseases do the same in an outbreak, and there is a real possibility that if herd immunity gets low enough that there is a major outbreak that it could happen and happen to the point that am unity acquired from vaccines will no longer be effective, making everyone vulnerable.


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[cheerKT]

One of my favorite tweets on the subject. From a real pediatrician.

Dr. Dave Stukus ‏@AllergyKidsDoc

Actual discussion: Parent "I want #Ebola vaccine for my child" Doc "There isn't one, but we have #flushot" Parent "We don't believe in that"

 

[omgitssydthekid]

I'm not a parent, but I believe that based on what I know about vaccines, unless there is a medical reason, I don't think there should be an exception. I have a severe latex allergy so I'm not able to get some vaccines or shots because the latex from the syringe could potentially cause an anaphylactic reaction. If I didn't have this allergy, I would absolutely get every vaccine/shot that was recommended/required.


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[Aussiekat]

My partner with an auto-immune disease thanks you all for being immunised.

@SheCheers I absolutely accept your position on this matter because of what happened to your eldest child. This is what medical exemptions exist for… not for those who googled and decided they know more than their doctor.

 

[SheCheers]

My partner with an auto-immune disease thanks you all for being immunised.

@SheCheers I absolutely accept your position on this matter because of what happened to your eldest child. This is what medical exemptions exist for… not for those who googled and decided they know more than their doctor.

The truth is, though, I've never actually been able to get him a medical exemption. It's next to impossible. That's why religious/philosophical ones are necessary. Good luck finding a doctor who will sign off on a medical....

 

[cheermomforever]

I am interested to know how people feel about chicken pox shot. That is the only on I was against. I tried to expose my kids to them when they were young but successfully. Now If they get it as adults it will b much worse! I think that one should b a choice.

 

[Mom2Cheergirls]

We get our vaccinations with one exception. I have made the choice to opt out of the Gaurdasil HPV vaccine currently for my eldest. The first dose of this is required by our state upon entering 6th grade only for females (even though a male version is available this vaccine is only required by females - don't get me started there). Parents do have the choice to not get it thought. "Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV). Effective October 1, 2008, a complete series of 3 doses of HPV vaccine is required for females. The first dose shall be administered before the child enters the 6th grade. After reviewing educational materials approved by the Board of Health, the parent or guardian, at the parent’s or guardian’s sole discretion, may elect for the child not to receive the HPV vaccine." I understand the issues with it but have found the potential risks of the vaccine currently are worse than potential HPV diagnosis - especially for healthy females who follow yearly annual physicals. Also given my child's age and our families values and rules and other health concerns this really because not an issue at this time - which when we discussed with our doctor they agreed this was really not the time to discuss this vaccine. Note I am not totally nixing this vaccine just not now and potentially not ever. Also I find it VERY interesting out state only REQUIRES it of females when the CDC recommends it for boys as well.

In Virginia for vaccines there are potential opt outs for the normal vaccine courses as well as the HPV but I am unfamiliar with that.

I will say when they thought they had a measles case in our county (found to be negative) but a positive one in DC our county sent home a letter stating that if a confirmed case was found in a school any child not vaccinated or incomplete in their vaccinations would not be allowed to return to school for 21 days or more.

 

[Fiercecheermom]

Let me first say that I respect any parent's decision for their child...that being said...if you choose to not have your child vaccinated, you choose the consequences. Your decision ABSOLUTELY should not affect my children. In VA there are quite a few parents who use the "religious" excuse to get around this and it infuriates me that they are just looking for a way to circumvent the rules. I absolutely believe that if you don't want to vaccinate your child then you need to choose to homeschool your child and make sure they socialize with like minded people. I am sorry if this is harsh, but you cannot have it both ways. My son has had febrile seizures his whole life (hoping we are finally past this stage in his life) and so protecting him from fevers is paramount to me. Chicken pox, measles, etc could set off another seizure. If you have ever seen your child turn blue from a seizure you would feel the same way. I do believe that with the huge amount of vaccines "suggested" that a longer schedule should be implemented. My son is 10 years old which is right about the time that people began questioning these vaccines. If I had known then, what I know now, I would have definitely spread them out further so to have less impact on him. He definitely has some of the "spectrum qualities" that others have spoken about. I will have to deal with the thoughts/guilt of wondering if my lack of education at his vaccine time affected his social issues, but the alternative of non-vaccinating was unacceptable.

 

[Sharkie]

I live outside the usa and although we have a list of vaccines that are obligated by law, still some parents refuse it for various reasons. But they need to hand in a document to the state to prove their child has received the vacinations, so certain doctors are willing to make a document in trade for cash that the child has received it while the child didnt get it at all. we sometimes get children or adults at the hospital that are infected by diseases while their medical record says they have been vaccinated while they havent. it can cause huge problems, since certain diseases have similar symptoms and since they are "vaccinated" we'd rather think about the other ones than this one they claim to have been receiving the vaccination for.

We see here how certain regions have more cases of certain diseases for whom you should be vaccinated, but because there live a lot of people who are against it due to religion, there are often outbreaks.

also some people dont seem to realise that several vaccines dont offer lifelong protection, or they can still catch it, but in a milder form. also certain diseases have mutated throughout the years and the vaccines that were giving 30 years ago, no longer work for the type of the disease the way it has developed now.

 

[njallday]

I live outside the usa and although we have a list of vaccines that are obligated by law, still some parents refuse it for various reasons. But they need to hand in a document to the state to prove their child has received the vacinations, so certain doctors are willing to make a document in trade for cash that the child has received it while the child didnt get it at all. we sometimes get children or adults at the hospital that are infected by diseases while their medical record says they have been vaccinated while they havent. it can cause huge problems, since certain diseases have similar symptoms and since they are "vaccinated" we'd rather think about the other ones than this one they claim to have been receiving the vaccination for.

We see here how certain regions have more cases of certain diseases for whom you should be vaccinated, but because there live a lot of people who are against it due to religion, there are often outbreaks.

also some people dont seem to realise that several vaccines dont offer lifelong protection, or they can still catch it, but in a milder form. also certain diseases have mutated throughout the years and the vaccines that were giving 30 years ago, no longer work for the type of the disease the way it has developed now.

I'm not standing up for the vaccine fraud you're talking about, but sometimes vaccines really don't work. I was vaccinated for pertussis and still got pertussis. it happens more than you would think and no vaccine is 100% guaranteed to work. I was lucky enough to survive it and I would still vaccinate my children against it (especially since my mom still has PTSD style flashbacks of me struggling to breathe for my life.)

 

[CheerBank]

I am interested to know how people feel about chicken pox shot. That is the only on I was against. I tried to expose my kids to them when they were young but successfully. Now If they get it as adults it will b much worse! I think that one should b a choice.

My kids all had the vaccination. I think there is now a booster they need.
I do believe the increase we are seeing in shingles with every age population is directly related to the chicken pox shot, which cannot be a good thing.

 

[Teacher Mom]

The legislature is the same in all 50 states.

A lot of parents are against it thanks to Jenny McCarthy and the Wakefield study. Turns out her child never even had autism and all (or possibly all but one, drawing a blank and don't feel like researching this AM) of the children in the Wakefield trial were never diagnosed as on the spectrum by a doctor. Wakefield retracted his entire study, but the news doesn't tell you that. Unfortunately, the general public doesn't really know that, and all they remember is the link to autism. It was scientifically proven to be false numerous times. Thanks to the Disney measles outbreak, MMR vaccine is now a hot commodity and is in very low supply in the country because all those anti-vaccine people are lining up to get it. interesting how that works.

My bachelors degree is in Public Health (5000% pro vaccinations) and I'm currently in a chiropractic program (some very passionate protestors, not all) so I've gotten to hear and see a lot of opinions and gather a lot of research.

In a perfect world, a child would not be given 5 or 6 vaccines at one time at their checkups. They should be staggered but doctors and the CDC recommend doing it like that because the American population is lazy. They do not believe a parent will really come every week or whatever the case may be to get each vaccine and its subsequent boosters at the appropriate time, so instead they overload the system. That's my only complaint, and as a parent I do have the right to change the vaccination schedule, and I will. Otherwise I am pro-vaccine with the exception of Gardasil because I was almost hospitalized for that one. twice.

Oh, yes, "Dr." Jenny McCarthy...former Playboy bunny and MTV VJ. She started this more than a decade ago. As a parent to a 14 year old with autism, she makes my blood boil. Why people EVER listened to her is beyond me. And, you are right, her son was misdiagnosed as he is now cured. I never understood why it took years for people to discredit her. Anyone with half a brain could look at autism statistics in 3rd world countries and see they have similar autism stats without vaccinations
Off my soapbox now

 

[SheCheers]

The bottom line is that vaccines are not 100% safe and cannot be forced upon anyone because of that. it's not like we are drinking sugar water and then suddenly diseases are eradicated: CHILDREN, are given them, and the outcome cannot be determined until it's too late. Instead of mandating vaccines there should be mandates on making them safer and more effective. Seems like a no brainer to me.