velvetpage (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
velvetpage) wrote2006-03-08 05:54 am
velvetpage) wrote2006-03-08 05:54 am
A story from family history
Back on my kick about vaccinations - I'll make it public for those who wish to link to it later.
My grandmother used to tell the story of her cousins, who went to a Sunday School Picnic around 1928. She herself stayed home, because her baby sister was ill and her mother needed the help, but out of her very large family, almost all the kids went. They went to a local park and waded in a pond, having a glorious time. Nana was quite jealous.
Two weeks later, two-thirds of them were dead of diptheria. Several more were weakened by it enough that when another disease came flying around a few years later, their overall health was lessened and they succumbed to that. (I think that was scarlet fever.)
Contrast that mortality rate - approximately 66% - with the fairly slim chance of developing any kind of autism. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sassy_fae, stat please?) Now contrast it with the even slimmer chance that that autism has anything at all to do with the vaccines you're giving your kids.
And this was just one disease. Not the fifteen or so against which modern, free vaccines in Canada will protect them.
Please, please, vaccinate your kids. It's the single best thing you can do to ensure that they will grow up to be healthy adults. Vaccines are the reason we no longer feel the need to have half a dozen children each. We're not afraid anymore than one bad epidemic of measels will take our only child away from us. If we don't vaccinate, we should be.
My grandmother used to tell the story of her cousins, who went to a Sunday School Picnic around 1928. She herself stayed home, because her baby sister was ill and her mother needed the help, but out of her very large family, almost all the kids went. They went to a local park and waded in a pond, having a glorious time. Nana was quite jealous.
Two weeks later, two-thirds of them were dead of diptheria. Several more were weakened by it enough that when another disease came flying around a few years later, their overall health was lessened and they succumbed to that. (I think that was scarlet fever.)
Contrast that mortality rate - approximately 66% - with the fairly slim chance of developing any kind of autism. (
sassy_fae, stat please?) Now contrast it with the even slimmer chance that that autism has anything at all to do with the vaccines you're giving your kids.And this was just one disease. Not the fifteen or so against which modern, free vaccines in Canada will protect them.
Please, please, vaccinate your kids. It's the single best thing you can do to ensure that they will grow up to be healthy adults. Vaccines are the reason we no longer feel the need to have half a dozen children each. We're not afraid anymore than one bad epidemic of measels will take our only child away from us. If we don't vaccinate, we should be.
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why else would I make so many baby afghans.I worked in nursing for almost 10 years and went to nursing school for a brief period of time; I am a big proponent for vaccinations. I’ll have to check with the nursing instructor at work, too.
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The problem with the scare is a) too little clinical information, b) too little attention to the vast benefits of the vaccines and the very small occurrence of autism in the population in general, c) the fact that most of the important vaccines are now available in a thimersol-free variety. In Canada, all infant vaccines are thimersol-free, as is the flu shot and the Rh shot for pregnant women. The thimersol-free vaccines are not standard in the States, but they can be requested.
So, while I'm reserving my opinion about the possibility of a link between mercury poisoning and autism pending more research, I'm also choosing to vaccinate because my government reacted to the scare in the only sensible way - they pursued equivalent vaccines without that ingredient, and made them standard.
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The idea that the vaccine was involved stems from the fact that symptoms of autism start to crop up around the time that kids are vaccinated. Kids who seem to be developing normally up to the age of 18 months or so can start to develop symptoms. This is often the age at which vaccinations are done, so it's easy to take anecdotal evidence as proof of causality.
Interesting study: in Sweden and Denmark, they've stopped giving the MMR vaccine. The prevalence of autism is exactly the same as before, and the same as countries who do vaccine with MMR.
The doctor/researcher I was talking to on Monday put it this way "Even if there was some reason to suspect there was a link (and there isn't), you've got the choice of risking autism or risking death.
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The B'liar has a kidlet, Leo. Said kidlet got paraded for photocalls with the happy family B'liar, then came due for the dreaded MMR...or equivalent single injections. Our bold and hon. Bliar backed the Govt line that MMR was perfectly safe (that would make me worry if nothing else did) and you could have MMR or pay for private, the NHS was MMR or zilch.
Ah, says the media, did widdle Leo have single or triple MMR?
Now IF Leo had had the triple like the Govt reckoned was good enough for the rest, all Bliar had to say was "Sho'did!". And he sho' didn't. 'Cause answer to the question came there none...the Bliar suddenly went all private. Probably for the jabs as well.
At least John Gummer had the gall to make his daughter eat a hamburger on camera to quell fears of mad cow disease..
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I've spent my entire career thus far working with the most difficult and delayed of the autism population, some kids who are aggressive, some kids with multiple diagnoses, some kids who can't even make basic choices. After putting in hundreds of hours dealing with kids on the autism spectrum, I will still vaccinate every one of my children. I'm that certain that the needles won't cause any of those symptoms.