[ScubaMan]

I´m trying to find some impartial advice on immunisations for our 2 week old baby.
My girlfriend is, quite rightly, against immunisations that aren't necessary based on the odds and statistics. We had our baby in a natural birthing clinic, with a water birth with no medication whatsoever. Naturally the staff there aren't big fans of immunisations, as there are all about natural approaches, and gave multiple reasons for us to consider. If you ask a medical doctor in a hospital, they will give you the total opposite answer. So what is the TRUTH. Based on the odds of a baby/child/adult becoming infected with the different diseases/illnesses without innoculation, weighed up against the very possible side effects of having these injections themselves, which are highly recommended and which really not essential based on the odds of contracting the illness. We have been led to believe over the years that it is very dangerous for our children not to immunise, but how much of that is tradition or influence from the billion dollar pharmaceutical companies that possibly call the shots. Statistically speaking, living in a modern,clean, western european country, not asia or africa, what are the chances of my child getting these illnesses without the jabs. Also what are the differences between giving him jabs at the ´required´ times, and later when he is perhaps a toddler. I´m looking for unbiased oppinions and facts. If the odds, based on our lifestyle, are minimal that the baby will come into contact with these diseases, then I probably won't put my baby through the ordeal, or perhaps do them at a later date. I´m open minded but, I know how the world rotates, and won't subject my child to the injections based on tradition, influence on doctors by the drug companies, fear of sueing by hospitals, or simply because everyone else is doing it. Looking forward to some well needed ANSWERS

[tickle]

24 years ago I wanted to give my son every possible chance of becoming a happy healthy adult so he had all the required innoculations and I didn't think twice about it. Anyway, where we live he couldn't have gotten into school without them.

[Capuchin]

Most, if not all of the diseases are fairly uncommon, however the punishment if your child does catch a disease that could easily have been immunised is possibly the death of your child.

You have to weigh up the risks/rewards for yourself. Your child will almost definitely not remember any injections at such a young age, and so will not affect him in a negative way (he's not old enough to perceive needles as dangerous - the pain of injection is only a little scratch), if you want the best for him, I would recommend taking the medically recommended immunisations.

Is upholding your own moral values more important to you than your child's health? It sounds like it to me - and it sounds dangerous.

[curlybenswife]

May I just ask if you or your partener were given the immunisations when you were a child??
The way I saw it was I had them it didn't do me any harm she will have them id rather her stay alive and be happy than loose her should she catch anything.

[Squiffy]

The immunisation debate is a tough one for parents. Quite rightly you want to protect your child from and illnesses, but how safe are the jabs? The truth is that most children have the jabs without any side effects, some develop side efects soon after the jabs, but rarely is there any evidence to prove it was the jabs that were to blame. My son had his firtst jabs at about 4 months, and he ended up on life support in hospital with some still unidentified virus. No one knows what caused it, but he deterirated very rapidy after the jabs. Needless to say he didn't have the rest of the course until he was much older, and was fine. He had the MMR, and like all the other boys in my family who have had the mmr, he has had severe recurrent ear infections since and is now going deaf. However, I am not against immunisation. I waited until my son was 3 years old instead of 13 months old to have the mmr, as I wanted his hearing unaffected while he learnt to talk (anticipating what might happen) but I also believe that a child who reacts badly to an immunisation is the child who would possibly die if they contracted the illness. I would rather have a deaf son than a dead one. My daughter didn't have the mmr until she was 4 years old. The reason being she contracted measles at age 13 months and after a rough couple of weeks, has been fine since. She didn't react at all to the mmr, or any of the other vaccinations she has had. My partners son is autistic, his parents don't know whether it was the mmr that caused that to happen, as a dr my partner says it wasn't, but as a father he isn't so sure. At the end of the day all immunisations are there to help protect your child, reactions are pretty rare. You don't have to live in asia or africa to come into contact with these illnesses (I have never been abroad, yet my daughter caught measles!) Migration makes these illnesses a possibility wherever you live. Some ilnesses, such as mumps, are not particularly harmful to most children, but they are to adults, so I honestly believe they immunise babies to protect adults, same as rubella. That itself doesn't make me comfortable.

[shygrneyzs]

I know parents who have never immunized their children and waited for their children to come down with chicken pox, measles, mumps, etc. However, are you ready for your child to encounter diptheria, typhus, tetanus, pertussis, polio, meningitis, and now hepatitis? Yes, there is the risk of complications with immunizations but there are risks if they do not have immunizations. No one can decide for you, that is true. As tickle stated, if your child does not have any immunizations, the child may not be able to enter school, depending on where you live. You can have your ideals yet your child's health should come first.

[J_9]

While there are risks associated with immunizations, the risks are actually quite low. Your girlfriend is actually correct with her "odds and statistics" thoughts, but let's look at it this way.

The reason she has this "odds and statistics" idea is because people DID in fact get immunized. Many terrible diseases were eradicated because people DID get immunizations. Understand though that while many of these diseases suck as polio and smallpox are gone, there is still a threat.

However, diseases such as pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, chicken pox, measles, and mumps that are still very active in the population today. Understand that diseases such as mumps can leave a boy sterile and unable to have children later in life under certain circumstances. Chicken pox can do the same if you son were to get it at a more advanced age, such as in his twenties.

Now, you say you live in a "modern, clean, western european country" however I am sure you have tourists that may come from other countries and be carriers of the diseases that you choose not to protect your son from.

Let's look at it from that angle too, okay. You do not immunize your son, then he gets exposed to a potentially deadly or disfiguring disease, he then exposes another infant who has not been immunized. The circle begins. The dieases we have worked for decades to eradicate are now back in society. To keep our society free of these diseases it is important that we all have our immunizations.

Trust me your son won't remember. He has not yet acquired a long term memory yet. After reading your post I asked my daughter who is 13 if she remembers her immunizations, she replied by saying "I don't even remember wearing diapers, Mom, really how am I gonna remember something that happened to me when I was that young."

As I stated above there are risks, but the benefits outweigh the risks. This is not money making for the pharmaceutical companies, rather it is to keep the world's population free of potentially deadly and disfiguring dieases.

I had an instructor in the fall who had polio as a child, yes, she was in her 60's, but the point is that she had it and it caused her terrible pain and disfigurement to this day. She is in pain on a daily basis, must wear braces on her legs (one leg is shorter than the other), she can only walk short distances, other than that she mobilizes a wheelchair.

As others have said, your child will most likely need these immunizations to enter school. Whether it be elementary, junior high, high school, or university, schools will not admit someone without immunizations because they pose a potential risk to the population.

Please, for the sake, health, and life of your child, have him immunized.