Vaccinations: Let's Get Right to the Point

I've been thinking about vaccinations a lot today. We had a double doctor appointment this afternoon, my four year old's annual physical, and my eighteen month old's regular check up. Both of them had shots, my oldest had four, and my youngest two. I then took two crying girls outside, where we called daddy for added sympathy.

I remember my first visit to a pediatrician's office as a new mother, and holding my adorable little baby as she received her first round of shots. I cried with her, and the whole way home felt like the world's meanest mother, despite repeating to myself over and over again that this would keep her safe, that it had to be done.

Then imagine the phone call from a friend later that afternoon, when this well-meaning friend informed me that I had just tripled my baby's chances of having autism.

Autism? Really?

This theory is based on a study done in 1998, the lead author of which was Dr. Andrew Wakefield. The medical journal that published the paper, The Lancet, recently issued a retraction. A news article about this retraction can be found at CNN.com

Despite this retraction, there are now hundreds of articles online linking autism and vaccines, and that dwell exclusively on the evils and dangers of vaccines.

If one tries to research the causes of autism, however, there are no simple answers. There are theories that it's genetic, that it's linked to food allergies, that it could be caused by the many hazards of a modern society, that it's caused by too much and too early television viewing. One article on the link to television viewing that I found interesting is found at www.nber.org The thing I like about this article is while it illustrates the relation of autism and TV viewing, it does not try to shift the blame solely to television while ignoring other contributing factors.

If you are considering whether or not to vaccinate, it's important to look at the different articles that bash vaccines with a critical eye. Many will take something like autism, isolate all other contributing factors, and focus solely on vaccinations. One such article looks at autism among the Amish, and can be found at www.whale.to As this is a continuing series, I am interested to see if the author, Dan Olmsted, will look at other factors in the Amish community that may contribute to the scarcity of autism, factors like lack of television, eating an all-organic diet, less exposure to environmental pollutants, and a limited genetic pool. As it stands, the article, especially Part 2, leans heavily on vaccines.

The other side of the vaccination argument is fairly represented at www.vaccinateyoutbaby.org, and contains links to other articles and sites. It is important to note that as more and more people are opting not to vaccinate, outbreaks of infectious diseases such as the measles are becoming more common. Not everyone can get vaccinated. Very young children, children on steroids for asthma, HIV patients, and people undergoing chemo can't receive vaccinations. The only way they can be protected is by our society as a whole preventing breakouts. When a large percentage of a population is vaccinated, it prevents how far and how fast diseases can spread through what's called "herd immunity". As more people decide not to vaccinate, that immunity weakens, putting the most vulnerable citizens at the most risk. Statics and numbers do little to make this threat real to people, there is a page on the Vaccinate Your Baby Website that shares personal stories of people who have died from preventable diseases. They can be found at www.vaccinateyourbaby.org/why/victims.cfm

Ultimately, this is a choice you must make. I hope the above links will aid you as you research the pros and cons of vaccination. Personally, I think the benefits outweigh the risks, and while it is scary and hard to imagine a foreign substance being injected into your sweet baby, it is equally scary and hard to imagine that midnight cough that leads to the ER that leads to hospitalization and potential fatal consequences. Both sides of this debate play up the fear factor, trying to persuade others to join their side out of sheer terror. Your job as a mother isn't to join sides, it's to care for the amazing life that has been entrusted to you, and it's up to you to decide how you want to do that.