Vaccines are becoming a heated topic here in the past few years. To Vaccinate or not to is the question, and the answer is completely up to you.
I choose to vaccinate my children. I was vaccinated so was my husband we survived. LOL. No major problems form them. Maybe a sore spot where the needle went in or arm or our butt. It keeps me with peace of mind knoqing that if they come in contact with someone who has what ever diease that they are getting all the vaccines for that they will be protected. Yes there are risks with vaccines. But there are risks with everything in life.
The sore spots and the mild fever are easy to take care of with a little baby tylonol. And they give you an info sheet with info you need about the shot and the risks and side affects. I myself keep the info sheets. They are handy little things to have aroud come next time shots are due when you know just as much about the shot as the person giving it.
But again wheither you vaccinate or not is up to you this is just a look in to our minds at our reasoning behind our decisions. feel free to leave comments. But no negativity please. We put though and love in to this blog so don't discourage us :)
Sarah's Story
I have been sitting at my laptop for days now, wondering how to approach the topic of vaccines. I want to be able to put together an all in one review over why an increasing amount of parents, myself included, feel the need to research these jabs that are supposed to protect us. When it comes to me, my research as of now is solely from the internet (currently awaiting some books that I have ordered and am really excited to read), but even that is enough to make me think twice, and has led me to further feel justified in choosing not to vaccinate my son, or any other children I may have. So to put this all on the table, I do not have a medical background, I have only been doing my research for about 4-6 months, and it has been done online. Regardless of where it was done, you need to know that I don't just look on "biased" anti-vaccine sites, I look at it from both point of views, even on the CDC website. Like everything I write about, I do it because I believe that all parents should make an informed decision about ANYTHING that relates to their children. Here is my first attempt to take a stab at the reasons why I won't vaccinate and why my kids will never be vaccinated. It all started when I was pregnant...
One of the shocking things I stumbled upon while doing all my research while pregnant was that in the newborn procedures, they give a baby a Hepatitis B vaccine (as well as a Vitamin K injection and the eye ointment which I also denied for my son). Really? I wondered why they would need to give my newborn a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease, or something spread by sharing needles. Not only do I not have Hepatitis B, but I was pretty sure that my son would not be having sex or using dirty needles this early in life. Not to mention that by the time he *should* be sexually active, the vaccine would no longer be in effect since it is only good for about 10-15 years. So here is where I began my research, and I was just thrown back with what I saw. It turns out that not only is the Hep. B vaccine utterly pointless in a newborn (unless of course the mother has it, and even then I am still not sure), but there were some serious side effects that are rarely ever mentioned, unless you straight up ask about them. But why would you ask when you are told they are safe by someone you trust? I was finding out about parents whose babies had had adverse side effects to the vaccine, some so serious that they were fatal. These are just the COMMON reactions to the Hep. B vaccine that are usually found:
Diarrhea; dizziness; fatigue; general feeling of discomfort; headache; irritability; loss of appetite; mild fever or sore throat; nausea; pain, swelling, or redness at the injection site; runny nose; tiredness; weakness.
Severe allergic reactions: rash, hives, difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest, swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue.
I don't know about you, but that's a lot of bad things that could happen to a newborn who, in my opinion, doesn't even need to have the vaccine in the first place. Here is a link with a more in depth look at the side effects. http://www.drugs.com/sfx/hepatitis-b-vaccine-side-effects.html#ixzz13a5YejAP
Here is a link about a newborn who died from adverse side effects from the Hep. B vaccine. I will warn you the pictures may very well make you nauseous and break your heart. http://iansvoice.org/default.aspx
To me, it's no wonder why people always talk about their newborns crying all the time and feeling like they were going crazy. I would probably cry for hours too if I had any of these symptoms after just being born. Maybe this is just coincidence, but my son did not cry at all while in the hospital (although we could hear several other newborns crying for hours at a time) and to this day he is still hardly ever fussy (unless I don't get the boob to him quick enough, he is bored, or tired) and never cries. He is happy about 97% of the time. I always just thought I was lucky to get this for my first child!
After finding out all this, it just put a sour taste in my mouth. It just seemed like it was the tip of the iceberg to me, and I wanted to learn more. I wanted to read more about families who chose not to vaccinate so I did a quick search for "why I don't vaccinate" and found others like me. However, they were not only not getting the newborn vaccines, but refusing all of them. "Why?" I wondered, "I thought vaccines were supposed to be the good guys. But I most definitely do not think that anymore. I'm getting ahead of myself, so let me try to give you a recap of all the reasons why I will not vaccinate my child, or myself.
Decline Of Diseases--
We've all hear it before, vaccines saved the world from diseases. Sure, after vaccines were introduced the number of people with the disease went down, but if you look at the charts and medical studies, the numbers were already going down by a big margin, mostly due to better hygiene, sanitation, better nutrition, and better living conditions. "Up to 90% of the total decline in the death rate of children from 1860-1965 because of whooping cough, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and measles occurred before the introduction of immunizations and antibiotics," Dr Archie Kalokerinos, MD. Here are different websites showing graphical charts with the disease rates and when the vaccine was introduced;
http://genesgreenbook.com/content/proof-vaccines-didnt-save-us
http://www.vaclib.org/sites/debate/web1.html
http://childhealthsafety.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/us-deaths-1900-1965.gif
http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/graphs/#MortUK_USA_Aus
Vaccine Ingredients--
My husband and I live a pretty natural lifestyle when it comes to what we eat and what we put into our bodies. As stated in previous blogs, everything that is in our house that's edible is organic, and we only go out to eat very seldom. And when we do it's usually for sushi, we NEVER eat fast food. When it comes to ingredients, the less the better: nothing with artificial or natural flavors or anything like that. No corn syrup, no fructose, no baking soda (or powder) nothing synthetic at all. We don't eat meat (besides the occasional fish) and we don't eat dairy (much to my dismay). The vast majority of our diet is fresh fruits, veggies, and nuts. We are pretty adamant about knowing what we put into our bodies; which is another HUGE reason why we are against vaccinations (although my husband is in the military so he has to get his shots). How many people actually know what is in a vaccine? I mean let's face it, most people don't even check their food labels, so why would they check the label on something they have been told, by professionals, is safe? You would be shocked to find out what is being injected into our infants, our children, and us. Here is just a few of the ingredients in the vaccines;
Aluminum-directly linked to Alzheimer’s Disease and suspected in Macrophagic Myofasciitis & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
*FORMALDEHYDE-used as “a preservative & disinfectant”, causes proteins to irreversibly bind to your DNA, known to cause cancer, chronic bronchitis, eye irritation when exposed to the body’s immune system. In case you didn’t know, formaldehyde is used for embalming the dead.
*Human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue, so I wonder how Catholics and people who oppose abortion would react if they found this out) Here is an article about Catholics and the human diploid cell usage http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/medical_ethics/me0044.html
*Monosodium glutamate (MSG)-now known to cause cancer in humans, also linked to obesity
*Neomycin-& POLYMIXIN – antibiotics associated with Kidney Failure, hazardous to a fetus. Both are noted for serious side effects, predominantly kidney failure. It is warned both these antibiotics not be used by pregnant women. Neomycin is in the FDA pregnancy category D. This means that it is known to be harmful to an unborn baby.
*Thimerosal (mercury)-a neurotoxin linked to psychological, neurological & immunological problems. Nervous system damage, kidney disease, birth defects, dental problems, mood swings, mental changes, hallucinations, memory loss, nerve damage and inability to concentrate can occur. Symptoms also include tremors, loss of dermal sensitivity, slurred speech and, in rare cases, even death and paralysis.
*VERO cells, a continuous line of monkey kidney cells- foreign proteins can trigger numerous allergic and inflammatory reactions and can produce anaphylactic shock in susceptible infants.
These aren't the ingredients that are in every vaccine, but just some of the ingredients in some of the vaccines. Here are 3 links with the ingredients to every vaccine. One being from the CDC (notice how they sugar coat what the human diploid cells are)
http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf
http://vaccineresistancemovement.org/?p=979
Once you actually take the time to look at the ingredients of what is being put into our bodies, you will probably feel a little shocked. They may tell you that it's safe, but come on. Heavy metals, toxins, carcinogens, and chemicals? Also, let’s not forget the aborted fetus cells and monkey kidney. That just doesn't scream safe to me. Sounds more like contaminates than ingredients. Maybe you've heard the whole argument that the levels of these ingredients are so low that they will not harm anyone, but A.) that is just the case in a SINGLE vaccine, and hardly anyone ever gets just one vaccine at a time (especially our fragile babies) and B.) I don't care "how low of a dose" it is, there is no way in HELL I am putting formaldehyde, mercury, or any of that crap in my baby or me (even though I was fully vaccinated as a child, I no longer get ANY of them)
Vaccine Safety--
After checking out the ingredients, you are probably thinking that since these things are being used, then they are safe. When it comes to the word "safe" and vaccines, you would have to stretch that word pretty far to make it so; unless you can include the definition of safe to include death, brain damage, and other numerous diseases. These are KNOWN neurotoxins that are in these vaccines! So it is hard for me to see why people can turn a blind eye to this. Not to beat a dead horse, but if people were so concerned with immunity, I think more people would breastfeed their children, which is proven to be a natural immunization. Here are two links, the first showing how breast milk helps fight against cancer, Polio, HIB, Meningitis, complications from Measles, Rotavirus/Diarrhea, Cholera, Pneumonia, and even SIDS and the second one stating that breastfeeding is more effective in protecting against Rotavirus than vaccines.
http://www.vaccineriskawareness.com/Disease-Killing-Properties-Of-Breast-Milk
http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/breastfeeding-protects-against.html).
The CDC says that not only are vaccines safe, but they are VERY safe. Um, maybe this is just me (remember that no, I have no medical background, just a very, VERY concerned parent) but do ANY of those ingredients sound safe to anyone? Something about these just makes my Mommy-Radar go haywire. But of course, our doctors tell us they are safe, and that they wouldn't vaccinate their kids or themselves if they didn't believe so. Sounds convincing enough for most parents, but if you look back just a few decades ago, doctors used to say that there was no connection from cigarettes to lung cancer, because there was no scientific test to be proven as evidence, regardless of the amount of people who had got "smokers cough" only after they started to smoke. But there are just some things you just know from pure observation. For example, you know that if you place your hand on a hot stovetop that it's going to hurt like hell, but yet you don't need a scientific test to prove it because it's common sense. Just like having a bunch of toxins pumped into your bloodstream is bound to have some ill effects. We already know that the CDC admits that Vaccines can cause adverse reactions. The US pays out millions of dollars (could be more, I don't know the actual amount) to families annually through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. And recently an article came out about the miscarriages of over 3,000 women due to the H1N1 vaccine. I also refused that while pregnant, and you would have thought by the look on the nurses face that I was dangling my unborn child over a bed of poisonous snakes. Here is the article
"Possibly over Three Thousand Miscarriages: CDC Still Lying about H1N1 Vaccine Safety" |
http://www.naturalnews.com/030190_vaccines_miscarriage.html
Vaccine side effects--
This is where it starts to really creep me out. As stated above, a lot of the ingredients are known neurotoxins, but yet the CDC keeps telling us that no serious side effects happen, and if they do it is so rare that it should be of no concern the parents. These side effects that should be of "no concern" to you include fever, redness or swelling and possible tenderness and soreness at the pace where the injection was given, poor appetite, tiredness, fussiness and vomiting, high fever, seizures, coma, non-stop crying or possible brain damage. So basically it will be considered "normal" if your child is one of the unlucky ones that suffer the more extreme reactions and, God forbid, dies as a result. So here is what I don't understand, I KNOW that there hasn't been a proven link to vaccines and Autism, but it hasn't been disproven either, so is it really too far-fetched to think it's possible knowing what can happen from these vaccines?. If they are saying that it's possible to get brain damage, why not Autism? I cannot tell you that vaccines cause autism, but you cannot deny that calling SO many cases a "coincidence with no relation" where a perfectly healthy child, showing no signs of any neurological disorder or any other handicap, who develops such said things only AFTER receiving round after round these vaccines. It just doesn't add up to me. Not only are people associating Autism to vaccines, but also SIDS, and Shaken Baby Syndrome. I'm not going to tell you that vaccines cause these things, but it makes sense to me (including other factors as well). No, not every case of "shaken baby syndrome" is false, but there is reason to believe that some people have gone to jail without reason, and been innocent. Like Alan Yurko who was sentence life in prison for being accused of shaking his son to death in 1998, but was later released in 2004 after a toxicologist concluded that the vaccines were the cause of his death, not Alan. Here is the documentary Vaccine Nation that is about Alan's story, and it's also just a great documentary about vaccines.
Pt. 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TdSp3hyuHk
Pt. 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_PglqqkUUQ&NR=1
Pt. 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-haoM4i0ss&feature=related
Pt. 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDKsdIByLnQ&feature=related
Pt. 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQyzJGSBNnw&feature=related
Pt. 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqwRa4K1M0Y&feature=related
Pt. 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj_JOtAY5Wo&feature=related
Pt. 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7VwchwVno4&feature=related
Pt. 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_1Vb5uO3yU&feature=related
Pt. 10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78AoEXqsFY8&feature=related
And here is a documentary called Global Vaccine Agenda-Mercury and Autism. It's not the most entertaining thing ever, but I found it fascinating. It goes more in depth about the levels of mercury in the vaccines and why it could be causing Autism.
Pt. 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7_xfUV4kSo&feature=PlayList&p=E8DCB206195707A6&index=8
Pt. 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk959RCwPtM&feature=related
Pt. 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqIIVIreUI0&feature=related
Pt 4.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xudGcIgoN84&feature=related
Pt. 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iG6iJRxyIQ&feature=related
Pt. 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-qNEBqXLsY&feature=related
Pt. 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOG7nzJ6ro8&feature=related
Pt. 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHDbH6Diz14&feature=related
Pt. 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmoEH87WZLo&feature=related
Pt. 10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxbyEF-lGT8&feature=related
Each of these are about an hour to an hour and a half long, but WELL worth the time to watch. I find it funny that according to the CDC and the link between SIDS and vaccines: "This belief came about because a moderate proportion of children who die of SIDS have recently been vaccinated with DTaP; and on the surface, this seems to point toward a causal connection. But this logic is faulty; you might as well say that eating bread causes car crashes, since most drivers who crash their cars had probably eaten bread within the past 24 hours." Really now? Well, although I do not have a college degree yet, I am pretty sure that unless that piece of bread was laced with KNOWN toxins and chemicals that can potentially affect the way we function, then I find the CDC’s statement extremely outlandish and highly ridiculous. But I am not here to make opinions for everyone, so here are some studies that have been done about SIDS and Shaken Baby Syndrome. One study was done by monitoring a babies breathing while sleeping and here is a sum of what it found: "Our computer printouts of babies' breathing showed non-stop hour by hour recording of the babies' breathing whenever the child was in the cot (bed). Again, the events are called apneas (pauses in breathing) and hypopneas (a stress-induced shallow, low volume breathing pattern). The graphs all showed increased stress patterns after vaccinations. For instance, after a baby was given his third triple antigen (DPT - diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) the record of breathing changed and produced peaks in the graph, which indicated increased stress levels."
http://www.thinktwice.com/sids.htm
http://www.whale.to/vaccine/scheibner9.html
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/salud/esp_salud33d.htm
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/vaccine_sids.htm
Are vaccines necessary--
Well the good news is that it isn't mandatory for you to vaccinate. You can get an exemption and it varies state by state. When I took Alexander in for his two month check up and refused the vaccines all I had to do was sign a waiver and have a nurse witness it. Here is a site to help find out your state requirements;
http://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requirements.aspx
And when it comes to deciding if your child needs to be vaccinated, there are some things that may help you make up your mind. Some things to consider are: 1) What are your child's risk of becoming sick with the disease, 2) risk of complications from the disease, and 3) risk of death from the disease. Here is the most current CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report to check to see how common the disease is. Scroll to the bottom to view these numbers (the numbers are cumulative for the whole year, not just the week).
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5942.pdf
Some of these diseases are now considered very rare or treatable, so the need to vaccinate against them is highly questionable. And sure, you can say that the low rates of these diseases are because of the high vaccine rate, but keep in mind that not everyone is vaccinated. And I'm not just talking about the people who are choosing not to get them done either. Not only are vaccines constantly changing (due to evolving illnesses and the need to adjust ingredients), but they are also adding more and more as each year passes. Not to mention that vaccines do NOT last forever, the immunity gained wares off. So only about 2%-6% of adults are fully vaccinated and/or up to date on their shots, but yet we aren't seeing an outbreak of diseases and deaths. Also, keep in mind that vaccines are NOT 100% effective; you can still get the disease you have been vaccinated for.
I cannot tell you to not get your child vaccinated; that is just my personal choice. All I can do is advise you to make an INFORMED decision about EVERYTHING that involves your child's health and safety. Just remember that if you choose to vaccinate you do NOT have to follow the stated vaccine schedule. You can space them out so your child doesn't receive so many at once. Or you can choose not to vaccinate at all. But I do HIGHLY recommend you to research this topic for yourself, and until then you may choose to delay vaccinating until you feel a bit more comfortable with it. And don't say "Oh I'm not sure, so I will discuss this with my doctor/pediatrician" because you are guaranteed to walk out with a vaccinated baby. He will most likely tell you how if your child isn't vaccinated s/he will contract these diseases and suffer greatly, but fear not! If your child is healthy (and breastfed), the chances of them dying or even suffering majorly from the illness is quite slim. Even if your child does contract an illness, there are natural ways to treat them. Most children that die weren't treated properly, or had an underlying illness that magnified the illness on an already weak immune system. Like I stated earlier, I am just in the beginning of my journey. I probably should have waited until I had a bit more information to write about this, but I just was flabbergasted and felt the need to share. I am sure that later on I will write another blog with some more additions to this, but this is just my first jab at this topic which I tried to keep short =). I am just your average 21 year old first time mom just trying to do what I think is best for myself and my family. Please, I encourage you to do your own research as well and wait to vaccinate before you really know what is going on. You can vaccinate and unvaccinated child if you wish, but you cannot unvaccinate the vaccinated and the damage may already be done. I'm not saying that if you do vaccinate that your child will suffer from any of the disorders above. Just like with smoking, not everyone that smokes gets lung cancer and not everyone with lung cancer smokes. But you don't help your chances by allowing these toxins into your body, or your child's body. But if you DO decided to vaccinate your child, here are some suggestions for precautions I would make;
1.) Do NOT vaccinate your child if they are already ill. Being sick and then having all these toxins injected into you may too much for your child's system to handle.
2.) Do NOT give your child TYLENOL before the vaccination to "fight off the fever" Not only is the fever the body's way of fighting things off naturally, but also tylenol losers the glutathione levels in the body, which is necessary to help the body remove toxins (like the thermisol, live viruses and formaldehyde). If the body cannot rid itself of these toxins it cause cause some pretty devastating effects. (toxin overload is one of the many causes of Autism and is treated with glutathione)
3.) Do NOT give vaccinations if there is a history of autism in the family, or if there is a history of developmental delay. Some kids are born with mitochondrial dysfunction or immune system dysfunction and if you add vaccines in the mix of things, you often get autism.
4.) If your child has seizures, cries for long periods of time, or any other serious side effect after vaccinating, do NOT give them anymore. Vaccines can cause siezure disorders in children and the doctors will tell you that it's normal and that your child will usually grow out of them by the ages of 5 or 6 (ironically around the same age that they stop giving a bunch of vaccinations).
5.) Ask to get the MMR caving as three separate shots instead of them all at once, and space them out.
6.) IF you miss a vaccine or two, do NOT play "catch up" and give them all at once to get them up to date. Take your time and space them out.
7.) Help the body fight off the viruses naturally. Make sure they are well nourished, rested, and had lots of water (if old enough).
Last but not least, Educate before you vaccinate =)
Please feel free to add any additional information you may have in a comment below! Here is a long list of sites, including some other blogs from mom's like me (but way more knowledgable cause they have been researching longer) you can use to further your research;
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/pink-chapters.htm
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7018835240451107552&q=
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/G/cases&deaths.pdf
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6351515212287981735&hl=en
http://www.vaclib.org/
www.vaccinetruth.org
www.thedoctorwithin.com
www.nvic.org
www.medalerts.org
www.mercola.com
www.uninformedconsent.com
www.vacinfo.org
www.vaccineinfo.net
www.drtenpenny.com
www.tetrahedron.org
www.thinktwice.com
www.medicalveritas.com
www.vran.org
www.vaccinetruth.com
www.knowvaccines.com
www.vaproject.org
www.whale.to/vaccines.html
www.insidevaccines.com
www.childhoodshots.com
www.vaccineeducation.org
www.vaccinationdebate.com
www.safeminds.org
www.novaccine.com
www.garynull.com
www.vaccinesplus.com
www.doctoryourself.com
http://guggiedaly.blogspot.com/2010/05/way-to-ease-into-vaccine-topic.html
http://www.livestrong.com/article/27047-vaccine-side-effects-infants/
http://vaccineresistancemovement.org
http://vaccineriskawareness.com/
http://www.alternative-doctor.com/vaccination/16reasons.htm#vaccines%20arent%20safe
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/pages/the-danger-of-excessive-vaccination-during-brain-development.aspx
