vaccines

This article really throws a monkey wrench into the whole vaccine debate. I am so TORN on this whole issue. On one hand, I really applaud those who DO vaccine their children for without them, the unvaccinated couldn't enjoy their lack of vaccination - measles, mumps, rubella, polio among others would be rampant again. Thanks to vaccines over the years, many diseases have been wiped out. Everytime a friend of mine tells me they are delaying their vaccines or not doing them at all, my mind always goes back to those that DO vaccine. Thank you. Without many of you following the guidelines, the rest would have to fight the diseases rather than the vaccine industry. On the other hand, what if there is something to the whole autism thing?

What have I done in regards to vaccines? Well, we did skip hepatitis B. My reasoning was simple. I have been vaccinated against hepatitis B as it was required in pharmacy school. I have had titers drawn to make sure I am still immune, so I knew at delivery that L didn't have a chance of contracting the disease unless he were to get it in the hospital (the first argument given to me by a NICU nurse). True... keep in mind though that L's location was a heavily guarded NICU. Everyone in contact directly with L has been vaccinated as well as it is required by the hospital for staff to be vaccinated against hepatitis B. I felt fairly safe that L was not going to suddenly pop up and be on the street injecting himself with a syringe, having unsafe sex, etc... I opted out of it at this time. I know that he will receive them later, and it will be fine. He's not in a daycare setting. I feel confident of my decision.

So, he's received the remainder at 2 months. His reaction? A lot of sleep. At 4 months, I skipped DTaP to see if there was a difference in reaction. He had none. We're going to go next month for DTaP to catch up.

My worst fear is the return of these diseases. The reason is that many times the titers for vaccines decline over time. Case in point when I was 14 years old I contracted mumps. Go figure... and I WAS vaccinated.