I was afraid to vaccinate my baby when she turned two months old. I'd heard rumours about vaccinations being bad for their developing brains to the point of mentally impairing them. I guess that's one of a parent's worst fears, since the fear is made manifest in the latest trend of behavior. More and more parents are refusing vaccinations for their children.
Since so many people were joining the anti-vaccination bandwagon, I assumed there must be some validity behind their concerns.
Turns out, there's not. Or at least the chances are HIGHLY unlikely. Multiple studies (at least 20 official) performed in multiple countries have all come to the same conclusion. In sample groups, vaccinations didn't affect the percentage of autistic children later diagnosed, and vaccinations are only improving in efficacy. There IS factually a chance children can have adverse reactions to their vaccinations, like an allergy, yet even the chance of that is extremely rare and typically treatable.
I think parents who choose not to vaccinate are approaching this subject from a completely irrational angle, motivated by the latest fear mongering or distrust of the government. When vaccinations were introduced they were considered a miracle because they swiftly eliminated horrible and deadly diseases that ran previously unchecked:
For the first time, polio no longer crippled and killed so many children.
Hepatitis A and B no longer ruined children's livers and/or killed them.
Diphtheria no longer caused asphyxiation and/or heart failure.
Tetanus (lock jaw) no longer caused so many little children to writhe in muscle spasms until they died.
Pertussis (whooping cough) no longer killed so many infants from lack of oxygen due to very painful coughing, and pneumococcal pneumonia no longer infected their blood and brains or killed them from acute respiratory infections.
Hib no longer left so many children mentally retarded, deaf, or dead.
The rotavirus no longer killed so many infants from dehydration due to extreme diarrhea and vomiting.
A reduction of measles resulted in less cases of encephalitis (brain inflammation causing vomiting, convulsions, coma, and death).
Mumps no longer caused so many cases of deafness and brain inflammation.
Rubella no longer infected so many pregnant women and caused fetal birth defects or fetal death.
Influenza (which is still the eigth leading cause of death in America) no longer drastically worsened other conditions like pneumonia. It is prevented by yearly flu shots.
These are the worst-case scenarios for these diseases, but they are real. Much of the world's children still, ironically, become mentally impaired, and suffer and die regularly from lack of vaccinations. We don't recognize these diseases in the United States because we almost never see them occur. Why don't we see them? Because most of us are vaccinated. If we continue down this ignorant path of refusing to vaccinate based on unfounded assumptions, these diseases WILL creep back with a vengeance. They are NOT irradicated permanently. For those of you who choose not to vaccinate: YOUR children are protected by those of us who do.
We pack our kids in the car and drive them everywhere, even though car accidents are one of the leading causes of death for ANYONE. We'll risk their safety so we can get somewhere on time, but we shudder at the thought of having to deal with a mentally challenged child. Even if vaccinations really potentially caused autism, I would still choose that possibility over maybe watching my sweet baby die a gruesome, painful death.
Vaccinate your freakin kids.
