Educate Yourself During National Vaccination Awareness Month
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In the land of parental debates, the issue of childhood vaccinations is as polarizing as “breast or bottle,” and “co-sleeping or crib.”
August, National Vaccine Awareness Month, is a good time to become educated about the facts surrounding the decision of whether or not to immunize your children.
For some parents, religious and philosophical issues make the question a “no-brainer.” For the rest of us, who might be struggling to make the correct choice and do what we feel is right for our children, making an informed, unbiased decision is the key.
That’s where National Vaccination Awareness Month comes in: the facts are out there, readily available, to help us choose. It’s not an “all-or-nothing” decision, either. In most states where vaccinations are not mandatory, parents can “cherry pick” which shots they want their children to receive, or can withhold vaccinations until after the age of 2, when a child’s immune system has had a chance to become fully developed.
Before the age of 18 months, if you follow CDC recommendations, your children can receive more than 20 shots. That number may increase to more than 75 before children begin kindergarten, according to some accounts.
For me, “because the doctors say so,” is just not a good enough reason to get my child vaccinated. And according to this article published on MSNBC.com, many parents feel as I do. The article spotlights one town in Oregon with a 30 percent exception rate for vaccinations for children entering kindergarten. Oregon is one of 21 states that permit exemption based on “personal belief,” defining religion as “any system of beliefs, practices or ethical values.”
These broad criteria permitting exemptions from vaccinations has created unprotected pockets in communities across the country, pockets that bring increased risks of childhood diseases to society as a whole.
It’s clear that vaccinations have nearly eradicated horrible diseases such as small pox, measles, mumps, diphtheria, pertussis and polio. Experts say some parents are getting more lax on vaccinations because the consequences of these diseases no longer reside in our conscious memory, but are mere tales of long ago.
The CDC recently reported that, in the first seven months of 2008, record numbers of measles cases have been diagnosed, with 131 cases v. last year’s 42. Many of these cases involved children whose parents refused to have their children immunized.
While it would be nice if the decision to immunize or not was one—like breastfeeding or co-sleeping—that affected only the parents and children, experts fear that non-immunized children affect “herd immunity,” or the ability of a community to ward off the spread of disease, protecting those for which a vaccine doesn’t work or wears off.
Does it make me a selfish parent to be concerned exclusively about my own child’s well-being? I’m still skeptical as to the reliability and safety of many vaccines, which puts me back at square one—doing more research before we (my husband and I) make our choice. If this post sounds like I’m wavering like a politician… well, I am!
In honor of National Vaccine Awareness Month, I’ve compiled what I hope is a balanced list of links to articles regarding childhood vaccinations to help you in your own search for more information and the eventual right decision for you and your own children.
The article that sparked this post
Updated list of recommended vaccinations
Lissa says...
I’m pro-vaccination probably because I work for Public Health and I can’t stress enough the importance of getting your child vaccinated. I’m not forcing you or any other parent to do so but we’ve had instances where a certain cluster of children get sick from vaccine preventable diseases because their parents didn’t think it was necessary. I’m sure it’s already obvious that my child is up to date with his shots. For a country that has vaccines readily available, I think it’s a shame that some people don’t take advantage of it. I’ve experienced measles and mumps as a child and I wouldn’t want my child to go through that so getting a prick in the arm every couple of months is probably a better option for me than a couple of weeks being out sick to take care of my child.
mays5 says...
I have had all 3 of my children vaccinated according to schedule. I do, however, think it is important that parents do their own research and decide what is best for their family. To me, the advantages and protections offered by the vaccines outweighed the potential of getting autism or actually contracting one of the diseases. I know some parents who have decided to spread the vaccines out…the vaccine schedule is pretty aggressive, I agree. There is actually a really good read about vaccines and their possible link to autism at http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/are-autism-and-vaccines-linked. Multiple experts from both sides debate the issue, and there is a guy named Kevin Leitch who is really taking on the groups who believe autism and vaccines are linked. A really informative read!