Chose to Vaccinate After Doing My Research

[MrsMiggins]

I have just been having a read of the non-vaxx support thread.

I greatly respect your need to have a thread dedicated to non-vaxx support, so I have chosen to start a new thread to say my 2c worth.

Now I want to point out that I am a very open-minded person & I will never intentionally offend anyone. All my comments/questions are posed merely out of curiosity & for the sake of discussion. Any replies posted to this thread should bear that in mind. Opinions & points of view are greatly valued & appreciated :yes: - nastiness is not:no: !

After reading the non-vaxx thread, I have come away feeling that non-vaxxers are of the opinion that the majority of vaxxers are vaccinating their children based on either a)succumbing to scare tactics; or b) out of lack of education about the topic.

I have to say that I thoroughly educated myself prior to having my child vaccinated & I am now a stronger believer than ever that it is the right thing to do.

My reasons for choosing to vaccinate include (but are in no way limited to);


the fact that vaccinatable diseases have dropped dramatically since the introduction of across-the-board immunisations & in many cases, serious diseases have been eradicated altogether
I strongly believe that the risks of the actual disease far outweigh the risks associated with any vaccine
the risk of contracting a disease my child/ren are vaccinated against is very small
I was vaccinated as a baby & as an older person & I can tell you now which I prefer!!


Furthermore, I do not believe that pharmaceutical companies have such a stronghold over the medical world that would create a world-wide conspiracy regarding the pointlessness of immunisations.

I could, but will NOT post links from websites promoting my point of view & stating results of studies etc as you all know as well as I do anything can be "proven" with quotes from the internet!

I would just like to state my point of view as an advocate of immunisations.

[mysonroger]

good for you. well done. good luck with a 'no nastiness' plan. LOL. pm me some of those links if you have a moment.

[reAllytee]

Well said :yelclap:

My thing is that there are a lot who choose scare tactics from the other side who dont vax just as much as pro-vax do as i have been to a few gatherings of the likes because my mum has been asked as a survivor yet she gets shot down as though she is lying .... Yeah because she likes to lie about contracting polio cause its so "cool" :cool:

I believe everybody has the right to choose what is right for their children & i do hope this stays civil also. :D

[xkwzit]

I was undecided about vaxxing before DD1. I researched before she arrived and not only is she and DD2 fully vaxxed (apart from that newborn hep b - which is a bit of a crock) they both have extra vaccinations above what was scheduled. Interestingly, all of the extras that we had done are now being provided free by the government.

I object to ppl insinuating that I did not look into it or gave into doc's scare tactics. I did my research, I weighed the odds and I decided to vaccinate.

I don't believe that non-vaxxers are ignorant either. I know that many of them have also done some work to convince them of their position. Your decision depends on your interpretation of the risk.

Cheers

[MrsMiggins]

Spot-on as ususal, xkwzit!:thumbsup:

[MrsMiggins]

I just thought of something I should add.

I can't honestly say that I was undecided about whether or not to vaccinate my kids. I have always been a strong believer that it is the right thing to do. It's just that when the time came for me to have babies, I wanted to be SURE that I was doing the right thing (at least the right thing for us), hence the research.

[Tea Lady]

I'm curious as to how people go about researching. Where did you start and what did you read? How do you choose what to read when there is (I assume) alot of info from both "sides" out there?

I will admit I didn't do any research personally, but I have close family members and friends who know alot about vaccines, diseases etc and I trusted their very well educated opinions (I hope that's not cheating!!). It actually didn't cross my mind to research it (I also haven't done any research on many other decisions I've made in my life - I don't have time to research everything :eek: ) so I'd like to know how other people went about it.

In hindsight I think it was probably over cautious to give DD her HepB one at birth, and I doubt any subsequent children will have it, but otherwise I'm very glad that she has had her others (and especially at no cost to me :D ).

I really feel for people who live in countries where the risk of contracting preventable diseases is high, but they don't have the money or the opportunity to have their kids vaccinated. It makes me realise that we're incredibly lucky to have the luxury of choice.

[MrsMiggins]

I really feel for people who live in countries where the risk of contracting preventable diseases is high, but they don't have the money or the opportunity to have their kids vaccinated. It makes me realise that we're incredibly lucky to have the luxury of choice.

I really, really agree with you on this point. I have to say, this also influenced my decision to have my kids immunised.

I did a bit of research at the library & also contacted people who are both pro- & anti-immunisation (I asked a Dr to give me some contact info & also got some from the community health section at the hospital).

It is admittedly, difficult to research such a controversial issue. I guess you have to judge for yourself whether you deem something to be accurate or sensationalised.

Another good research tip is to read articles & studies that seem to have a good balanced argument for & against, rather than just say, an article pro-immunisation or anti-immunisation.

I admit, I don't research everything either, but in this case I wanted to know what it was that made people decide not to immunise their children & to see if it held any validity for me.

[reAllytee]

I
I will admit I didn't do any research personally, but I have close family members and friends who know alot about vaccines, diseases etc and I trusted their very well educated opinions (I hope that's not cheating!!). It actually didn't cross my mind to research it (I also haven't done any research on many other decisions I've made in my life - I don't have time to research everything :eek: ) so I'd like to know how other people went about it.


Thats not cheating at all !
The fact i have been around my mum & her friends with health professionals & the likes for years now is my research so to speak. My mum is part of the Post Polio Network .... gees am i allowed to say that im not trying to get members as well errr yeah you have to have had polio sorry if im wrong :o anyways i have been to gatherings of all sorts & seen both sides maybe my "research" is a little biased as i have a lot of those survivors & the likes telling me what happened to them etc but i have also looked on the net for the negatives. People claim that the drug companies are behind a lot of the pro-vax movement which im sure to some degree is true but then not all doctors or the likes can be bought nor can the fact a lot of these vaccines have helped eradicate terrible diseases or at least bring them under control. Im not sure what the anti-vax movement has behind them or what they hope to bring & dont get me wrong here people there are some very valid reasons etc out there but sometimes the scare tactics used by others really get me angry.
Anyways thats enough from me before i talk everyones ears off :ecomcity:

[WeThree]

The reason my oldest son is fully vaxed is that i felt that the benefits outweighed the risks.
I too find it insulting when either vaxers or non vaxers take this patronising view that those on the other side of the fence dont have any idea about what they are doing, it just creates yet another unnecessary divide between parents.

[CarolineF]

Fiona T - hear, hear!

I said exactly the same thing in a previous thread.

I do not understand why this has to be such an emotive subject. If people are willing to stand by their convictions, but berate others that did not reach the same conclusion as them, they should be willing to explain and justify how they reached their decision. That way each side of the debate gets an opportunity to learn and understand fully why people of differing views....have those differing views.:thumbsup:

Debate and discussion is a 2 way street, not a "this is my view and I'm not interested in yours". That is plain rude!:shame:

[Tea Lady]

Thanks for explaining Fiona! :)

[annsam]

Its great you have done this research and come to your own decisions. I personally feel we should all be supported in making informed decisions. I am a non-vaxer after doing research myself but Im very open to information from all sides (otherwise it wouldn't be research if it was only one sided right?:thumbsup: ).

Do you have any links that you found useful in making your decisions? If so, Id love to see them if you could PM them to me. Its still something Im not 100% convinced on so would like to read more if there was anything you found that substantially helped sway your decision.:)

Best wishes

[shed]

I am neither option as yet, but bubby won't be getting the hep B at birth for a start, and then we will take it from there for each one

[Angelmist♥]

I also chose to vaccinate after research!I do find it insulting that people assume (because I vaccinate) that I have a "follow the herd" mentality.I have found some good links on vaccination if anyone's interested.

I do believe my research was "helped" by knowing a young boy I grew up with, who ended up with brain damage after a bout with Rubella, knowing of a 3 year old girl who died here 2 years ago from Meningococcal C and stories from my mother and grandmother about people they knew who had died or been seriously affected by the vaccinatable (sorry is that a word?) diseases.

Thankyou so much MrsMiggins for starting this thread!

I would also just like to say that I fully agree with CarolineF! Debates can be great, just leave your emotions at the door IYKWIM.

[Tea Lady]

I'd be interested in your links nara :)

[bigglet]

Slightly off the topic (kinda) but thought I'd put my 2c worth :p

A few of my friends including myself have not been fortunate to have contracted chicken pox during our childhood years and we used to joke about that (how we missed the pox parties etc!). However a few years ago one of my closest friends caught chicken pox and he would say it was the most miserable months he has ever had. Not only was it painful, sore and itchy but it obviously had a greater impact on him as an adult and he had a few other problems directly resulting from chickenpox (ie. ongoing coughing, sickness etc which is suspected due to hie immune system being low). It was one of his lowest points in life and he said to us that had he been told of a vaccination that could have prevented this he would have taken it in a heartbeat. (this was a few years ago when the chicken pox vaccine wasn't as promoted as it is today).

I liken this to the flu shot (in a way). A few years ago I was guaranteed to catch the flu every winter and I suffered. It would last for months - the coughing, the fever, the sickness and the aches and pains accompanying it would make me very depressed. I remember once I couldn't even move my neck because of the pain and whenever I swallowed my throat hurt. Since then I vowed to get the flu shot yearly (even though it's not guaranteed to prevent the flu just minimises the probability) and I have to say (touchwood) I haven't been as sick as when I caught the virus.

My personal opinion is that if we can prevent a disease and we can prevent the suffering because of it (especially a child) then I'm all for it. I've seen young children go through whooping cough, measles and chicken pox and they are so miserable and unhappy. It's a bit like having airbags in a car - it may not totally prevent the accident occuring but it may help prevent the suffering and contracting the disease altogether.

Just my 2c worth.......

[shed]

The chicken pox vaccine doesn't last forever.

So if your kids have it it puts off the susceptibility until they're older when it IS more dangerous.

Catching it as a kid IS awful, spotty whingey little blighters but then you have natural immunity forever. Catching it as an adult is worse, as your friend will tell you.

You can get shingles if you have had chicken pox, which is just awful. My DP just had it about two months ago, poor thing. But I have natural immunity to chicken pox thanks to getting it as a kid, so me and my baby were safe from his germs.

So there's pros and cons for each side really.

[MamaSage]

My personal opinion is that if we can prevent a disease and we can prevent the suffering because of it (especially a child) then I'm all for it.

I totally agree, but for me the unknown is too scary. If I could beleive that vaxxing was 100% safe and had no side effects I would not hesitate, but I feel like you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. I have the utmost of respect for people who research and then decide either way, but I am too wary of the unkown.