I'm speechless at the ignorance

[Atropos]

But surely if we are all so community minded, everyone who CAN be vaccinated should be- for the good of the greater community- you know to protect those who can't be vaxed yet- such as babies?

And all I can say is thank god I didn't listen when they WERE recommending kids get the shot...

The recommendation was for children to receive a child's dose. This is no longer available. It was removed after some children suffered febrile convulsions which usually have no lasting effect on a child. It was something like 5-7 reactions in 1000 doses given to children under 5 years old. Not a massively high rate but it was still withdrawn, and is NOT on the current schedule for children. I'm not sure what your point is- are you saying we should go against medical advice and vaccinate with every available vaccine regardless of whether it is recommended or required???
I believe people should vaccinate to schedule. I believe it's for the good of the community. I don't believe it's needful to vaccinate for every possible thing???

[beebs]

Huh? Sorry beebs u lost me...

It sounded like you were saying we should vaccinate even when it isn't advised by the medical community - because we are all so "community minded".

Like atrops says - I vaccinated to scheduel because it is recommended by the medical community.

[BornToBe]

The current schedule seems to vaccinate for just about every thing. Heb B for newborns? What's that about? (Just repeating myself here but didn't get any bites with the last post...)

[beebs]

They might be looking at the bigger picture, hep b requires 3 shots to work effectively, maybe they are thinking if everyone is vaccinated from birth then they can eridicate the disease.

[Annabella]

Yes izy! That's how I feel!

Beebs, the point I was making is that some people are saying that non-vaxers are selfish and putting the whole community at risk by not vaxing, and I'm saying that by that logic, we should all really be vaccinating against the flu- anyone who can be- to reduce the spread to other members of the community. By that logic, it would be selfish not to.

The flu vax that WAS ok for kids, was found not to be ok, and that is a concern, and no doubt a reason why some choose not to vax their kids with newer vaccines. I think (and I am no expert, nor have I claimed to be) a similar thing happened with the rotavirus vaccine either here or o/seas.

Anyway the whole point I was trying to make from the beginning is that unvaxed kids (and their selfish, irresponsible, free-loading parents) are blamed too often for the outbreaks, when personally I believe more attention needs to be focused on adult boosters.

[beebs]

It seems we agree on two things;

I agree that adults need to be vacinated too and I also understand why people are nervous about the flu vax for children after what happened in perth.

Yes izy! That's how I feel!

Beebs, the point I was making is that some people are saying that non-vaxers are selfish and putting the whole community at risk by not vaxing, and I'm saying that by that logic, we should all really be vaccinating against the flu- anyone who can be- to reduce the spread to other members of the community. By that logic, it would be selfish not to.

The flu vax that WAS ok for kids, was found not to be ok, and that is a concern, and no doubt a reason why some choose not to vax their kids with newer vaccines. I think (and I am no expert, nor have I claimed to be) a similar thing happened with the rotavirus vaccine either here or o/seas.

Anyway the whole point I was trying to make from the beginning is that unvaxed kids (and their selfish, irresponsible, free-loading parents) are blamed too often for the outbreaks, when personally I believe more attention needs to be focused on adult boosters.

[delirium]

The current schedule seems to vaccinate for just about every thing. Heb B for newborns? What's that about? (Just repeating myself here but didn't get any bites with the last post...)

Of course a newborn won't be partaking in any activities (except if it's passed from mum) to expose themselves to hep B. But the premise of vaxxing is prevention. Hep B takes several months to be protected. Just as there is a small risk of a baby getting meningococcal or tetanus, so is hep b small. but we start the process of protection early to intervene soon enough before they become exposed. There is no point in the vaxx after exposure.

[share a book]

Of course a newborn won't be partaking in any activities (except if it's passed from mum) to expose themselves to hep B. But the premise of vaxxing is prevention. Hep B takes several months to be protected. Just as there is a small risk of a baby getting meningococcal or tetanus, so is hep b small. but we start the process of protection early to intervene soon enough before they become exposed. There is no point in the vaxx after exposure.

I guess people are asking why give it at birth instead of, say, 5 years old.

[Annabella]

I personally delay hep b, most kids in our community wouldn't be exposed to it for years, being that in first world countries it's usually spread through sexual contact or blood. I read about it recently that the reason they do it at birth is that *IF* a baby gets it, the outcome is much much worse long term, so protects against that. Also in some areas of the community a child will be exposed to it from an early age (from memory certain migrant populations etc), and the benefits of having it earlier because the risk of baby getting it is high ish. So they made it across the board that babies all get it in hospital. Also MAYBE it is effective for longer if you have it younger- not sure if I have that right or if I'm getting it mixed up. Either way, I think for us the risks of having it at a few hours old outweigh the benefits, but for other kids I can see why it's recommended.

[Elijahs Mum]

If we all agree ( and I'm assuming so does the majority of the medical community as the stats prove it) why has the government not put a programme in place for adult vaccination / boosters- the amount of posters/phamplet/press releases in the media and in every hospital and Dr surgery were pushing for childhood pertussis vaccination- not a word about adults , would it not be in the health systems best interest to push this?