Why would I let a doctor inject an unnecessary vaccine into my kid before I have time to see how many children it messes up?

Why would the public school system care if a kid who was never going to darken the door of a government school had all of his shots?

Also… they sent us forms to see if our kids qualified for the free school lunch program.

I am a 27 year old, married female. I go to the doctor yearly for my screenings. At my last screening (age 26) they told me I had to get Gardasil (HPV) vaccine. I said no. It was over $900, it’s not as effective in already sexually active women, I said no.

Oh my Lord you would have thought I’d said no to CPR after drowning. “Well you know that you’re at risk for contracting HPV.”

How? I’m married. My husband is faithful.

Response – “well…”

Oh I see. I’m hedging my bets that my husband will cheat.

My response? If that’s the case, I should demand he wear protection, as AIDS and a lot of other diseases can be contracted that way too.

I will not give my child a trend vaccine just because they say the FDA approved it. The FDA approved Vioxx and people died. Not the same as a vaccine, but it’s the same organization doing the approving.

Informed consent is the only way to do that. Asking questions, demanding answers and doing research is the *least* one can do for their child. It is what a parent *should* do.

There are some links between some vaccines and autism. Some vaccines are made from embryonic stem cells. I – as a parent – have a right to question whether or not a vaccine is in the best interest of my child. If I deem it not in the best interest, I have the right to refuse it.

The argument that it’s for the “public good” that parents do something against their will is a slippery slope. Where does it stop?

But I think avoiding certain vaccinations is still a net negative.

Which certain vaccinations, Rusty? Please list in detail so that parents can share in your wisdom.

“We just vaccinated our baby last month at his 2 month checkup. Our pediatrician is terrific.”

“As for the shots, my son was fussy for about two days and didn’t sleep too much. He cried a bit more and did develop a fever but that went away 24 hours later. He developed a runny nose from all the crying and that was probably the worst of it because he would have trouble breathing through his nose. Within 3 days, he was back to normal. Our pediatrician told us if my son had a bad reaction that we will just use the DT (no P) at his 4 month checkup. I think we will go with the DTaP again though.”

Good.
I remember.
“Been there, done that.”

Caution, thoughtfulness, and informed consent are the way to go.
However, vaccination should definitely not simply be broadly criticized and avoided.

My mother’s brother (born a year amd a half before she was) died of whooping cough at the age of 6 months in the mid-1920s, in the days before the pertussis, and other, vaccines.

BTW, our daughter had a shaking reaction to her first pertussis vaccination back in the mid-80s, so she recieved only the tetanus and diphtheria components for her next two installments.

Her two older brothers had no problems with the shots, other than the mild, expected reactions described by theroc5156 above.

We’ll probably recommend to our daughter that she consider getting the Adacel vaccine (contains a new, safer pertussis vaccine) in the near future.