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Sure Shots: Your 18-Month Vaccine Timeline
When it comes to their tiniest patients, docs sure know how to stick it to 'em. Nearly every checkup during your baby's first two years ends with at least one shot, and at some visits, she may need to have as many as five injections. Seeing your little one cry out in pain can be torturous. So who can blame you for wondering: Is it really necessary -- or even safe -- for your infant to receive so many vaccines?
If you ask infectious disease experts, the answer is crystal clear. "There's no evidence that giving vaccines is dangerous," says American Baby advisor Paul A. Offit, M.D., director of the Vaccine Education Center and chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "However, we have plenty of proof that they prevent serious and sometimes life-threatening diseases." And the theory that vaccines cause autism has been discredited.
To allay your worries, it's important to understand how immunizations actually work. Each vaccine contains substances (called antigens) that cause the disease the shot protects against, but in an impotent form that's too weak to bring on the symptoms of the illness. The antigens are powerful enough, though, to trigger your baby's immune system to produce antibodies against the disease, which prevent her from getting sick. Although more vaccines have been added to the schedule over the past decade, today's shots contain far fewer antigens than they did in the past. Your child will need three or four doses of certain vaccines, spaced out strategically, before her body will produce enough antibodies to fully protect her. "Timing is crucial, and a lot of thought goes into the recommended vaccine schedule," says Dennis J. Cunningham, M.D., a physician specializing in pediatric infectious diseases at Nationwide Children's Hospital, in Columbus, Ohio.
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Please read the following article http://www.pharmalot.com/2010/05/doc-who-tied-mmr-vaccine-to-autism-loses-license/
5/23/2011 11:57:49 AM Report AbuseAs far as the link with autism, there are many contributing factors. Developmental delays are first noticed around 2 or 3 because each child develops differently with their learning. Doctors won't diagnose autism until 5 or 6 when the child starts school because they want to see/hear about their behavior and be able to compare their learning developments against state standards. You can't just place blame on something that can't fully be proven or dis-proven.
5/20/2011 12:24:09 PM Report AbuseWhat articles about immunizations never mention is when you get the first dose of the vaccine, it doesn't mean your body is going to build up the antigens. The only way to know for sure if your child's immune system worked properly to build the antigens is to get a blood test. More and more parents are avoiding shots for their children and paying for it in the end. Whooping cough, a disease that was close to and should be eliminated, is instead on the rise.
5/20/2011 12:16:22 PM Report AbuseTo tripp31: thats not true becaue the whole point of a child getting vaccines is to procet them frome the virces and if enen was possable to a child to get authisum then every child that had vaccines would have authisum and clearly thats not the case. To dxc6307: I sagguest you talk to someone who specalices in authisum and get a 2ed oppion to doubel cheek to make shure your child actualy has authisum or not. Personly iam all for getting my child all the immunizations they will need.
5/19/2011 09:35:09 PM Report Abusei heard today on the news that vaccines are linked to authisum
5/19/2011 03:58:33 PM Report AbusePart 2 I know that every case is different, and I really don't care what other parents who don't have an autistic child say. What can they say? They have not experienced it. All I know is that somewhere in that doctor's office I lost my happy, curious and first child. Now at seven I struggle to help him meet those critical milestones he never met and wonder if I should go back to get my 4 year-old daughter who is perfectly fine her MMR!!!!!!??????
5/19/2011 12:25:53 PM Report AbusePart 1: I am the mother of a child who until the was12 months was your average baby: babbling, laughing, curious and highly attentive to his new surroundings. After that dreadful day that I took him to get his MMRS, my child started fading into a quiet, emotionless boy that I no longer recognized. YUP he was first diagnosed with developmental delay at 2 1/2 years then later with full blown autism at 5.
5/19/2011 12:24:13 PM Report AbuseI always pray over my children before being vaccinated. I know that as a parent protecting them from harm is the right thing to do, but there are a lot of side effects that make me feel uneasy. I like this article though, it has made me feel a little better considering there is a whooping cough outbreak in VA right now and I have a newborn and having her vaccinated was very difficult for me. I've been watching her like a hawk for two days now.
3/4/2011 01:05:37 AM Report AbuseWho wrote this article? More immunization propaganda from those who are making millions of dollars from vaccines. There are so many false statements in this article that I don't even know where to start. Parents, if you want serious information you need to do your own research. I recommended "What Your Doctor May or May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccines" by Stephanie Cave and Deborah Mitchell.
1/17/2011 02:08:16 PM Report Abusei like it
1/14/2011 07:52:54 PM Report Abuse