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CNN.com and Dr. Bob help parents answer the question, “Should I vaccinate my baby?”
CNN correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explores how parents attempt to answer this question, and how various doctors across the nation are responding to parents’ concerns, in her weekly column on www.CNN.com
I believe vaccines are very important and have played a tremendous role in limiting many serious diseases in our country, as do all of the doctors interviewed by Elizabeth for her column. However, more and more parents are concerned and want to take an approach that varies from the regular CDC schedule. I believe that if more and more doctors offer parents such options, we will have better vaccination rates than we are seeing now.
Here are just a few of the options that Elizabeth presented in her column:
- Don’t give the Hepatitis B vaccine to newborns in the hospital. Because this shot can cause fever, lethargy, and poor feeding (problems you don’t want to see in a newborn), it’s better to delay this shot for the first two months of life, especially since the disease doesn’t even occur in newborns (it’s a sexually-transmitted disease).
- Checking “titers” (blood immunity levels) for various shots before doing boosters. Some kids don’t need some of the booster shots at age 5 years because their original infant series may still be working just fine. While this is a costly and time-consuming approach, some parents prefer it instead of automatically getting all the boosters.
- Getting fewer shots at each infant checkup and spreading the shots out over more time. This is the hallmark of Dr. Bob’s Alternative Vaccine Schedule.
- Limiting large combination shots. Some parents prefer to split some of the combo shots into separate components to decrease the chance of a reaction. While we don’t know if this precaution even helps, it is an option that some doctors like to provide for concerned parents.
The bottom line is that more and more parents want options. If we don’t provide them with options they are comfortable with, more parents will opt out of vaccines altogether. We will then see more and more disease fatalities and complications.
Dr. Bob Labels: Alternative Vaccine Schedule
Plain Mumps Vaccine Shortage - Should Babies Just Get the Full MMR?
Some parents are choosing to split the 1 year MMR vaccine into three separate shots. Although we don't know if this precaution is necessary, some worried parents prefer the choice of getting plain Mumps vaccine at 1 year, Rubella at 2 years, and Measles at 3 years.
With a shortage of the plain Mumps vaccine expected to last the rest of 2008, parents may not be able to get the Mumps vaccine for their babies for a while. I would suggest getting a rubella vaccine at 1 year, and then Mumps at 2 years (by the time any current one-year-olds are two, the shortage will hopefully be over).
Some parents are wondering if they should get the full MMR vaccine at age 1, not just to get coverage for mumps now, but also to get measles coverage in light of the recent increase in measles outbreaks. I think that this is a very valid choice to consider, especially for infants who are entering childcare or early preschool. For children who are not going to be in daycare or school until age 3 or 4, delaying the measles vaccine is less of a worry. Labels: Vaccine News
New Study Shows Possible Link Between Environmental Mercury and Autism – What About Vaccine Mercury?
Researchers at the University of Texas showed that the closer a family lives to a power plant or industrial facility, the higher the risk of autism. Autism rates decreased by 1 to 2 percent for every 10 miles that a child lives away from such mercury sources. They also found that for every 1000 pounds of mercury released by such facilities, autism rates in the surrounding area increased by 2.6 to 3.7 percent.
Many researchers believe that the most likely reason for the increase in autism is some sort of combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental chemical exposure. This study adds credibility to that theory.
Even though mercury was removed from virtually all vaccines in 2002, parents who had their children vaccinated prior to 2003 are worried if vaccine mercury could have harmed their child. Many studies have shown that no harm was done from vaccine mercury. Some studies do show a possible link between the mercury and autism and other problems (See Resources in The Vaccine Book).
What does this issue mean for parents who are vaccinating their infants and children now? First, make sure your doctor is using 100% mercury-free vaccines. The only place mercury is still found in large quantities is in some brands of the flu shot and some older versions of the plain tetanus and diphtheria/tetanus shots. A few shots use mercury in manufacturing, then go through a filtering process that removes 99% of it, leaving a tiny little trace amount of mercury. These shots include one brand of the DTaP vaccine, some brands of the flu shot, and the newer plain tetanus or diphtheria/tetanus shots.
As long as a parent knows to avoid these sources of mercury, you can get the entire routine childhood vaccine schedule 100% mercury-free. There is a flu shot that is 100% mercury-free. Two brands of DTaP don’t contain any mercury. And the plain tetanus and diphtheria/tetanus shots that do contain mercury aren’t part of the normal vaccine schedule. So, when it comes to making vaccine decisions, you can take any fears of mercury out of the equation.
Click here to read more on this story out of the University of Texas.
Labels: Vaccines and Autism
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