Dallas encourages parents and guardians to get their children immunized

momzilla, says:

My brothers and I survived measles, mumps, and rubella as children; there weren't vaccines for these diseases. We turned out fine. Sometimes you just have to weigh risk vs. benefit. I had my children vaccinated for the contagious diseases but don't think I'd consider a parent who decides to hold off to be neglectful. In some cases, there could be a genetic component that interacts with the vaccines. In other cases, it is the timing or combining of vaccines that causes serious side effects.

Some of the required vaccines have a very low risk of exposure especially for children and are not, imo, adequately tested. For example, Hep B is given to newborns before they leave the hospital and is a suspect in MS and other autoimmune disease. Even the NIH acknowledges this yet still recommends the vaccine. And guess what! By the state making it required, the manufacturers get protection from lawsuits by families harmed by their product.

momzilla, says:

Or by waiting a little longer and giving the vaccines one at a time, spaced apart, you might add somewhat to the safety.

Some families are doing this. The thing is that the way the state does those exemption forms, the statistics don't indicate whether children in a zip code have NO vaccinations or for whatever reason are only missing one or two of them.

I hope those Southlake, etc. moms are checking to see whether the illegal immigrants they are hiring as nannies and gardeners are vaccinated. They may have invited a carrier inside the bubble.

DC, says:

Excellent - another crazies thread! Anybody enjoying their polio or smallpox lately?

momzilla, says:

Did you miss the part where I said that I had my children vaccinated except for the Hep B? My point was that to say "I was vaccinated and turned out fine" is no more valid than to say, "I had the disease and turned out fine."

I don't even have a problem with the state requiring them for legitimately contagious disease provided that parents can opt out. In the case of a disease outbreak, children who have the waivers can be forbidden to attend school. But the lazy or neglectful parents will be more inclined to allow the school nurse to go ahead and vaccinate the kid. There's some actual effort involved in getting the document for the waiver.

Because my oldest had an allergic reaction to one of his infant vaccines, I preferred to have his pediatrician do them. He gave individual vaccinations on a different schedule because of the history of allergy and because the first vaccine was a combo so we didn't know what caused the reaction. To be on the safe side, we did the girls the same way.

So unless you've been in the ER with an infant turning blue, I don't think you're qualified to call cautious parents "crazies." And because of MY experience, I'm disinclined to judge other parents caution relating to other side effects.

DC, says:

JR, apparently your principle could probably be better applied to immunology and epidemiology.

DC, says:

Uhhh, what principle? That the anti-vaccine train is kind of on the crazy track? True, true.

momzilla, says:

Jason: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-...

An interesting article which examines recent court cases relating to autism and the MMR. Although, I suppose that the sanity of any of the Kennedy's could be debated.

DC, says:

You know, JR, if you think the thought of a couple of octogenarians trying to push me in to some kind of machine I've never heard of is going to convince me to accept a couple of anecdotes over the best available evidence, you're welcome to come over and try it out in person.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/docu...

DC, says:

You won't be first and you won't be last. Do you want to i-Thug or e-Hug this one out?

DC, says:

How would someone know if we're there or not?

DC, says:

It's ok, but not really that satisfying. Maybe you could post something with that really tiny font nobody can read.