Since before Kate was even conceived, I have been researching all the aspects of vaccine safety for kids. I came from a moderately skeptical-of-vaccines background and have had two odd vaccination experiences myself during my life, and so when I got pregnant I knew immediately that I needed to spend some SERIOUS time figuring out what my plans for Kate would be. After hours of reading arguments on both sides of the story I made a plan that I was comfortable with... only to have Kate have two days of unexplained seizures after one set of shots when she was six months old. It was, as you may remember, agonizing. And since then, Ive done even MORE reading about vaccination. And you know what? As scary as that experience with Kate was, and as much as it made me nervous to get her any vaccines in the future, everything I have read has only made me more and more convinced that vaccines are both safe and necessary. I have yet to come across an argument from the anti-vaccination camp that truly holds water for someone with a strong background in deciphering the medical world. Most anti-vaccination claims are very easily refuted, with ample evidence. While I know firsthand that serious vaccination reactions do happen on occasion (though very, very rarely), I have come to believe more and more that vaccinating our kids is the safest and most wise course to take. Although I dont know exactly what our vaccination schedule will look like if we ever have another biological child (who could be at risk for whatever it is that makes Kate more susceptible to reactions), I DO know that they will be fully vaccinated as soon as we feel its safe. Ive stayed pretty quiet on this issue on social media because I know I have a lot of friends who I greatly love and respect in both camps. And, to an extent, this is one of those issues that seems pointless to argue about, since it often seems like everyone has already made up their mind and no arguments will sway anyone at this point. However, when I came across this article today I decided I had to share it, because it is hands-down the most succinct and easy-to-read refutation Ive ever seen of all the major vaccination myths, WITH a copious number of links to the science that backs each position up (though as a heads up, some of them are in restricted medical journals that require paid access - but theres still enough public ones to give you a good idea of the overwhelming body of evidence that really is out there). So Im posting this today, not because I necessarily think that my words or this doctors words will be able to sway anyone, but in case any of you are in the same position I was while pregnant with Kate—confused, overwhelmed, unable to sort through the vehement arguments on either side, and inclined to be skeptical of the safety and necessity of vaccines. This article gives a GREAT jumping off point. iflscience/health-and-medicine/dear-parents-you-are-being-lied (And yeah, this post is also definitely spawned by recent events, since Utah has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country and Im just waiting for this measles thing to become a serious outbreak here.) PS - Feel free to comment, but Im not going to argue this with you. ;)
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:08:28 +0000