Monday, October 26, 2009

In Conclusion

We hope you can take away something important from this blog. The purpose of this blog was to present facts and raise awareness surrounding the major controversial issue of childhood vaccinations. We have provided several posts that will help you answer these important questions and more:

Are the vaccines safe for my child?
Are vaccines even effective?
What are the risks of getting a vaccine? What are the benefits?
What if I choose not to vaccinate?

Originally, you might not have given a second thought to vaccinations. We feel confident that this blog has gotten you to critically consider the issue and form a opinion. We have read all the comments, and have benefited from hearing so many points of views. As mothers, guardians and professionals in the medical field, understanding this issue and its importance is paramount. Knowledge about the benefits and risks is crucial to make informed decisions. It is important to raise awareness on the issue and to promote education about childhood vaccines.

What is the next step?
Further educate yourself! Childhood vaccinations are a subject with many facets of further research and discussion. Take the initiate to learn some more about particular illnesses and the vaccinations for these illnesses. Learn specifics about the vaccinations your child will need/has gotten already. Have some enthusiasm to learn something new! CDC.org (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), flu.gov/ and http://www.vaccinateyourbaby.org/# are great places to start.

Talk about it! Bring up this topic to your spouse, friends and co-workers. What do they think? What do they even know? Raise the awareness level in others by interacting and discussing major concerns regarding this issue.

Help others! Vaccinations save lives! There are many organizations that have goals to immunize children that are less fortunate than us. For these children, these vaccine preventable illnesses ARE A REAL CONCERN. Consider donating your time and efforts to these organizations, such as UNICEF and the Gavi Alliance. A quick Google search will lead you to these organizations.

http://www.unicef.org/
http://www.gavialliance.org/


Sunday, October 25, 2009

Autism and Vaccines


On October 4th of this year, two studies performed by the government revealed that the rate of autism in the U.S. is 1 in 100; higher than the previously thought 1 in 150. Although the increase is attributed to better detection and new definitions of what autism is, the increase is startling. As the reader, what do you think about reading that statement? How do you feel knowing now that in the United States 1 in 100 children, about 673,000, have autism?

Autism is a controversial topic, especially when it comes to vaccines. Many parents and critics believe that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative previously used in child vaccines, is the cause of the increase in the autism rate. Another vaccine believed to cause autism is the MMR vaccine, which protects children against measles, mumps, and rubella.

You may feel overwhelmed by all of the differing opinions on the internet about whether or not vaccines cause autism. Here is a brief synopsis on autism, as with its connection (or lack of) to vaccines

Autism: A definition
The Autism Society of America defines autism as “a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others,” and a “spectrum disorder that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees.”

The Center for Disease Control breaks it down into three subgroups: Autistic Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental disorder. Autistic Disorder is also known as “classic” autism; a person with autistic disorder has “significant language delays, social and communication challenges, and unusual behaviors and interests.” Those with Asperger syndrome do not typically have problems with language; they more so experience problems socializing with others. Pervasive Developmental disorder groups those who do not share all typical symptoms of autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome; it’s a milder form of the two.

Diagnosis:
Autism is usually hard to diagnose, since it relies on observation of a child’s behavior. Diagnosis involves a developmental screening, in which the doctor examines or interacts with the child to determine if there is any delay in development. The doctor may ask the parents some questions concerning the child’s behavior. A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation is also done; this mainly involves interviewing the parents and studying the child’s behavior, but also may include genetic screening, neurological testing, and so on.

Treatment:
There is no cure for autism. However, early intervention is the best way to dramatically improve autistic children’s’ development. Early intervention services, such as behavioral therapy, are offered to children as young as 3 years. The CDC website, as well as Autism Speaks’ website, has an extensive list of therapy options for parents to consider.

Cause:
The exact cause of autism is currently unknown; however we have learned that autism isn’t caused by just one factor but a variety of factors such as:

-Genes: Studies have shown that parents of an autistic child have a 2-8% chance of having a second child with autism.
-Other Medical Conditions: Children with autism may have other medical disorders. About 10% of children with autism are couple with another disorder; common ones seen are Fragile X Syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, or Down syndrome, among others.
-Harmful Drugs: Thalidomide and valproic acid, previously prescribed to pregnant women, have been linked to higher autism risks.
-Environmental Factors?: Some researchers speculate whether environmental factors, such as heavy metal exposure, contaminated water, even constant TV exposure to young children attribute to autism. No definitive evidence has been found as of yet.

You may be wondering why the potential for harmful vaccinations wasn't included under causes. The reason is there is no scientific evidence that proves a link to any vaccine and autism. Several scientific studies have been done to determine this problem, and all have come up with the same conclusion. The Institute of Medicine concluded in 2004 that “There is no link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or the vaccine preservative thimerosal.” On October 19th of this year, a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives reported that “The blood levels of mercury are similar in children who are developing normally and children with autism, and do not appear to be contributing to developmental problems.”

So why, even after the evidence that vaccines do not cause autism, that there are people so adamant about their dangers, is unknown. The overwhelming amount of misleading information on the internet may be a major factor that causes parents to worry about the safety of vaccines given to children. While it’s true that there may be some risk factors involved with vaccinations, there is no concrete evidence that proves autism is one of them.

Helpful Links:
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage
http://www.autismspeaks.org/
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.html

Resources
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33165127/ns/health-mental_health
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.html
http://www.popsci.com/earthtalk/article/2008-07/are-environmental-factors-blame-autism
http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps1609/www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/504_iom.html
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/10/mercury-levels-not-higher-in-children-with-autism.html
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Vaccines: A Brief History


It’s hard to believe that vaccines have been around for only two centuries! Here’s a brief history on how vaccines started, and how they are made:

The year 1796 marks the birth of the world’s first vaccination when Edward Jenner realized that pus caused by cowpox could be used to prevent smallpox infections. In a time when smallpox was rampant epidemic, he found it strange that a majority of milkmaids, who normally had cowpox, did not get the disease. He hypothesized that the pus in the milkmaids’ blisters (caused by cowpox) somehow protected them from contracting smallpox. He tested this by inoculating an 8 year old boy using the pus from a cowpox lesion; his hypothesis proved correct when despite being exposed to the smallpox virus, he did not become infected. In 1840, the British government made the smallpox vaccine available; in 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) labeled smallpox as an eradicated disease. Jenner’s method of producing the smallpox vaccine laid the groundwork for scientists in the future to create vaccines for other previously debilitating – now nearly eradicated – diseases such as polio and measles.

The road to vaccine production and distribution is not an easy one. Problems can range from funding and manufacturing to safety concerns and deep concerns about live inoculating agents in some vaccines. Although the CDC states on its website that “Prior to approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), vaccines are tested extensively by scientists to ensure they are effective and safe”, they admit that “no vaccine is 100% safe.” Such was the case in 1955, when 200 children contracted polio after receiving the vaccine, which contained a “wild-type polio virus that was manufactured by Cutter Laboratories in California.” Another incident involving vaccine safety concerns was the Swine Flu Scare in 1976, in which several hundred people, after being vaccinated for the Swine Flu, developed Guillain-BarrĂ© syndrome, a rare but serious disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks its own nervous system. It’s still unknown exactly how the 1976 vaccine caused the disease.

In 1986, as a response to claims of injuries caused by vaccines, Congress passed the Childhood Vaccination Injury Act (NCVIA), which created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, the National Vaccine Program Office (which deals with vaccine policy), and Vaccine Information Statements (a form that describes the vaccine itself, as well as the risks and benefits, and must be given to patients prior to vaccination).

In the last decade, vaccine safety has become a central issue for our society. As a result, older, potentially dangerous vaccines are being either changed or replaced with safer vaccines. For example, the vaccine DTP, used to protect children from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough) has been replaced with DTaP, a more purified vaccine with milder side effects. In the late 1990s, people began connecting thiomersal, a preservative used in vaccines, with the sudden rise in children reported in autism. In 2001, thiomersal was removed from vaccines given to children 6 years and younger. However, there is no current evidence that proves a relationship between thiomersal and autism.

Although vaccines are considered much safer than they were thirty years ago, side effects and bad reactions still can and do happen, albeit rare. A very recent example of this is the case of Desiree Jennings, who after getting a seasonal flu shot in her local grocery store this past August, was put in the hospital for seizures. She was diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological disorder characterized by uncontrollable muscle spasms. Her doctors speculate, and Desiree herself believes, that the disease was triggered by the vaccine she received. After being contacted, the FDA stated that they have not received any other reports of adverse effects from the batch that she received. Some medical experts have speculated that Jennings’s dystonia may actually be a psychogenic disorder, meaning cause of her symptoms is psychological.

Resources:
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/24/3/611
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/basic/history.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/health/09vaccine.html
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/health/101309_woman_disabled_by_flu_shot_reaction_dystonia
http://www.examiner.com/x-13791-Baltimore-Disease-Prevention-Examiner~y2009m10d16-Woman-claiming-she-acquired-dystonia-from-a-flu-shot-may-have-it-all-in-her-head

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Your Questions Answered

This post is to give links to additional information about childhood vaccinations.

Vaccination Information Sheets
This link has down loadable sheets for the most common diseases we give immunizations for. The CDC issued these sheets to explain the benefits and risks of a vaccine to a recipient and their legal guardian.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/default.htm

2009 Child & Adolescent Immunization Schedules
This link shows what types of vaccinations a child needs and when they need them. There are additional links on the same page about receiving multiple vaccinations and vaccine safety.

The following vaccinations are recommended by age two and can be given over five visits to a doctor or clinic:
4 doses of diphtheria, tetanus & pertussis vaccine (DTaP)
3-4 doses of Hib vaccine (depending on the brand used)
4 doses of pneumococcal vaccine
3 doses of polio vaccine
2 doses of hepatitis A vaccine
3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine
1 dose of measles, mumps & rubella vaccine (MMR)
3 doses of rotavirus vaccine
1 dose of varicella vaccine
2-3 doses of influenza vaccine (6 months and older) (number of doses depends on child's birthday)

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/10-shouldknow.htm

Information about Vaccine Side Effects
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm

WHO SHOULD NOT GET VACCINATED??
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/should-not-vacc.htm

Free and Low Cost Vaccines
Vaccines might not be considered easy accessible because of their price. There are programs to give vaccinations for underprivileged families for free or at a discounted rate. "Vaccines for Children (VFC) provides free vaccines to eligible children, including those without health insurance coverage, all those who are enrolled in Medicaid, American Indians and Alaskan Natives and those whose health insurance dues does not cover vaccines."
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/default.htm

Other places, like your local Walgreens, provide many shots for a discounted rate. You can get a flu shot for $24.99 at Walgreens today!
http://www.takecarehealth.com/what-we-treat.aspx



Running Time: (6:27) Release Date: 4/13/2009
After talking with parents across the country, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention put together this video to help answer the tough questions that real moms had about childhood immunizations. Understanding the importance of vaccines is vital for you to protect your children’s health.


Still have some questions? Print out or order a FREE booklet: Parents' Guide to Childhood Immunizations from the CDC website.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/parents-guide/default.htm#order

Monday, October 19, 2009

What Could Happen If You Didn’t Vaccinate Your Child


Choosing to not vaccinate your children is not helping them. You are putting your child, and other children, at risk for potentially deadly diseases. Please consider the serious consequences of not vaccinating your child.

Your child is at greater risk of catching one of the vaccine-preventable diseases.
Vaccines help prevent the occurrence of several life threatening diseases. Diseases such as pertussis (whooping cough), measles, diphtheria, influenza, and chicken pox have basically been eradicated in the U.S. but can still be a serious threat for an unvaccinated child.

Your child can infect other people.
Unvaccinated children are a threat to infants that aren’t fully vaccinated, children that can’t get vaccinated for medical reasons, the ailing, the immuno-compromised and the elderly. Unvaccinated children could easily transmit a preventable disease to another person.

Your child may have to be excluded at times from school or child care.
If there was a disease outbreak, like the recent H1N1 outbreak, your child would not be allowed to come to school for fear that they would infect others or have the disease themselves. This would certainly mess up a parents work schedule if they had to stay at home with their child.

Vaccine preventable diseases would once again become common.
Viruses and bacteria that cause vaccine-preventable disease and death still exist and can be passed on to people who are not protected by vaccines. If we reduce our vaccination coverage, the disease could become prominent in our society once again.

Here is a great link that explains the potential consequences for not vaccinating. Many of these diseases are preventable through the use of vaccines. If you choose to read, and we strongly encourage you to take a glance, you would see that diseases that are no longer around, like measles, used to be widespread. So, if the vaccinations were stopped, each year about 2.7 million deaths worldwide could be expected. That number is exclusively for measles.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/whatifstop.htm

If you have concerns about vaccinating, please share your concerns with a trusted healthcare provider. Your decision could ultimately affect your whole family, your friends and your neighborhood.

http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4017.htm

Saturday, October 17, 2009

H1N1 Vaccine- is it safe? Has it been tested?


The H1N1 vaccine was recently made available to the public due to the recent H1N1 flu pandemic, more commonly known as swine flu. This vaccine’s purpose is to protect the public from contacting this particular strain of the flu. The Center for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice recommends pregnant women, people who care for infants, healthcare personnel, and generally anyone 6 months – 64 years of age are recommended to receive the H1N1 vaccine.

Since the vaccine has been made available however, it has been under scrutiny, because the public is uncertain whether the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks Health Care Workers are required to receive the H1N1 vaccine in order to protect the patients they care for; however, some are protesting the mandate because they are not confident that enough research has been done to ensure the vaccine’s safety.

The Center for Disease Control is assuring that adequate testing and research has been done the new vaccine, and that it’s just as safe as the vaccine for the seasonal flu. CDC Chief Thomas Frieden said, “This flu vaccine is made each year by the same companies, in the same production facilities, with the same procedures, with the same safety guards and that enables us to have a high degree of confidence in the safety of the vaccine.”

World Health Organization Director General Dr. Margaret Chan has responded that since new technologies are involved in the production of some pandemic vaccines, which have not yet been extensively evaluated for their safety in certain population groups, “it is very important to implement post-marketing surveillance of the highest possible quality.”

Readers: Do you plan on getting the swine flu vaccine? Why or why not? Do you get the seasonal flu vaccine? If not, what are your reasons? Have you ever gotten a side effect from the seasonal flu vaccine? Do you think it’s worth getting the vaccine despite any side effects? Finally, do you plan on getting the swine/seasonal flu vaccine for your children? Why or why not? 

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/public/vaccination_qa_pub.htm
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_vaccine_20090713/en/
CDC 2009

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

So, what is the controversy??

Vaccines might be something you’ve taken for granted, and something that you have never really questioned. What if your child received a vaccine and had a terrible reaction? Would you THEN do your research? Adverse reactions are rare, but they do happen.

Situations like above are one reason vaccinations are controversial in the first place. After all, why would you want to take something that could harm you, especially if it’s supposed to protect you? You watch the news, or read the paper, and see stories about the harm vaccines cause, and little about their benefits. You see people rally against mandatory vaccinations, condemning the government for stomping on their individual rights. Then you read about overprotective parents on each extreme: The ones who want every vaccine out there and the ones who refuse to vaccinate their kids at all.

It all comes down to this: people fear what they don’t know. When you go to your doctor’s office to get a vaccine, you usually aren’t told exactly why need it. And unless you ask, you usually aren’t informed of the risks, side effects, etc. Also, not all patients are fully educated in the field of medicine, so trying to explain how the vaccine works in scientific terms isn’t going to help them (it may even make them more nervous).

The sad truth is that vaccines can potentially be harmful to you or your loved ones. Nothing in this world is 100% safe. Bad reactions or side effects can occur, and they sometimes do. But do the benefits outweigh the risks?

Here is a breakdown of the benefits vs. risks
Benefits of Childhood Vaccines
-Vaccinations have eradicated past diseases that have affected society, such as polio and smallpox, in developed countries. In addition, they have kept these and other rare diseases from reoccurring and becoming epidemics. Because of vaccines, you really don't have to worry about any of these diseases anymore.
-Vaccines help build up immunity (your defense system) by creating antibodies that we otherwise would not have as protection from these diseases.

Risks of Childhood Vaccines
-Vaccines can cause allergic reactions, which may be unbeknownst to either the patient or the doctor.
-Vaccines can cause side effects that range from mild to severe. The kinds of side effects vary by vaccine.

Readers: Do you think the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks? Why or why not?



Resource: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm
Author/Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Last Modified: 8/11/09