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3rd Trimester
Vaccinations and Autism
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Vaccinations and Autism
My personal thoughts are that there never was a link. The preliminary evidence was a poorly done exploratory study performed by a man that had financial interests in changing the vaccine schedule, which took off because it preyed on the fears of parents.
I think that you're taking the right steps by asking questions. Do research, talk to your doctors, and if you don't understand the science/stats behind some of the studies then find someone who does and ask them to explain it.
The CDC vaccine website has a TON of great resources (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/). One of the best are vaccine information sheet lists; they're required to list all proven benefits AND risks of vaccines (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/default.htm). They also have a hotline set up to answer questions about vaccines (1-800-232-2522). Call them and grill them, it's their job to answer your questions.
I have done research on this, and have even attended seminars given by medical professionals who specialize in autism and aspergers. I can personally say that I have never heard (or read) anything from real professionals that are straight out saying, "DO NO VACCINATE YOUR KIDS!!!"- It's usually the outgoing activists going overboard saying not to vaccinate at all.
The one thing many professionals will say on the matter is to definitely vaccinate your children, but to space them out. Perhaps no concrete evidence has been produced that says this for sure works, or that it for sure doesn't, but it definitely doesn't hurt. Your child still gets all the vaccines he/ she needs, just not 4- 6 at a time. Which, personally, as a parent, I think it's ridiculous to give that many shots all at once anyways.
With DS we spaced out his vaccines, never letting him receive more than 3 at a time. DS still received all his vaccines very close to the recommended immunization schedule, he just didn't receive a plethora of them in one sitting. He also never caught any of the illnesses he was waiting to be vaccinated for. We will handle the vaccinations the same way with our newest LO. Even if the initial report that caused the uproar has been disproved, there are still other studies out there stating that there may be a connection. While I still know that there are definitely other causes of autism, this is still one of those situations where I'd rather be safe than sorry with my child.
BIG PHARMA IS OUT TO KILL YOUR BABY!
Apparently I missed the retraction, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered talking about it. Honestly, I'm not a news person. I don't read, watch it and rarely talk about...mostly because it's depressing, so it's definitely possible to not know what's going on in the world at all times.
Thank you everyone for your input and for attaching articles. I was just telling DH about the Dr. Sears book and will look for it next time I go to the book store. Like I said previously, we are definitely vaccinating our children, but I think the best plan for us is on a more spread out schedule. I don't think it's necessary for an infant to be bombarded with shots as soon as he/she enters the world. I didn't have my first hep. B shot until I was 26 and I'm still here, so I think our LO can go beyond the first day of life without getting it.
I read that doctors say that they notice the markers for autism well before the vaccinations, it is just hard to make a diagnosis before development stages that don't come until 18 months of age-- which is coincidentally right around vaccination time. Plus many kids have markers that go away and end up fine so they wait until they are more sure to diagnose.
Vaccines have less additives now than they used to , and are constantly adjusted to be simpler and more effective without "extras".