This is a topic very dear to me. Actually, I just brought the boys for their Well Child visits yesterday. I discussed with the pediatrician "holding off" on Baby E's shots and not following the recommended vaccination schedule at all. We had a good conversation about autism and all preservatives in vaccinations, not just the oft-blamed thimerosal.
The doctor was of the opinion that the rise in autism cases has multiple causes. I agree. He suspected genetics, vaccinations, and environmental causes (even video games and TV).
That last one was where our opinions differ. I pointed to the rise in mercury levels in women, especially in coastal and higher income women. Though mercury is officially "out" of all required vaccinations, what about those that are not forced, but only pushed? I'm thinking of the flu vaccine. Not only did the CDC recently blame kids for passing around the flu (government news: kids carry germs!), but it recommended that all children through the age of 18 receive the thimerosal-preserved vaccine. New Jersey even requires it.
The flu vaccine is also strongly recommended for pregnant women. The CDC points to a recent study in which pregnant women in Bangladesh received the vaccine during their third trimester. As Reuters reports, the
shots cut the risk of flu [in infants] by 63 percent and the risk of respiratory illness overall by 29 percent.
The study's authors hope that this will influence more pregnant American women to choose the flu vaccine, as only 15 percent receive it annually. No mention of the mercury in it, however. And here's my problem: If I had to avoid tuna steaks and swordfish while I was pregnant, why would I choose to be injected with a mercury-laden vaccine?
This is my suspicion: We have higher levels of mercury in our bodies due to industrial pollution. We also have higher levels of aluminum, a less potent but nevertheless potentially very damaging neurotoxin. Childhood vaccines are now preserved with either aluminum or formaldehyde, and sometimes both, as well as a host of other excipients. Some say this aluminum poses no threat, some believe that aluminum at least contributes to brain disorders such as Alzheimer's, and some, like Dr. Sears, say that we need to study effects of aluminum at the levels currently found in vaccines.
If we, as mothers, already have certain concentrations of these heavy metals in our bodies during pregnancy, I worry that the simple act of vaccinating our newborns and infants might "push them over the edge" with the neurotoxic effects.
Whether or not the CDC agrees, many parents of children with autism tell stories of their children's "regression" after vaccinations. Actually, one parent put together a wonderful table on her blogspot. It shows the jump in autism cases as related to every new vaccination added to the Childhood Vaccination Schedule.
Others point to the number of vaccinations given at one time. An ABC station featured a debate on Dr. Paul Offit's new book "Autism's False Prophets", which refutes the vaccine-autism link, despite the vast number of parents and autism groups which claim otherwise. On the program, Dr. Allan Magaziner, of the Magaziner Center for Wellness in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, said,
When pharmaceutical companies test, they only test one vaccine at a time, but what happens when we're putting five, six, seven vaccines in a child at one time?
Offit admits that he has helped develop a vaccine, which he has "propheted" from.
Hmm: I'm skeptical of his bias there. (You idiot parents! Vaccinations are safe! Especially mine!)
Remember, as Enviroblog recently pointed out,
1 in 6 children in the U.S. [are] born with some form of developmental disability.
So what would be the harm in holding off and choosing a different path for our children? Especially for those, like me, who stay with their children all the time? My sons do not go to daycare; they are only introduced to the germs my middle-school-aged stepdaughter brings home to us.
Our pediatrician said yesterday that he is concerned for Baby E's exposure to pertussis (whooping cough) because of his sister and school germs. He pointed out that 10 to 15 percent of babies his age end up in the hospital after contracting whooping cough. I can respect that. And I will consider that vaccine.
But that's the beauty of it: I have a pediatrician for my children who is open to discuss my vaccine-autism concerns. If I do decide to vaccinate, even minimally, he has no problem giving one at a time, like we did with my older son.
Either way, I won't go along with the "herd mentality" and dose him with multiple shots at once. The only "outbreak" which truly scares me is the rate of autism cases.
No, correlation is not causation. But caution is certainly warranted.
Resources:
Talk to your doctor using the Holistic Pediatrician Association's "A Parent's Right to Choose" article.
Massive vaccinations seem absurd to you, too? Blogs on your side include:
Age of Autism, which is written by a journalist formerly with United Press International.
Safer Shots: today's post argues for the "religious exemption" to vaccines.
(Special thanks to a parent of an child with ASD for the extra research help and editing on this sensitive, important topic.)
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