Comments on: The Truth About The MMR

By: mihow

mihow — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:14:02 +0000

Apparently there’s a vaccination being offered now that targets the sense of humor. Thank goodness. Lightheartedness is overrated.

By: cindy

cindy — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:01:04 +0000

um, my son didn’t get the MMR at 18 months, but magically started speaking around the week he turned 18 months, too. a language explosion at that age is quite common and can turn on like a lightbulb. i don’t it has anything to do with the vaccination.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 07:35:33 +0000

So, I thought I was the only one that noticed my daughter, Jenna, who just received the MMR two weeks ago, poof and bring back an identical twin with an expanded vocabulary. She now says, I go, byebye, nightnight, momma, dog, cat, grandma, papa, look… pretty much overnight. Before her MMR she said momma and that’s about it. I’m glad I’m not the only one that noticed the change!

_mel

By: Renee

Renee — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:04:51 +0000

There is a major flaw with your purported parallel: it is normal development to go from non-speaking to speaking; it is not normal to go from speaking to non-speaking.

Autism is not a simple disease to diagnose. Nor is the correlation with the timing of a vaccination easy to dissect. The timing of the vaccine and the timing of autism’s manifestation creates a confounding variable that cannot be overcome with epidemiological study. Therein lies a problem…

Moreover, the concern for autism is not the only concern a parent may have which leads him or her to decide against vaccines. Much of the concern for me falls under the category of “bad science.” As a science major in college (with honors, at a major university, btw), there was much I learned about causation vs. correlation, about bias in reasearch, about the economics of science in academia (and their similarities and differences among and between the economics of science in the pharmaceutical industry and in government). Following graduation and into parenthood, there was more to learn regarding not only new and updating available information and vaccines, but also regarding the changing field of medicine and how doctors operate their practices, receive parents’ concerns, and in-turn, tend to their roles in public health by relaying those concerns through the proper dissemenating channels.

Bottom line: 1) my child will not be someone’s guinea pig insofar as I can help it, 2) my child will not be someone’s cash cow unless it is for *my child’s* benefit, and 3) (and let this be the “not so fast” for those who think I’m simply a spoiled, uppity party pooper on the utopian concept of herd immunity:) I will not jeopardize my child’s (and potentially her child’s) immune system by administering a vaccine to her if it does work as it is intended to work, and I will not place false hope in a vaccine that does not work as it is intended to work.

I have researched the diseases for which there are available vaccines and made myself aware of their transmission, their symptoms, and any available treatments. Proper precautions will be taken and remedies sought if necessary and available. I am not perfect, but all I can do is my best by my child; that does not mean I do not try to do what’s best by all children at the same time. The decision to not vaccinate is not one I took lightly or without careful consideration and compassion for my own as well as for others.

The risk assessment for my children is different for the risk assessment for “public health.” That researched, careful, compassioned, and tailored assessment does not make me an irresponsible or selfish person, it makes me a parent.

By: Sarah S.

Sarah S. — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The same thing happened to my nephew. He got red spots all over his body and had a temperature after the same immunization. It eventually went away…but not before his parents took him to the ER worried.

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Apparently that side effect is very common. I’m glad we knew about it! Otherwise, I probably would have been worried as well.

By: Autumn

Autumn — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I also got my son the MMR. He had a fever about 8 days after the shot that lasted two days off and on. Got no higher than 101.9. His rash came after the fever, minor spotting all over his torso and legs (very faint) and lasted 2-3 days. He was cranky, but I agree, it was nothing new. It did not help his speaking, but he is 4 months younger than Emory. It did however cause a complete solids strike and he lived on nothing but breastmilk and a few goldfish cracker for 4 days! That was interesting.

After he had the shot a lot of local mothers began talking about the evils of MMR. I had always dismissed, what I assumed to be panicky rumors, as just that. All that talk and all the babies I know who haven’t been vaccinated, sent me into a panic of “what-ifs”. I have since calmed down and I’m glad I allowed him to get his shots.

By: StFarmer

StFarmer — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nearly everything has an associated risk. The question becomes whether your child is at greater risk with or without immunizations. My personal view, not that it matters, is to go with the immunizations. But, I wouldn’t harange a parent that chose not to immunize.

Em seems like a great kid. I wish you and Toby had been my parents.

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I agree. I think that it’s for the greater good that children be immunized.

StFarmer, i have always said as much, but you’re too kind.

By: Shelby

Shelby — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

My daughter had similar reactions but until I read this post I didn’t put two and two together. I actually thought she was coming down with the Chicken Pox even though she had been immunized. This also explains why she boycotted food for a week.

We noticed a dramatic increase in her vocabulary once all of the symptoms went away but I am not so sure it is linked to the shot ;)

By: mihow

mihow — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Totally. I think that’s the point I wasn’t really doing a great job at making. I would guess that autism kicks in around the time that shot is given because of something that happens to them. You know what I mean? It’s not the shot, it’s development. And for whatever reason, between a year and 17 months, their brain turns on in some ways.

That’s my uneducated guess. But yeah, nothing to do with the shot.

I hope folks know that I was kidding. heh