Naptime Blog

I believe in vaccinating children.  I have vaccinated my children according to the guidelines, and feel more comfortable knowing that certain diseases and sicknesses have been eradicated in this country due to vaccines.  It worries me knowing that underdeveloped countries lack the funds to vaccinate, which means that certain diseases have not been wiped out completely.  This scares me because I know that some children are not vaccinated in the US due to their parents’ beliefs, but this means that it is possible that diseases that we have vaccines for may be rampant in other parts of the world, may spread to the US to children that have not been vaccinated, and different strains may develop creating an epidemic in this country. 

I would never claim to be a medical expert, for I am a family counselor, not a doctor.  But more importantly, I am a mom.  I do not judge any other parent for their decisions regarding their own children, but I do admit that it worries me that my children can come home with let’s say a new strain of smallpox because a family who hadn’t vaccinated their children went to another country and their child caught the disease.  As a mom, not a medical professional, I have read into the literature on vaccines, and although I know that there are negatives to vaccinating (side effects, the possibility of a link between vaccinating and autism, etc.), I feel the benefits outweigh the risks, and the percentages of children who have a negative reaction to a vaccine are too small for me to not vaccinate.  If one of my four children were to be among those statistics I may feel otherwise, however, realistically, a widespread epidemic of a deadly disease scares me terribly.

That being said, I am not personally comfortable with my children receiving the H1N1 vaccine.  The schedule of vaccines that are recommended for children have all been around for many years.  As a matter of fact, I received many of the vaccines when I was a child.  We are aware of any long term effects of the vaccines given today, as they have been around for decades.  The H1N1 is a live vaccine (which in itself makes me uncomfortable) and it is too new to know what long term effects it may have on those who get it.  So although I believe in vaccines, I have read up on it, have discussed the options with my pediatrician, family doctor and other medical professionals, and my husband and I have decided that our children will not have the H1N1 vaccine this year.  That doesn’t rule it out for the future, but for now, we will not be getting it.

We are extremely lucky to live in a country where we have clean hospitals and educated doctors as well as safe medications.  I pray that my children (as well as my husband and I) can steer clear of the H1N1 germs this year, but should we get infected in our house, I trust in the medical care our doctors can provide.  That does not mean that we are not washing our hands a thousand times a day in our house!  And my daughter has been instructed to stay FAR AWAY from any children in her class who even sniffle.  Hoping H1N1 does not come near our family!

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (7), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (Newborn)
www.nevaland.com

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 12th, 2009 at 3:53 am and is filed under Article, Health, Jennifer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.