An Alternate-Delayed Vaccination Schedule

I finally feel I have a handle on this. You can find my first post discussing concerns with the current vaccination schedule here.


This time, I will break down the highlights of what I have found concerning each of the vaccines on the recommended schedule. I will try to include as many of the resources I have used as I can in order to help you do the same research should you choose to. I will also provide two modified AAP refusal forms and links where you can find information regarding your states school/daycare exemption forms. At the end, I will provide my alternate-delayed vaccination schedule.

First, let's start with the basic premise of what I wanted to achieve. I wanted to delay beginning the shots until my baby's immune system had time to develop. I didn't know exactly when this should be, it will be a decision you will have to make for yourself, but for me, starting at one year of age is what I am comfortable with. The second goal was that he not receive more than one or two vaccinations at any given visit. This is in an effort to make sure his system is not overloaded with the chemicals and additives in the shots all at once. It also gives me the opportunity to pinpoint which vaccination caused any potential reactions.

On to the meat and potatoes.

Vaccines required for school/daycare by Washington State:
(Try googling for your state's requirements.)

Hepatitis B (HepB)- Final verdict: No
This one was easy for me. Hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease that requires direct exchange of bodily fluids to contract. I see absolutely no reason why a baby should be subjected to this shot when the mother is HepB negative. In the future when my son is sexually active, I believe that education and discussion on the responsibility of safe sex will be far more important than a vaccine.

Diptheria, Tetanus, acellular Pertussis (DTaP)- Final verdict:Yes
This one took a very long time for me to sort through and decide on. Truthfully, the deciding factor on the yes for this one was my husband. He feels this is an important one to have even having read all the sources I've shown him. One thing I know we won't be doing is frequent boosters once the series is done. It's been shown that the over-vaccination against things like tetanus actually harms your bodies ability to fight the disease. Here a bunch of resources for DTaP if you want to look into it more yourself.

• Inside Vaccines: DTaP
• Pertussis hospitalization among infants
• Components of DTaP vaccine- If you do decide on this one, this link helps you choose which brand to use

Polio (IPV)- Final Verdict: Yes
When I researched this vaccine, the information I could find on it suggests that the version we use in the US today (inactivated polio virus) does not actually prevent someone from getting the wild version of polio. What it does do is prevent it from affecting the central nervous system should you contract polio and therefore nullifying the most serious side effect of the disease; i.e paralysis. I know there haven't been any cases of wild polio in the US since 1999, but the side effects of this particular vaccine are mild and I feel the benefits outweigh the risks in this case should there ever be an outbreak or we travel.

Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)- Final Verdict: ??
Sorry guys. The jury is still out on this one. I had hoped to come to a decision on this one before I posted but I'll save it for a later date. This is the big scary one that's linked to all the autism claims and there is a vast amount of material out there on this one and I haven't been able to sort through it yet. Here are some sites that may help you.

• Thrower MMR
• MDC's MMR vaccination archives
  

Varicella (Chickenpox)- Final Verdict: No
This one is a joke in my most humble opinion. Chickenpox is harmless, causes no long lasting side effects in healthy children and the worst to come out of it is missing a few days school. I see no need to introduce chemicals with potentially greater harm to my child's system than the disease it protects against.

Other vaccinations on the CDC's recommended schedule

Haemophilus Influenza type B (HiB)- Final Verdict: No
This one is about why it's best to leave nature to run its course. Our bodies are symbiotic with many bacteria. They keep each other in balance and ensure that we remain healthy. Diseases and sickness occur when one kind of bacteria grows too much or moves to an area of the body it shouldn't be. Inside Vaccines has more detailed information regarding this phenomena. My other reason behind declining this one is that my baby is exclusively breastfed. The antibodies in breastmilk protect and encourage the natural growth of a child's bacterial flora ecosystem.

Pneumococcal (Prevnar) (PCV)- Final Verdict: No
This vaccine operates along the same lines as the HiB. Destroy one bacteria and another moves in to take its place. In this case the bacteria that is allowed to flourish in absentia is Staphylococcus aureus. Hmm...no thanks. Oh and ear infections? Yeah my breastmilk has that covered. See this article and the previous one from Inside Vaccines linked earlier.

Influenza (Flu)- Final Verdict: No
Another no brainer for me. I don't get a flu shot every year, why should I make my child get one? I think the human immune system does a great job on it's own of taking care of small things like the flu. There are way too many strains of influenza for the flu shot to even make a difference. I'll pass on this one.

Extras ('cause there's always gotta be more, right?)
Rotavirus- Final Verdict: No
This one is way too new my comfort. No one has any idea if this is safe, or what the long lasting side effects may be. The only thing rotavirus causes is diarrhea which even the CDC admits can be safely treated at home.

Human papiloma virus (HPV)-
I have a boy, so not much to say on the subject, but I thought this thread on MDC was worth the read.

This page shows the minimum time between vaccine doses and the number of doses per vaccine recommended. Here is my timeline for the vaccinations I will be consenting to.

12 months: DTaP
15 months: IPV
18 months: DTaP
24 months: DTaP
30 month (not a typical well-baby visit): IPV
4 years: Final DTaP and IPV

Here are two versions of the modified AAP refusal form to bring for your child's medical records. Do not use the one from the AAP website and make sure to read anything they give you in your doctor's office to sign as you can incriminate yourself in child neglect.

Version #1 (shorter more concise)
Version #2 (lists detailed information on the adverse effects of each vaccine)

This page is a good explanation of the different exemption types, and here you can find state by state exemptions laws. If you choose to do a partial exemption, and that option is not available in your particular area, I would suggest getting whatever vaxes you find necessary but not submitting the record to the school. Simply sign the blanket religious form to hand in. If you do this, make sure you opt-out of your states vaccine registry.

Has this been helpful to you?
Is there anything you would add?

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HBV Vaccinations - Informed choice?

This was sent to me by e-mail from my former doula, Sabbath Davies.


On January 31st, the French authorities opened an investigation into the practices of two pharmaceutical companies - Glaxo SmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur. At the same time, a French judge began an investigation for manslaughter against Sanofi Pasteur¹.

The investigations are centered around a campaign by the two companies to vaccinate children against Hepatitis B (HBV) between 1994 and 1998. There have been allegations that the companies did not fully disclose the side effects of the vaccine. During this period of time, nearly two thirds of the French public, and routinely all newborn babies, were given the HBV vaccine.

What is particularly surprising is that while this action was reported on February 1st 2008 on Reuters, a search of both the BBC and the CNN websites did not show that it was being reported at all. Why is it that employees from two of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies are being investigated for manslaughter but there is no mention of it on these websites?

What do we know about HBV and the vaccination for this disease? First, we know that HBV is a blood borne virus. It can only be contracted through sexual intercourse and blood transmission. This means that a newborn baby or a child is at extremely low risk of contracting the disease unless they are having a blood transfusion in a country where blood is not routinely tested for viruses, or their mother is positive for Hepatitis B.

Secondly, we know that, for low risk groups, the vaccine does not appear to provide long term protection. In one study it was found that only 1 in 10 children aged 5-7, who had been vaccinated at birth, still had antibodies against HBV².

Thirdly, we know that 90% of people exposed to HBV will develop an acute infection and then recover after a few months, while for the remaining 10% they will have chronic HBV and become carriers. 15-20% of those with chronic HBV will die of complications associated with the disease. This means that for every 100 people who are infected with HBV, 90 will recover, 10 will become chronic HBV carriers, and 1-3 people will die of HBV related complications.

Finally, we do not know what the true risk of contracting HBV is for any particular individual. Certain practices significantly increase the risk of acquiring the disease such as intravenous drug use, unprotected sex and blood transfusions if the blood is not tested for HBV. However, for a healthy, non-drug user, who is not having unprotected sex, we do not know the risk. The overall risk within the population of the USA is 5%. This is a skewed statistic though since it includes prostitutes and drug users who are at significantly increased risk, and infants who are at almost no risk.

It will be interesting to follow this case and see how it proceeds. Will pharmaceutical companies be held accountable for injury and death that the families involved believe were caused by the vaccine? Or will it be determined that there is no evidence that the vaccine is unsafe?

References

1. French judges probe firms over vaccinations, Reuters, Online: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssHealthcareNews/idUSL01..., retrieved February 5th 2008.
2. Petersen, K.M. et al., 2004. Duration of Hepatitis B Immunity in Low Risk Children Receiving Hepatitis B Vaccinations from Birth. Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 23(7),650-655.

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The Vaccine Debate

Braden is almost three months old. He hasn't been to his two month well-baby check-up yet. Why?

Vaccinations is why.

The decisions to be made about vaccinate/don't vaccinate, or maybe to only selective or delay vaccinations are a little daunting. There is so much information out there, it's a little scary being faced with the task of sorting through it all and coming to any kind of rational conclusion. My first instinct was, "If there is this much controversy over it, they can't be worth it. I'm just not going to vaccinate at all". I brought up the subject to my husband a few weeks before Braden turned two months, and he seemed all gung-ho about just following Dr's orders and getting all the vaccines on time. This terrified me. My husband has the benefit of college debate classes when it comes to discussing things like this, and sometimes I feel he uses that against me and I can't really hold my own. He told me the burden of "proof" was on me because I wanted to go against doctor's orders. So my reaction was to be passively aggressive and simply not make the Dr's appointments, not mention it anymore, and hope he forgot about it.

Well that worked for a little while, but yesterday he brought the issue back up. He wanted to know why I hadn't made the appointment because I hadn't been able to bring him enough proof that vaccines were bad. I had to put my foot down as my child's mother and tell him that no, the burden of proof was on him. I would absolutely not be blindly vaccinating my child. This forced him into really sitting down with me, discussing his fears about diseases (his aunt was paralyzed from polio) and I feel we really got a good handle on the issue. I am now in the process of ironing out our selective/delayed schedule.


Here is a link to the CDC's recommended infant vaccine schedule.

I would like for Braden to only get one shot at a time, and never any combination vaccines.

• We will not be doing Hepatitis B until he is nearing teenage years.
  
• We will not get the DTaP series. We will get the Pertussis single vax on time, delay the Tetanus until he is mobile, and we are not sure about the Diphtheria portion yet.
• I am not sure about the HiB yet, I will have to look more into the meningitis risk.
  
• We will do the polio vaccine, but still not sure when. Will probably delay.
• We will not be getting the pneumococcal, I feel he is not at risk and my breastmilk protects him better than a vaccine from ear infections.

All the rest are not an issue until he is one so I have a little time left.

If anyone is interested, here are two of the sites that I found very helpful in my search for information:
http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/
MDC Vaccination Archives

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