Are you giving your child the chicken pox vaccine? That's the one vaccine that parents are most likely to refuse for their kids. But a new study shows that avoiding it has consequences.
The chicken pox is a relatively mild disease and parents who don't vaccinate figure that their kid will benefit from "herd immunity" if all the other kids in the class get the vaccine. But new research shows that children who don't get the vaccine are nine times as likely to get the disease as other children. The study authors say this is relevant "evidence to counter the misperception among some parents that unvaccinated children are not at risk for vaccine-preventable disease."
More vaccine news:
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that more poor kids are being vaccinated. Researchers looked at immunization data and found that in the year 2000, children living below the poverty line were far less likely to have received all of the recommended vaccines, as were those whose mothers hadn't finished high school, those with unmarried moms, and those with mothers younger than 30. Fast forward eight years and things have changed. The number of children receiving vaccines from public providers increased to 72 percent from 47 percent.
A new study shows no link between autism and MMR. The study was done comparing 96 children ages 2 to 15, who had been diagnosed with autism to children who did not have autism and were treated by the same doctor. Of the 96 children with autism, 8 had received no vaccine against measles, while about 41 percent had received the MMR shot and half had received the measles-only vaccine. Among the healthy children, 55 percent had gotten the MMR shot, while 45 percent had received the measles vaccine; only one child remained unvaccinated. The researchers aren't sure why the vaccinated children actually had a lower risk of autism.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Family Physicians just came out with its new 2010 vaccination guidelines.
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Comments 9
Their "facts" are such a joke. Grrr. Just makes me mad.
This is ridiculous. People who don't vaccinate against chicken pox ARE NOT relying on herd immunity. WE WANT OUR KIDS TO GET IT.
Why?
Because we've actually educated ourselves on the vaccine. I've read the manufacturer inserts that show that you are MORE likely to get Shingles as an adult if you get the VACCINE as a child. Also, they say in their OWN inserts that the vaccine is NOT medically beneficial. Wanna know the benefit? Parents miss an average of 5 days less of work, and kids, 5 days less of school. Yes, seriously. The vaccine totes that you'll miss less work and your parents less school, BUT you'll be at a higher risk of Shingles - which IS serious - as an adult. I'd rather my kid miss school for a few days than suffer Shingles as an adult, wouldn't you?
More "poor kids" get vaccinated because there is less education about vaccines, more acceptance of "it's just done this way", less understanding that you have a CHOICE, and often, doctors who are less likely to even discuss vaccines with the parents.
Oh, and before people accuse me of being anti-vaccines, this is the only vaccine aside from the flu shots that we actually totally skip.
i dont get the need for a chicken pox vaccine the way i do for others. i remember getting chicken pox as a child and it wasnt that bad. and isn't getting it as an adult much worse?
Getting it as an adult can be fatal, and actually many children who are receiving this shot ARE now getting chicken pox as teens and young adults because the vaccine is wearing off. So giving them the shot is setting them up for a much more dangerous situation, not to even mention the ingredients.
Ummm, I'm hoping my kids do get the chicken pox. So does everyone else I know that doesn't vaccinate for it. My SIL wishes she didn't get her daughter vaccinated for it. The poor girl was sick afterwards for over a month. If she got the CP, it might've been a week. And her older daughter caught the pox from the younger one's vaccine. Even though she was vaccinated for it not a year and a half earlier.
This vaccine is unneccessary IMO.
I am a little worried about myself. I haven't figured out if I am naturally immune to Chicken pox or not...I never had it as a kid despite every child around me getting it. So...I worry that if my son gets it, I'll end up with it (which means it could be FAR worse since I am an adult).
I vaccinate my son...but I doubt I will get this one for him.
proudsinglemom, request a titer test. It will tell you if you're immune or could stand to get a booster.
Yeah, how about I'm not having my son get this vaccine because there is no way in HELL I am shooting a LIVE vaccine like Varicella into my two year old. I'm not hoping that 'herd immunity' will protect him, if he doesn't catch it by a certain age I will most likely try to find a pox party.
Do I think this vaccine might be beneficial for ADULTS who have never gotten it? Yes. Do I think we should be pushing this off on small children who will survive the virus? Heck NO!
Chicken Pox lays dormant in the bodies system. Stress and a lowered immune system can reactivate the virus causing Shingles which can spread as Chicken Pox. Injecting your child with this vaccine means that there is a good chance that YOUR child will be the germ factory spreading disease to other children on the playground. Yay you. On a side note, I HAD shingles (and thereby gave my littel sister chicken pox) it it feels like somebody is literally driving a knife into the infected area (in my case, my side).