My daughters almost died of RSV when they were 6 weeks old. There is no vaccine for it, but there is a treatment protocol for at risk babies.
It’s been 20 years, and I pray that there will be an RSV vaccine.
I was very thankful for the whooping cough vaccine because I was told my daughters would die if they caught it.
I also have a older friend in a wheelchair from polio.
I have another friend whose baby daughter died after DPT vaccine.
I like the idea of spreading out vaccines. I also think that you need to look at the benefit vs risks of vaccines.
We held off giving my daughters guardisil because they weren’t sexually active and they had neurological problems. We decided they could make the decision as an adult. One of them recently got it at 19.
I thought about not giving my kids chicken pox vaccine, but it can be bad for people on steroids. My daughters were routinely on steroids for asthma. I don’t think I would do that one on a healthy baby.
I think parents really need to read up more on vaccines.
My cousin was very concerned about RSV when her babies were born 3 months premature. The pediatrician told her that such an infection could be fatal.
There are vaccines in development, but vaccine development is an exceedingly challenging endeavor, and there is no telling when a vaccine might actually make it through FDA approval.
I was very thankful for the whooping cough vaccine because I was told my daughters would die if they caught it.
Whooping cough is very dangerous, especially for young babies. I've seen youtube videos of children suffering from whooping cough--it is very painful to watch.
The CDC recommends that pregnant women get a pertussis booster in the 2nd or 3rd trimester of pregnancy. This causes the mother to produce antibodies that cross the placenta to protect the baby for a few weeks after birth. In addition, people who expect to be around a newborn baby should also get the pertussis vaccine to protect the baby. It is possible for an adult or teen to have nearly asymptomatic pertussis, which is a terrible danger for any babies they contact.
I also have a older friend in a wheelchair from polio.
My late mother-in-law wore a leg brace because she had had polio as a child. A long time ago, I also knew a woman who was wheelchair bound because of polio.
I have another friend whose baby daughter died after DPT vaccine.
That is sad, but highly unlikely to be a result of the vaccine. Children, sadly, die every day. Sometimes a cause cannot be found.
I like the idea of spreading out vaccines. I also think that you need to look at the benefit vs risks of vaccines.
Medically, there is no reason to use anything other than the vaccine schedule that the CDC publishes. While it is true that some vaccines will interfere with other vaccines (as in making the other vaccines not work), these issues are discussed in great depth by the committees who meet to discuss the vaccine schedules and recommendations. The committees consist of health care experts across a range of specialties. They also look carefully at the risk/benefit ratio. For instance, they do not routinely recommend Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine because JE is not endemic in the USA, but if you are going to Asia, you might be recommended to take it because the risk/benefit ratio shifts dramatically if you make that travel. I recently traveled to Asia for 6 weeks, and got several vaccinations that I would not normally receive.
We held off giving my daughters guardisil because they weren’t sexually active and they had neurological problems.
I think the major objection to Gardasil and Cervarix is that people mistakenly think that they cause promiscuity. I'm not sure exactly how they think this would happen, because morality is something you teach your children and is not affected by vaccines.
That said, the reason that the HPV vaccines are recommended for prepubescent children is that these viruses are so prevalent that once they are older and become sexually active, the vaccines might be useless because they are already exposed.
I thought about not giving my kids chicken pox vaccine, but it can be bad for people on steroids. My daughters were routinely on steroids for asthma.
A major problem with steroids is that they interfere with the immune system and reduce the efficacy of vaccines. I remember studying that way back when I was a new graduate student; the mechanistic details are somewhat fuzzy now, after 20 years.
Chickenpox is a very serious disease in a small number of children. It certainly is not as serious as measles. However, once you get chickenpox, the virus stays in your body forever. It then comes back as shingles, which is a painful rash that can cause tenacious and even permanent neuropathies. Shingles in the facial area can cause blindness or deafness. I got shingles on my neck, and felt sharp stabbing pains for years afterwards.
There is strong reason to think that preventing chickenpox through a vaccine will prevent shingles. Researchers are still gathering data. I think that the data will eventually confirm the hypothesis.
FYI, I do happen to be a medical researcher, and I have quite a bit of experience with vaccine matters.