Doctors urge flu shots for toddlers

MSNBC ^ | Dec. 2, 2002 | Reuters

[FormerLurker]

CHICAGO, Dec. 2 — The American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday issued revised recommendations for flu shots, saying for the first time that youngsters between the ages of 6 and 23 months should be vaccinated.

[Stingray51]

flu (influenza) is a deadly disease that cause thousands of deaths each year in the country

Yes, but how many of those deaths (in the United States) are of otherwise young and healthy people without increased risk factors?

[FormerLurker]

Dale, If you have ever sat by the crib of a toddler in intensive care with the flu and secondary bacterial infection you would view the vaccine as a Godsend.

Strange, I've never seen nor heard of such severe cases of the flu out of all the people I've ever known in my entire life. Have YOU ever seen such a case?

[Politicalmom]

If you had ever watched a bright two year old turn into a brain damaged, seizure-ridden child because of a vaccine, you would avoid them at all costs.

[Theyknow]

"Dale, If you have ever sat by the crib of a toddler in intensive care with the flu and secondary bacterial infection you would view the vaccine as a Godsend."

Yes, first hand. If you actually think that the only things that are true are those which you have experienced personally you have a very small scope of knowledge. My own child was that sick from influenza, so I know it to be true. However, my child has never had diphtheria and I have never known anyone with that illness but I am absolutely certain it kills. Suit yourself, if you chose to live in such a simple world it must be genuinely blissful.

[Theyknow]

"What differentiates the Flu from just a really bad cold?"

I am no medical expert, but the differences between the flu and a bad cold are the germ that causes them and the severity of symptoms. The flu makes you much sicker and can turn into pneumonia quickly, if you have an underlying illness such as asthma or simply old age then the symptoms can worsen quickly and even kill. More people die from the flu annually than of HIV in the US.

[Theyknow]

The issue is probability. Many, many more children would die needlessly from the diseases which are prevented by vaccine than are injured by the vaccines themselves. This is an emotional argument and reason, statistics and experience have no influence on it.

[FormerLurker]

Yes, first hand. If you actually think that the only things that are true are those which you have experienced personally you have a very small scope of knowledge.

Well, from my first hand knowledge, I've seen SEVERAL people come down with fever and chills along with general discomfort for WEEKS after receiving the flu shot. And I have known one that had to be rushed to the hospital due to nausea, vomiting, and subsequent loss of consciousness. Now IF I hadn't seen those reactions, other than the fact the vaccine contains mercury, I'd say it might not pose that much of a risk. But I have seen those reactions, and that is just within my own "simple world"...

In weakened immune systems, sure there's a chance of complications due to the flu itself. However, in those individuals, the flu shot can be just as dangerous.

[CJ Wolf]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[FormerLurker]

The issue is probability. Many, many more children would die needlessly from the diseases which are prevented by vaccine than are injured by the vaccines themselves. This is an emotional argument and reason, statistics and experience have no influence on it.

Have you bothered reading post 7? Let me just post a few short excerpts from one of those links...

"Official data have shown that the large-scale vaccinations undertaken in the US have failed to obtain any significant improvement of the diseases against which they were supposed to provide protection."
Dr A. Sabin, developer of the Oral Polio vaccine

"Live virus vaccines against influenza and paralytic polio, for example, may in each instance cause the disease it is intended to prevent..."
Dr Jonas Salk, developer of first polio vaccine, Science, 1977

"There is no doubt in my mind that in the UK alone some hundreds, if not thousands of well infants have suffered irreparable brain damage needlessly and that their lives and those of their parents have been wrecked in consequence."
Professor Gordon Stewart, University of Glasgow, 1980

"My suspicion, which is shared by others in my profession, is that the
nearly 10,000 SIDS deaths that occur in the US each year are related to one or more of the vaccines that are routinely given to children. The pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine is the most likely villain , but it could also be one or more of the others."
Dr R Mendelsohn, Author and Professor of Paediatrics, 1985

"The worst vaccine of all is the whooping cough vaccine...it is responsible for a lot of deaths and for a lot of infants suffering irreversible brain damage.."
Dr Archie Kalokerinos, Author and Vaccine Researcher, 1987

[FormerLurker]

DOCTORS’ GROUP VOTES TO OPPOSE VACCINE MANDATES

[MattinNJ]

FWIW, my boy is 13 months old and I'm not having him injected with this stuff. I was never vaccinated for the flu and I'm fine (other than being a rabid right winger).

[FormerLurker]

I was never vaccinated for the flu and I'm fine (other than being a rabid right winger).

Same here, except I'm not sure about the "rabid" part.. :)

[libertylady]

Thanks for all the info. People who may not have studied these things on their own can really get some great information here. As for me and my family we eat right, stay away from sugar, and processed foods and take vitamin C, and we never get the flu.
The only time my husband ever got sick with the flu (very bad case) was a week or two after he got the flu vacination. He will never get another one in his life.
Our toddler is still breast fed, eats all organic vegies, very little sugar, and he will not get the shot either. He hardly ever gets sick.

[libertylady]

How many flu viruses does the vaccine prevent you from catching? Aren't there at least one hundred viruses that cause the flu? I remember reading that those who make the vaccine can only guess which virus will be going around that year. Only one or two of the viruses gets put in the vaccine.
Why risk taking a vaccine and getting an adverse reaction, when it may not even be effective against all the different flu viruses out there?

[Theyknow]

You're right that there are many virus's that cause the flu. Each year scientists determine which are the most likely to spread during the flu season and vaccinate against those. The shot merely reduces the risk of the flu, it is not a guarantee. If anyone chooses not to get the shot because it is not a certainty then that is certainly their prerogative.

[FormerLurker]

Thanks for all the info.

You're welcome. I can only hope that I've helped people make more informed decisions.

[Theyknow]

"Have you bothered reading post 7? Let me just post a few short excerpts from one of those links..."

You can find "experts" to say anything. Words taken out of context are meaningless. Jonas Salk was a hero in our time, I shutter to think of his reaction to your distortion of his position. It is undoubtedly true that some children have polio as a result of the vaccine, but it is also true that polio is a rare disease in the developed world because of the vaccine. What in the world do you think happened to small pox? Do you think that it only survives in laboratories is because humans wished it away? The weight of scientific knowledge concurs that where there is genuine risk in vaccines it is outweighed by the benefits, but I doubt you often let facts interfere with your opinions.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

The material you posted is full of a lot of vague and conclusory crap. The only people who could take anything away from all those "maybes" and "possiblies" would be the paranoic and deranged.

[libertylady]

I have read that only 10 percent of the world's population has even received the small pox vaccine. How could it have been eradicated by the vaccine with such a small percentage receiving the vaccine?
What part do you think sanitation, indoor plumbing, electricity, and the rise in the standard of living has had in eradicating many of these diseases? Certainly they had to have had a major part too.

[libertylady]

Do you come from the dark side of the force?