Oct
Immunizing our Kids
Though I think that everyone has a choice to make a decision to immunize their child or not, I feel it was inappropriate to add the information quoted by Mr. Brian O’Connor that “misinformation includes the notion that immunization can bring on Autism.”
Let me tell you about my story. I have two children on the Autism Spectrum. Both my children received their immunization shots until my youngest reached the age of approximately 18 months (my children are two years apart). My youngest, after receiving his mumps/measles/rubella (MMR) shot at this age got a rash and high fever the day after. I remember my husband rushing him to the clinic and being isolated from the rest of the patients. The diagnosis he had was roseola, a form of measles, and to watch his temperature and the rash so it did not get worse. My son was meeting all his developmental milestones until this moment. He was using single words, making eye contact and making reciprocal gestures but after that fateful day, it all changed. He withdrew, stopped talking and started mumbling and had horrible, horrible tantrums. From that day forward, we were on a new path. I researched and read as much as I could about the link between immunizations and autism and feel, in my personal journey, that the MMR vaccine, the combination of the virus’s and the preservative, thimerosal (mercury based) were all contributing factors to my son’s autism. Many vaccines, including whooping cough, diphtheria, MMR, and especially hepatitis B, contain mercury (thimerosal) in amounts far in excess of those cited as dangerous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1998.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Association of Family Practitioners recommend removing mercury from immunizations. So has the World Health Organization, and the prestigious American Associations of Physicians, who also requested single dose vaccines so mercury would be unnecessary. I feel there is an overload on a young child when you administer so many different foreign substances into their little bodies in such a short period of time. Do I believe that this MMR injection brought on my son’s autism? Absolutely. But I also would say that he may have been pre-genetically disposed to having this happen (such as whether someone will get cancer at a certain age) and I do believe environmental factors contribute as well such as the use of chemicals and hormones in food and meat.
Brian O’Connor also states “Public health in general right across the board has no evidence to suggest that autism is any way linked to a vaccination process.” In fact there is no evidence to support it is not linked to autism. It is a case of he said/she said; one group pitted against the other over an issue that may never be resolved until scientists know exactly what gene causes autism and what environmental factors can trigger the switch that turns it on. When my son was diagnosed, the ratio of diagnosis was 1 in 10,000 children. It is now 1 in 150, which is staggering and during this time the immunization schedule, the multiple injections and addition of new vaccines (chicken pox and HPV), has increased.
To have Mr. O’Connor also state “Although (Jenny) McCarthy has suggested children with weaker immune systems shouldn’t be overloaded with vaccinations, O’Connor stated the opposite to be true.” How can he state this? Where is the data to support his statement? A child has a weak immune system and you think injecting foreign bodies into this child is supposed to make him stronger? If Mr. O’Connor has not already, maybe he should read Ms. McCarthy’s book. She does not state she is against immunization; she is against the immunization schedule. She suggests single injections (not multiple like the MMR), the removal of thimerosal and a longer immunization period should be the standard.
Parents need to make an informed decision on both sides of the case. Do your research, talk to parents of both immunized and non-immunized children. Find out the reasons why they did what they did.
If I could turn back the hands of time and not inject my children, I would. I beat myself up on a regular basis that I did not do my homework before I chose the immunization path, but now that we are on that path with autism as its result, we just keep moving forward and accept what we cannot change.
