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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
What do you think about the autism study?
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines/index.html
Not only was the study wrong, but a fraud. Babies and children died as a result of not being vaccinated due to the information presented about this fraudulent study. I don't know that we'll ever get back on track with vaccines. Diseases that were unheard of like whooping cough and measles are making a come back and the herd immunity is so low.
It's just unfathomable.
Re: What do you think about the autism study?
I guess I'm not surprised? I don't yet have kids but I don't plan on holding back on any vaccinations. I just really think that it isn't responsible in the public health sense of things to not immunize against highly communicable diseases such as whooping cough, mumps and measles, etc. I respect that it is a personal choice for parents to make and respect if someone chooses not to immunize their child - I just won't send my kids over to play I guess.
The problem I see with opting out is that you're not just choosing that the consequences are better than the potential risks for YOUR child alone, but you put the safety of other people's kids at risk who may not have had a chance to get the vaccinations yet because of their age.
As a related side note -my sister is a couple months away from having her first baby and her OB recommended that EVERYONE in our family who will come in contact with the new baby get re-immunized for whooping cough because they're finding that the inoculation formula that they used back in the 80s when I would have gotten it as a child isn't giving lasting immunity like they thought. It was the first I'd heard of that problem and it is a little scary to think about how many people are affected by that and don't know.
This was us a year and a half ago...I had to be re-vaccinated in the hospital after DS was born because of it. DH was supposed to get vaccinated but hasn't yet, and knock on wood we've been ok, but DS has since been vaccinated as well.
As for the article, We did not hold back any immunizations and never planned to. There was one vaccine we did have to wait on but due solely on the fact that there was a shortage at the manufacturer. I would never in a million years put my child's health in danger because of one article in a medical journal that linked vaccines with autism. Especially now that its come out that said article was all a lie! I think more research needs to be done and i also think we need to start looking at family composition as well as environmental factors that could be contributing to the increase incidence of autism.
Or perhaps it was as widespread 20 years ago as it is now but it went undiagnosed then because we didn't have the means or resources to know what it was.
That is my biggest problem with it too. Diseases spread.
I think it is a combination of both. I read an article recently that said something along the lines of, "The kids getting diagnosed with autism today were just called "weird" 20 years ago." The author (the name is escaping me right now) said people need a diagnosis to hang their hat on and have a cause to fight for when in the past diseases weren't so "trendy." While I don't agree with that point of view per se, it IS an "interesting" take on things.
***
The part that makes me so sad about all of this is that it was purposeful fraud, and not just an honest mistake.
I think no matter what there will still be some wacky anti-vaxers who will think this guy is being unfairly attacked.
The whole thing just makes me feel icky.
Photo taken at 16 months old
I have 3 second cousins on my dad's side of the family that have autism, and it has many of my family members looking for answers, and unfortunately because of this "study", much of my family doesn't believe in vaccines. It scares the crap out of me because my extended family has largely bought into a fraudulent study. At Christmas I mentioned needing to go in for a flu shot and it was like I dropped a bomb in the room. I was ambushed by a few of my aunts and cousins about how vaccines are dangerous and that I need to "start reading about the dangers of vaccines in our lives" and "I hope you see the light before you have children."
I love my family, but I hate that they've bought into something that's a big lie. I told them that many people in the medical profession believe that the vaccine link was fabricated, that it's basically been disproved, and now it's getting more press, yet they won't believe anyone about it.
I understand it's really really hard for families with autistic children. My exposure to my second cousins is very limited, yes, but I see that their parents struggle watching their children struggle. If I had an autistic child, I would want answers too. I think they so badly want something to blame for the autism that they will believe anything or anyone who can give a "cause" - even Jenny McCarthy is a "trusted source" in their lives. It's frustrating - would you trust Tom Cruise if he told you what caused cancer and how you could "cure" it? NO! So don't trust Jenny McCarthy on how you can "cure" autism and what caused it. Obviously I could go off about this for a while...
When Joe and I have children, we plan to follow vaccination standards.
jack | born 9.13.12 at 40w4d | 9 lbs 12 oz | 23 in
my puppy loves - chloe & jenson
pregnancy blog | chart
I hate when people throw this (and the "don't send them to school with my kid" crap) out there. If your child is vaccinated, you have nothing to fear from an unvaxed child. The unvaxed children are a threat to children who can not be vaccinated, whether because of age or medical reasons, NOT to children who have received them. A recently vaccinated child is actually more dangerous to an unvaxed child because the vaccines can shed, and the unvaxed child has no protection.
That said, we vaccinate, on an alternative schedule. I want to know what she's reacting to, if she has one, and our pediatrician is 10000% on board. We did skip rotavirus (not by choice, but by clinic mistake), we are skipping chicken pox (she will get this if she never gets them) and she will either get MMR when they are available separated again, or before she starts school.
I think all parents should do research, and not follow any one thing blindly.
Acutally - I think that this "crap" is still valid. If my theoretical 5 year old spends time with an unvaccinated friend who has been exposed to one of the vaccinatable diseases and then comes home to a household where there is an unvaccinated infant they could theoretically transmit a bug. Not all of them are airbourne and not all of them are shortlived. Or - as I'm finding out - not all the vaccines that they thought were going to provide lasting immunity are actually doing that. I think that if you're going to go to the trouble of reducing the risk to your child by vaccinating, you'd try to reduce their risk of accidental exposure wouldn't you? just my $.02.