Mom's Talk - To Vaccinate or To Not Vaccinate

This week's Mom's Talk topic is a straightforward, if controversial one: Vaccinations. A couple of decades ago, it seemed as though parents didn't think twice about getting their kids vaccinated. But times have changed. Some have linked vaccines to a myriad of health problems, most notably autism. While others say the links are overblown and exceedingly rare. Our Moms weigh in:

Mom #1

All my kids have received their vaccinations.  I know parents are sometimes apprehensive because of all the reports of autism occurring after children have been vaccinated.  However, I think the risk of NOT getting vaccinated far outweighs the risk of getting vaccinated.  Children should also get their flu shots every year.  Everyone I know who did get the flu this year, did not get their flu shot. Modern medicine is a wonderful thing.

Mom #2

My daughter's vaccines are up to date and I do believe in the proven vaccines. It seems irresponsible to your child and others not to vaccinate, but I don't think it's so black and white, either. When you think about what it was like when polio was rampant, for example, it's an easy call -- how could you not vaccinate your child? On the other hand, I am hesitant about making my child a guinea pig for new vaccines. When she was a baby, I did follow her pediatrician's advice and gave her a new vaccine against rotovirus. I did as much reading about it as I could, given how new it was. But some children who had the vaccine developed problems and it was taken off the market. Luckily my daughter was fine. But I learned that waiting may not be a bad thing. So even though my daughter at 12 is old enough for the cervical cancer vaccine, I am waiting a few years because there seems to be a lot we don't know about it. Philosophically, of course I want to protect my daughter against cancer. But practically, I want to see a little more research. I don't know what I would do if she was 16 or 17 now. I have friends who felt they couldn't wait and have vaccinated their daughters. I haven't heard of any problems among them, so I find that reassuring. I'm glad I can put off my decision, although others may disagree with me.       

That's my official statement. I didn't know if I had room for more, like my thoughts on chicken pox parties. Why suffer through it when you can vaccinate, but I know kids who got the vaccine and still got it. And even though they swear there's no link to autism, they say a lot of things that don't turn out to be true.