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Add to FavoritesAn ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Vaccines provide that ounce of prevention by working with your body's immune system to generate immunity to a disease-causing microorganism. To suggest that vaccinations hurt the immune system demonstrates a lack of understanding of just how the immune system works.
The immune system is the body's amazingly complex standing army: a collection of millions of cells, tissues and organs that work together to fight off the invading hordes of bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi that wash up on its shores - our mouths, noses, cuts and scrapes - every minute of every day. Your immune system is an ever vigilant defender, scanning these challenges without tiring. Millions of different enemies are encountered by the immune system: most are remembered in a long term databank of specialized memory cells, and intricate communication networks allow the establishment of a rapid response that detects and then repels or kills the invaders.
The immune system does its amazing job by way of things called antigens and antibodies. An invading organism has proteins that are different from the body's normal proteins. These foreign proteins are broken down into little bits: antigens. Antibodies are then made that recognize these antigens, and it is the antibodies that are central to the whole immune system, directing the killing cells to the invaders.
Without vaccines, the only way to become immune to a disease is by surviving it. Luckily for us, this does happens. Often we are infected with a disease-causing organism, but are asymptomatic: we do not even know we are sick. But the immune system does. It identifies the invader, stores its antigen signature in its database and then wipes it out.
Vaccines are antigens: sometimes an attenuated (weakened) virus; sometimes a purified fragment from a specific viral protein. They work in the same way as asymptomatic infections. The vaccine is recognized as foreign by the immune system and a response is mounted to it. The vaccine itself does not - cannot - cause a disease. Weakened or killed viruses do not make you sick; purified fragments of proteins do not make toxins. It's like the army running a preparedness drill. Now that they have seen that invader, they know how to react the next time. When they see the real virus or bacteria, they know just what to do.
The vaccines are specifically selected to induce a strong immune response. They work by the body's own natural mechanisms. What medicine is better than one that gets your own body to do all the work? As such, however, it is normal to have a slight swelling and soreness at the site of the injection when being vaccinated. This is your immune system doing its job. There is a chance of a major allergic reaction - anaphylaxis - to any vaccine. This is when the body overreacts to the vaccine and the result can be extended fever and even, in very rare cases, death. Such extreme reactions are rare, but this is an issue you should talk about with your doctor. Often such reactions are actually to egg products used in the vaccine production, not the vaccine itself. Who knew they made flu vaccine in chicken eggs? Alternatives are often available and, if an egg-allergy is indicated, should be taken instead.
An ounce of prevention indeed! Vaccines work with the body to provide a lifetime of defense against pathogens that kill and maim. Even with the very slight chances of side effects, I'd say that was worth more like a ton of cure. Vaccinations most definitely help!
Learn more about this author, Richard Heath.
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Hurt
Afraid to vaccinate your children? Afraid not to? Both?
Educating Ourselves About Vaccines
Both vaccines and the diseases they were created to suppress carry potentially disastrous and deadly risks. When we choose to vaccinate, as well as when we choose not to, we are making a decision that carries the risk of harm to our children. We must educate ourselves about these risks and weigh them carefully before making our decisions.
Vaccines are a universal approach to preventing diseases in an individual, at least temporarily. The occurrence of vaccine-injury and death to vaccinated children challenges this universal approach. Side effects that affect some but not others exemplify that our bodies respond in an individual, not universal, way to vaccines and other drugs. Based on a study in 1998, drug side effects were found among the top 10 causes of death in the United States.
A bombardment of vaccines are currently given to children early in life, constituting their first immunological experiences. Many parents and health professionals question the wisdom of this practice as scientific evidence indicates that vaccines may damage a child's immature immune system contributing to the development of autoimmune (allergies, asthma, juvenile diabetes) and neurological disorders (autism.)
Children who contract diseases in developed countries with available nutritious foods, sanitary conditions, and standard medical care can recover without complications and with lifetime immunity to those diseases. Vaccines only provide temporary protection. Is it wise to prevent our children from contracting certain infections naturally, by instead giving them only temporary protection with potentially disastrous side effects? Are we trading infectious diseases for chronic disorders?
It is a fact that vaccines injure and kill some children. Is it ethical for governments to command by law that some of us sacrifice our children "for the greater good?" If vaccines truly provided immunity to diseases, those who chose to vaccinate would have nothing to fear from those who chose not to.
A 1998 study published in British Medical Journal' found that pertussis infection (whooping cough) occurs in vaccinated people in the Netherlands, Norway, and Denmark despite vaccination rates as high as 96 percent. Also in 1998, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a measles outbreak in Alaska in which over half of the children had received the vaccination.
Before deciding to vaccinate your children, study each vaccine and disease carefully. Consider both the severity of possible complications from diseases and the possible adverse side-effects of vaccines. We need not put blind faith in the efficiency of vaccines or in chance. We have the ability to protect our children in the way that we feel is right for them, as individuals.
Being a supporter of natural parenting, my position on vaccination is decidedly against. However, this is not because I believe in throwing up my hands to nature. Let me give you some information to help you make disease-prevention decisions that you feel good about, be they non-vaccination, selective or delayed vaccination, or full vaccination.
Most parents agree that it is our response-ABILITY to protect our children. We have the ABILITY to protect them from diseases. If we choose not to vaccinate, we don't have to sit passively by while hoping nature favors our beloved children. There are many things we can do toward preventing them from suffering diseases and chronic disorders.
Protecting Our Unvaccinated Children
Whether or not you choose to vaccinate your children, you can take steps to prevent infectious disease by thoroughly educating yourself and your children about how these diseases are spread, and by leading a healthy lifestyle with a focus on optimum nutrition (beginning with breastmilk!), adequate physical exercise, good personal hygiene, sanitary practices, stress reduction, and a positive attitude.
Give your children the immune support they deserve by breastfeeding them for as long as you and they desire. Breastmilk provides optimum nutrition and health benefits for babies and mothers. It contains immunities to diseases and aids in the development of your baby's immune system. Breastmilk contains cells that kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Artificial infant formula provides sub-standard nutrition and does NOT contain protective properties.
You may also choose to explore alternative disease prevention and treatment options such as the long-practiced home homeopathic method which uses minute doses of natural substances to stimulate and enhance your child's natural defense mechanisms thus preventing or minimizing targeted diseases.
Many infections are spread via coughing and sneezing. Teach your children to avoid contact with discharge from the noses and throats of others, and support a habit of frequent hand washing, especially after using the bathroom and before eating.
Keep in mind that many of the diseases listed below are not serious when contracted by otherwise healthy children. Recovery from most of these diseases provides lifelong immunity.
Know the diseases, their symptoms, prevention, and treatment. Of the vaccines listed below which are recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Hepatitis B, Hib, Polio, DTaP, Pneumo, MMR, Varicella, and Hepatitis A), the diseases targeted are Hepatitis B, Haemophilus Influenzae type b, Poliomyelitis, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Pneumococcal Conjugate, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Chicken Pox (Varicella), and Hepatitis A.
Hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver. It is NOT a childhood disease. Only those babies born to infected mothers are at risk. Hepatitis B is contracted through direct contact with an infected person's bodily fluids. Those at risk include IV drug users and sexually active persons. Ninety to ninety-five percent of persons who contract Hepatitis B recover completely after a few weeks of nausea, fatigue, headache, arthritis, jaundice, and tender liver.
Haemophilus Influenzae type b is a bacterial infection of the nose and throat. It is spread through contact with discharge from the nose and throat of an infected person. Meningitis (swelling in the coverings of the brain and spinal cord) is a potentially fatal complication. Hib disease occurs most often in children between three months and two years, seldom in those over five years old. Hib disease is treatable with antibiotics.
Poliomye litis is a viral infection, by any one of three viruses, spread through contact with an infected person's stool. Hands and eating utensils are the common vehicles of spread. Infected persons may have no symptoms or they may experience headache, tiredness, fever, stiff neck and back, and muscle pain. Polio can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis. There is no treatment for polio.
Diphtheria is a bacterial infection of the nose and throat. It is spread through contact with discharge from the nose and throat of an infected person. Early symptoms are sore throat and mild fever. The bacterium produces a toxin that is carried in the bloodstream which can build up and cause life-threatening complications. Diphtheria is treated with an antitoxin and antibiotics.
Tetanus (also known as lockjaw) is a bacterial infection contracted through contact, via an open wound such as a deep puncture or cut, with spores found in soil, dust, and animal waste. The first symptoms of Tetanus are headache and spasms or cramping of the jaw muscles. The infection progressively attacks more muscle groups. Most people who contract the disease recover within two months, but some die. Tetanus is treated by managing complications. Tetanus can be prevented through proper wound care (cleaning, removing dead tissue) and by treating infected wounds with antibiotics.
Pertussi s (also known as whooping cough) is a bacterial infection of the respiratory tract. It is spread through contact with discharge from the nose and throat of an infected person. Early symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, low-grade fever, and a mild cough progressing to a more violent cough. Symptoms are typically milder in young infants, teens, and adults than in older infants and children. Pertussis is treatable with antibiotics.
Pneumoco ccal Disease is a bacterial infection of the nose and throat. This infection can cause pneumonia (infection of the lung), bacteraemia (infection of the blood) and meningitis (infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord.) Pneumococcal infection can be dangerous to immune-compromised persons. Pneumococcal disease is treatable with antibiotics.
Measles is a viral infection of the respiratory system. It is spread through contact with discharge from the nose and throat of an infected person. Measles virus can live in the air for two hours after leaving the infected person via coughing and sneezing. Symptoms begin with runny nose, cough, and a slight fever progressing to red, sensitive eyes, and higher fever, then progressing further to red rash on face, chest, back, arms, legs, hands, and feet. Serious complications include pneumonia and encephalitis (swelling of the brain.) Treatment of measles is aimed at relieving discomfort of the symptoms.
Mumps is a viral infection of the salivary glands. It is spread through contact with saliva and discharge from the nose and throat of an infected person. Symptoms include severe swelling and soreness of the cheeks and jaw. Early symptoms include neck or ear pain, loss of appetite, tiredness, headache, and low fever. Rare complications include hearing loss, encephalitis, meningitis, and swelling of the testicles. Treatment of mumps is aimed at relieving discomfort of the symptoms.
Rubella (also known as German measles) is a mild viral infection. It is spread through contact with discharge from the nose and throat of an infected person. Symptoms include a rash of fine, pink spots. Infected adults may experience mild fever, headache, reddened eyes, swollen glands, tiredness, and joint pain. Rubella is dangerous to unborn babies. There is no treatment for Rubella. The infection clears up within a couple of days.
Chicken Pox (Varicella) is a viral infection that causes a mild fever and an outbreak of itchy skin blisters on the scalp, face, and torso. It is spread through direct contact with fluid from broken blisters or through the air by coughing or sneezing. Chicken pox can be dangerous in adults and immune-compromised children. Skin infections are prevented by not scratching and keeping blisters clean. Chicken pox is treatable with anti-viral medication.
Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver. It is contracted through contact with the stool of an infected person. It can survive at room temperature on objects and surfaces. Hepatitis A can be prevented by good personal hygiene, sanitary conditions, and safe food handling. Children often experience no symptoms while adults may experience fever, tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, or stomach ache, dark urine, and jaundice. Hepatitis A does not cause lasting liver damage. The disease clears up within a few weeks.
Learn more about this author, Sara Mcgrath.
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