Report: Anti-vaxers gain momentum in the US

[3catwoman3]

56. OK - once more with feeling.

(I have typed several "theme and variations" of this message in other vaccination threads and I hate to type, so I am taking a short cut by copying-and-pasting the most recent one&gt .


I'm a pediatric nurse practitioner in a large private practice in a well educated and fairly affluent area of greater Chicago. I am reasonably successful in calming vaccine-reluctant parents who have bought into the "too-many-too-soon-overwhelm-the immune-system" BS when I explain the following:

1. Newborns are exposed to thousands of antigens in the everyday world the moment they are born, and generally handle this just fine.

2. There are more immunizations today - completely true. The total number of all the antigens contained all the immunizations given in the first 6 months is less than the antigens that used to be in a single smallpox vaccination. More protection from fewer antigens. Pretty damn good deal.

3. 100-150 years ago, 16% of children died before they were 5 because of devastating illness we can now protect against.

It was quite interesting, during the first "swine" flu outbreak a few seasons ago, everyone wanted the flu shot - they didn't care if it had a preservative in it, and they were upset when we ran out. The perceived risk was great enough that people didn't obsess over fears not supported by research.

We have one family in our practice whose mom was not vaccine averse (educated as a nurse practitioner but never employed as such), but terribly afraid that either the wrong thing would be administered, or a vaccine would not be prepared properly. She insisted that the immunizations be reconstituted and drawn up in front of her every single time so she could observe every step of the process. Unusual, but we accommodated her request. She was very worried about pretty much anything and everything. Imagine our surprise when, in the middle of the SARS epidemic in China, the family decided to go there so the kids could study Mandarin. Go figure.

An additional thought - if someone tells you they got the flu despite getting the flu shot, ask them which "kind" of flu they mean. Way too many people say the flu when they are talking about vomiting and diarrhea. The so-called "stomach flu" has absolutely NOTHING to do with influenza.