Dear ryerye-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.
This question arises from time to time and warrants new studies and
new interest in the matter. As a parent myself I too share your
important concerns. Without question there have indeed been some
instances in which some children were believed to have been
irreparably damaged as a direct result of one of the various forms of
vaccinations and while this is certainly a tragedy, in truth it is an
extremely rare occurrence given the number of successfully inoculated
children.
A few years ago a British medical journal, ?The Lancet? published a
report by Gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield that suggested a
possible link between immunization for measles, mumps and rubella
(MMR), and autism and inflammatory bowel diseases (such as Crohn's
disease) in young children. Many reputable scientists rushed to
dispute Wakefield?s findings accusing his study of being rife with
errors. The Centers For Disease Control published these articles,
partly in their response to concerns generated by Wakefield?s claims:
AUTISM: FAQS (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS) ABOUT MMR VACCINE & AUTISM
(MEASLES, MUMPS, AND RUBELLA)
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/autism/autism-mmr.htm
The CDC maintains that today?s vaccinations are safer than they have
ever been in this same article says it ?recognizes there is
considerable public interest in this issue, and therefore supports
additional research regarding this hypothesis. CDC is committed to
maintaining the safest, most effective vaccine supply in history.?
TIME TRENDS IN AUTISM AND IN MMR IMMUNIZATION COVERAGE IN CALIFORNIA
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/autism/cadata.htm
MMR VACCINES: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/VIS/vis-mmr.pdf
To allay concerns the CDC offered these scientific conclusions:
?The Committee concluded that the vast majority of cases of autism
cannot be caused by MMR vaccine?While the available information does
not implicate MMR as a cause of individual cases of autism, the
information is insufficient to totally exclude MMR as a cause of
autism in rare instances. No epidemiologic study or clinical trial can
ever establish that a vaccine is absolutely safe or that a particular
vaccine reaction never occurs.?
NEWS
MMR VACCINE & AUTISM: AN INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE (IOM) REPORT
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/news/iom-04-24.htm
?Scientific studies have found no relationship between measles vaccine
and inflammatory bowel disease?The CDC recommends two doses of MMR
vaccine for all children.?
AUTISM: MEASLES VACCINE AND INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE (IBD)
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/autism/ibd-mmr-facts.htm
As for the time frame for vaccinations the Centers for Disease Control
says this (supported by research from the American Academy of
Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians):
?The CDC recommends that children get two doses of MMR vaccine, the
first at 12-15 months of age and the second at 4-6 years of age.?
AUTISM: MEASLES VACCINE AND INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE (IBD)
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/autism/ibd-mmr-facts.htm
As for delaying vaccinations, the breakup of the already stage
oriented vaccination therapy is not recommended. The delay itself of
course puts a child at greater risk of the diseases in which the
vaccinations are designed to prevent:
?Splitting the MMR vaccine into three separate doses given at three
different times would cause more discomfort from additional injections
and would leave children exposed to potentially serious diseases. For
instance, if rubella vaccine were delayed, 4 million children would be
susceptible to rubella for an additional 6 to 12 months. This would
potentially allow otherwise preventable cases of congenital rubella
syndrome (CRS) to occur through transmission of rubella from infected
children to pregnant women.?
AUTISM: FAQS (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS) ABOUT MMR VACCINE & AUTISM
(MEASLES, MUMPS, AND RUBELLA)
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/autism/autism-mmr.htm
The National Vaccine Information Center (http://www.909shot.com/), a
group that challenges the safety and necessity of child vaccinations,
wants it?s audience to believe that vaccinations cause sudden infant
death syndrome (SIDS), autism, attention deficit disorder, brain
damage and autoimmune conditions such as asthma, diabetes, arthritis
and multiple sclerosis. To be a responsible parent though one must
distinguish between known side effects and unproven reactions and at
the same time weigh the chances of their child developing a serious
infectious disease if he or she is not vaccinated.
It is probably important to note that the smallpox vaccine and the
Hepatitis B vaccines are actually the ones of late that seen to have
generated more concern; perhaps because more attention has been given
in the last few years to these diseases than in the past. Certainly
however, to contract either one of these diseases could be
catastrophic indeed while the unlikely risks associated with the
vaccinations themselves pales in comparison:
WORLD NET DAILY
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30076
With regard vaccination alternatives, there have been some largely
unregulated holistic approaches but of course these are not all
scientifically validated and quite frankly have never proven to be
scientific alternatives to childhood vaccinations to such a degree
that any reputable medical organization appears willing to support
them over the proven and commonly used methods of inoculation.
In all fairness however, here are some articles concerning the
holistic approaches and others:
VACCINATION INFORMATION INTERNET RESOURCES
http://www.holisticmed.com/www/vaccine.html
In summary, research tends to support the findings that childhood
vaccinations, when given properly in the recommended time frame, are
more than relatively safe. In addition it appears that scientific
research also seems to support the idea that without the vaccinations
a child is at much greater risk of contracting one of the
life-threatening diseases than he is to suffer ill side effects from
the vaccination itself.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
BALANCE TV.CA
http://www.balancetv.ca/balancetv/client/en/Wellness/DetailNews.asp?idNews=598
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
http://www.cdc.gov/
VACCINATION INFORMATION INTERNET RESOURCES
http://www.holisticmed.com/www/vaccine.html
WORLD NET DAILY
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30076
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