Friday, February 10, 2012

Vaccine debate and the 2012 Immunization Schedule

 The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Academy of Family Physicians have approved the 2012 vaccine schedule.

 Vaccination can be a debatable topic. Some parents prefer to not vaccinate their children believing that it could cause more harm than good. In fact, a study published in the journal of Pediatrics in March 2010 showed that one in four parents was concerned that vaccines could cause autism. “I don’t think we should expect that the science is going to completely counter what is a largely emotional response,” said Dr. Margaret C. Fisher, ex-medical director of the Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, N.J. in 2010. “We are at a time in this country where there is a general distrust of science. I don’t think people distrust their individual doctors, but there is distrust of the medical establishment.”

In 1998,  Dr. Andrew Wakefield, M.D. published an article in the British medical journal (The Lancet) suggesting that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine could cause symptoms associated with autism.

After that article, parents started to question if vaccination was really necessary and some of them preferred not to vaccinate their children.

Cases as of the actress Jenny McCarthy, who has a son with autism and believes it may have been caused by vaccines, also help lend credibility to the idea that autism could be caused by vaccination.

Some parents who are against vaccination say that some of ingredients in various vaccines are formaldehyde, aluminum, lead, sulfates, egg proteins and mercury among others. They believe that these ingredients can't be good for a child. The CDC Ingredients of Vaccines - Fact Sheet says that minute amounts of chemical additives is necessary to ensure that vaccines are potent, sterile and safe. They also say that vaccines manufactured for the U.S. market contain no thimerosal (mercury containing preservative) or only trace amounts.

Since 1998, many studies have been published from different researchers showing no relationship between autism and vaccines. According with Alison Tepper Singer, founder and president of the Autism Science Foundation, who has a daughter and an older brother with autism, "There is no link between vaccines and autism."

In 2009, The Lancet retracted Dr. Wakefield's study and in 2010, Dr. Wakefield had his medical license revoked in his native UK.

On the Autism Science Foundation, National Autism Association and Autism Society websites you can find articles about the debate:

What Causes Autism
May 2003  - Mercury in Medicine - Taking Unnecessary Risks
2004           - An investigation of the Association between MMR Vaccination and Autism in Denmark
06/11/2007 - http://support.autism-society.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=9659
05/19/2008 - National Autism Association Press Release 
05/22/2008 - http://support.autism-society.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=11433
09/04/2008 - Lack of Association between Measles Virus Vaccine and Autism with Enteropathy: A Case-Control Study
09/13/2010 - CDC Study Shows No Vaccine, Autism Link
01/05/2011 - Study Linking Autism, Vaccines Deemed an "Elaborate Fraud"
09/19/2011 - Behind the Vaccine Science: An Interview with Dr. Paul Offit, Author of Deadly Choices, How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All

I am not here to support nor to judge parents. The more questions we ask, the more studies are published on both sides and more information we have to make a conscious decision.

The AAP and the CDC still recommend vaccination as the best way to prevent diseases and the current immunization schedule is as follow:


1 - Children 0 - 6 years old:

FIGURE 1 
You can click on it to see it larger.
Source: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/2/385.full


2 - Children and Adolescents 7 - 18 years old:

FIGURE 2
You can click on it to see it larger.
Source: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/2/385.full


3 - Adults:

The figure shows the recommended adult immunization schedule, by vaccine and age group in the United States for 2012. For Figure 1, the bar for Tdap/Td for persons 65 years and older has been changed to a yellow and purple hashed bar to indicate that persons in this age group should receive 1 dose of Tdap if they are a close contact of an infant younger than 12 months of age. However, other persons 65 and older who are not close contacts of infants may receive either Tdap or Td.
 The 19-26 years age group was divided into 19-21 years and 22-26 years age groups. The HPV vaccine bar was split into separate bars for females and males. The recommendation for all males 19-21 years to receive HPV is indicated with a yellow bar, and a purple bar is used for 22-26 year old males to indicate that the vaccine is only for certain high-risk groups.


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11 comments:

  1. we did not get our children vaccinated against with the chicken pox vaccine because it is derived from aborted babies. my 8 kids endured the chicken pox...
    i am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am sorry your kids had to go through that:( I also had it when I was a child.
      I'm following you back!

      Delete
  2. Thank you. I had heard things like that and it freaked me out, but I knew our little boy needed his vaccinations. So glad that that article has been debunked.

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    Replies
    1. You are welcome! My daughter has also been vaccinated!

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  3. Vaccinated! Thanks for following me on Linky. Here to return the favor! xo Not Your Ordinary Agent
    Not Your Ordinary Recipes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for stopping by! My daughter has also been vaccinated!

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    2. Stopping by again to let you know that I got your stumble. This is an excellent one to pass on! here i go!

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  4. Thank you for reaching out to me on bloggymoms. Your blog is full of valuable information and great writing! Looking forward to future posts :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Candice! Looking forward to your posts as well!

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  5. Hello! I'm following you through Linky! It would be great if you could follow me on my two sites: www.peaceloverecipes.com and www.optimisticmommy.com .

    Thank you so much!
    -Courtney

    ReplyDelete

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