Saturday, September 21, 2013

Vaccine vacillation

As regulars here know, C, who was born with moderate developmental delay, was vaccinated against MMR when she was 14 months old. Within 10 days she began seizing. Since then, we have never even considered vaccinating her against anything. Not even the flu.

True, every doctor we've asked has denied a possible link between the MMR and the advent of C.'s epilepsy. They aren't swayed by her perfectly normal EEG at the age of 10 months, and refuse to concede that  neurologically impaired children are at a higher risk for vaccine injury.

We're not surprised by their reaction.  They are probably afraid of that slippery slope to mass vaccine refusals.

Fortunately we've never been pressured at C.'s school to vaccinate her. And now we learn that we are not alone. Many parents refuse to give the flu vaccine to their children with disabilities. See "CDC: Half Of Kids With Disabilities Skip Flu Shots"

To be clear: we only avoid vaccines for C. We're scrupulous about the annual flu vaccine for my daughter with IBD who is immune-suppressed by her meds. And I wouldn't dream of discouraging vaccinations for my grand-children. 

Note: I left a comment at the Disability Scoop site article under the pseudonym the hubby concocted for me, "Mary Silenti".

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