Immunizations - Lufkin,TX

There is absolutely no evidence that immunizations contribute to autism. There are rare adverse vaccine events (allergic reactions) and some occasional side effects (fever, soreness at the vaccination site) which are much less common than severe signs of the diseases kids are vaccinated for. There were 164,000 measles deaths in the world in 2008 - completely preventable. Virtually all the US cases of measles have been in unvaccinated children and adolescents. Pertussis is still around and can be a severe or fatal disease in infants under 6 months of age. As the percentage of a population that is vaccinated drops, the risk of epidemic and endemic diseases reappearing increases.
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Both my kids have gotten all their immunizations. All my brothers and sisters and family members (I'm in my 30's) have gotten all their immunizations. No one has ever had problems. I would rather have my child have these than get some serious disease - but that is my opinion. Everyone is different and will react different.

If your child is going to daycare, I would certainly vaccinize my child. All you need is for a child in the group not to be and for them to bring whooping cough or a different PREVENTABLE disease to the daycare and your child will get it.

If we stop vaccinating, more and more cases of these diseases will start cropping up. The only reason people can get away without vaccinating is that the majority of the population does.

I have three children. My first born received all of the vaccinations. He is above grade level, scores every year in the 99% in standardize testing and plays ice hockey. My middle one is as bright and knows his mathmatical factorials. He is too young to have taken standardize testing. He does have a speech issue but I don't believe that is due to the fact that I had him get his vaccinations.

I have done my research because I was afraid of the possible reactions.

The one thing I did notice is that my boys got mild fevers after the shots. So with my third child, I have spread out the vaccinations farther apart than the doctors reccomend. I just go back to the office and they ask me which ones I would like now. We are caught up at 15 months and she has never cried or fussed or gotten a fever. The nurses are always happy to see us because she does not get a chance to get upset. The one or two shots at a time does not let her have time to fuss.

Could you not immunize and never get any the diseases they cover? Sure. But why take the chance? I know that if my baby got whooping cough because I refused to vaccinate and died, I would never forgive myself. I guess it is all what you can live with and take chances with.

Good luck!

why wouldn't you want to vaccinate your child for things like whooping cough if he will be in daycare? I'm not saying vaccinate for everything but there are some that I think are much more important then others and whooping cough is one of them. also make sure you and dad are current on your whooping cough vaccine.
Momof3 needs to recheck her facts because there have been a lot of measels outbreaks and also whooping cough outbreaks because people fail to get their boosters as adults and because people don't vaccinate. I don't agree with vaccinating for hep B at a day old but things like polio, whooping cough, measles, etc are not something to mess with.

Daycare's require immunizations to protect your child as well as everyone's children from contagious, life threatenting diseases. Please don't try to get around them if you are sending your child to daycare.

Hi Chandra,

There are many ways to get exemptions from vaccines. This is still a free country. I chose religious reasons and I can explain them in detail if your interested. let me know and we can talk privately.

The controversy over vaccines is really a straw dog. Many build up reasons and then others tear it down. To the point, the theory of vaccinations is not necessarily bad BUT vaccinations TODAY are different than when we had them. The vaccines I got as a child were for lifethreatening diseases and also, they were preserved through refrigeration. They were also made in single doses not doses of 10 split up for multiple children (a new method that makes more money for the pharmaceutical industry and causes the vaccines to not be the same potency). Now vaccines are preserved through synthetic chemicals. Synthetic chemicals contraindicate and cause multiple symptoms. Whether or not autism can be proven as directly related to vaccinations or not is not really important. Autism and other nuerological problems are caused by chemical toxicity that does brain damage. Most infants are born with MANY synthetic chemicals already in their bodies from when they were in utero. THAT has been proven through multiple studies. When another chemical is added there will be a reaction. Some are not extreme, some are. You as the parent make the decision.

Just FYI, my kids rarely get sick and because we dodge synthetic chemicals in our home, our food and what we wear, our immune systems are strong and we tend not to catch things. There are other ways to build the immune system as well. Like I said, it's your call.

"and the stuff babies get vaccinated for (like measles, mumps, rubella) doesn't exist anymore!! People got M, M, and R like 50-100 years ago - people don't get that today!"
BECAUSE OF VACCINATIONS.
And there has been a rise in Mumps and Measles because people aren't vaccinating.
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/6...
MONDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- What began as a family trip to Switzerland in 2008 ended up as a public health nightmare in California.

The family's 7-year-old boy, who was intentionally unvaccinated against measles, was exposed to the virus while traveling in Europe. When he returned home to San Diego, he unknowingly exposed a total of 839 people, and an additional 11 unvaccinated children contracted the disease.

Three of those infected were babies, too young to have yet received the measles vaccines, and one of the babies was hospitalized for three days with a 106-degree fever, according to a report to be published in the April issue of Pediatrics.
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/in-the-news/measles.aspx
People don't realize how serous this stuff really is.
And newsflash people . VACCINES DO NOT CAUSE AUTISM .
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/12...

Pertussis... is epidemic in some States. Some kids die from it. In my State a baby died from it. The symptoms in children are different from an adult. And in the case of the baby who died... the baby actually got it from his parent... but the parent just thought he had a regular 'cold.' It was not.

If your child is in an environment... where MANY other kids or adults will be.... he can and will be susceptible to whatever is going around... from basic colds to things that are more serious and/or contagious... or deadly....
As I said, children and adults, present different symptoms for the same illness/disease etc. But in children, it is usually more serious...

Certain diseases.... are cropping up again... because many more are not vaccinating.
It is also highly recommended, that Adults... get booster shots... for certain diseases... and for Pertussis.

As to Rachel K's post, I choose which vaccinations I feel are important. Whooping cough. . yeah. Chicken pox. . .not so much. Thing like that. But as to your question, ask them for a waver. Some states have a religious/personal reason waver. I would go to your health department and ask about what you would need.
I really liked Doctor Sear's Vaccination book. After I read it, I know exactly which shot I want to give and which ones I don't. He gives a very unbiased factual reference guide. So if you haven't read it, do it.
P.s. If you do choose to fully not vaccinate your baby, then you are going to have to develop a thick skin towards those who will tear you down and try to convince you that you are wrong (like the posters bellow) Just stick to your guns and believe what you want, do what you want, and keep your head high.

I, too was confused when my little guy was born. There is a LOT of conflicting information available to us.

However, as another wise mama posted here, my decision to immunize came down to... could I live with myself with my child contracted a disease & died from it because I hadn't gotten him immunized?

That being said, I asked my doctors to space out his shots, he never got them all at one time, but he received his shots in a timely manner. It meant more trips to the doctors office for me, but also gave me some peace of mind.

I also truly believe we have a social duty to help keep ALL of us safe. When one case of whooping cough comes up, it is never long before another does & another. We're all sharing one big planet.

Try researching exactly what your child will be vaccinated for, the disease itself, instead of a long list of pros & cons. This helped me be educated.

I stopped vaccinating my kids. Western medicine says it protects you against illness and it is extremely important. Eastern (holistic, chiropractic) medicine says vaccinations are bad for you, and I believe it. There are heavy metals in vaccinations (mercury and alluminum are the ones that I know are in them). If a doctor claims it's mercury free, it is, however they added alluminum in it instead, which is just as bad. I also heard that vaccinations only are 30% effective, and the stuff babies get vaccinated for (like measles, mumps, rubella) doesn't exist anymore!! People got M, M, and R like 50-100 years ago - people don't get that today! Anyway, you are going to get a ton of responses on this very controversial subject and people are going to say mean things (probably about my post, since I am anti vaccines). However, I will say that if children are healthy and have healthy immune systems, then I don't think vaccinations will harm them, since their bodies are healthy and will be able to push out the heavy metals on its own. My oldest son, was Autistic, which means he had a compromized immune system and his body was not able to push out all of the harmful heavy metals. Good luck with your decision.

Oh! Almost forgot - I also live in TX, and know that Texas is a good state in which to live regarding getting exempt from vaccinations. You contact the TX Dept. of Health by phone or fax requesting a vaccination exempt form. It will be mailed to you within 2-3 weeks. You then fill it out and get it notarized, and return it to the director of your child's daycare, and you are set.

Obviously, you will have to choose for yourself what to do; however, I don't see why people even question vaccines. Were you vaccinated as a child? I was, all my friends and cousins were... we all turned out just fine. As for my child, he has been given all of his vaccines, and personally, I would have a definite problem if a "non-vaccinated" child spread some type of contagious disease (chicken pox, measles, etc) while in daycare with him. I'm surprised that a daycare would even consider children with exemptions due to liability issues.

This is a controversial topic. You shouldn't rely on "facts" gathered from Internet land; instead, talk to your pediatrician. When I discussed it with our pedi, she mentioned that certain conditions/diseases in your family history tend to have a higher incidence of autism. However, this past summer, there were several studies released that say vaccines are not related to autism... I'm sure your pedi will discuss those findings.

You will get advice from Mama's from various states, however please keep in mind that Texas borders Mexico and, as a resident of Texas, you and your newborn have a high probability of having contact with someone from Mexico or with someone who has had contact with someone from Mexico. Many of the diseases we vaccinate against are not widely vaccinated in Mexico and other South American regions.

My opinion is that children need these shots.
But if you don't then you can claim religious reasons for not having him immunized. I'm sure the school or dr's office has the paperwork.

Don't vaccinate. It's amazing to me how many people believe that diseases are coming back because of the anti vaccine movement. All diseases circulate about every ten years. They cause WAY more harm than good. Become a fan of Dr. Tenpenny on facebook. Ask all your questions there. Lots of well educated people can help you there. You wont vaccinate after being on her page. And, all you have to do is get a religious exemption form.

You do not have to vaccinate your child, now or ever, to have him included in daycare or school. Texas has 3 types of expemptions. You can read more here:
http://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requiremen...
Congrats on your baby.

Chandra,
I only read down a few of the replies and I wanted to let you know my experience. Autism is by far not the most serious complication of vaccinating children at such a young age. Listen and talk to some of the parents who's children died on the way home from the dr's office because it was just too much for their small bodies! I am not against all vaccinations, I AM against vaccinating very small children whose bodies are not yet developed enough to rid itself of all of those excess toxins.
In answer to your question: You have to check the laws in your state! Here in Pennsylvania, I can request immunity from the law based on religious beliefs. This includes moral conviction that you believe strongly-as you would a religious belief. My oldest son, who was talking at 8 months, went for his 15 month vaccinations and didnt speak another word- not a sound for 6 months. I work with him for hours each day, in addition to the state sending someone, and at 2.5 yrs old, I would say he is just now speaking at a 12 month level. Very scary-I have no idea what trauma his body went thru to cause this- but it is sobering to me, because as his mother I should have made wiser choices for him! Ask to look at the warning/side effects of the vaccinations, consider the disease, and its relevance in our day, and as a parent only you can make the choice as to which odds you want to chance!

Daycare and school are two different things, school you can get around it, most daycares you can not. You need to see if the daycare you are using has exceptions to immunizations, if not then you must get them to have your child attend.

Get your child immunizations please it is for your child safety. What is their to be confused about. Did you have shots growing up and if so you are still here right. Please do your child a favor unless you want him to catch something he could have been protected from.

You can get an exemption. I stopped vaccinating both my kids after I realized my son has autism.

Religious exemption.