Did you have Chicken Pox as a kid?
This childhood rite of passage illness is getting obliterated, or at a minimum "put on hold" - by the push to give children yet another childhood vaccination.
I've gone on record with Juice Box Jungle and weighed in how I feel about Vaccines and Chicken Pox parties. I want my kids to get chicken pox the good old fashioned way and not from a vaccine that doesn't work, hasn't been tested, and contains toxic questionable ingredients.
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My Stance:
I believe in vaccination choice. I am not against vaccination or all vaccines but rather firmly stand for education about vaccines - known risks, and the truth about side effects and ingredients. I do not agree with the number of vaccines that are mandated for children in the US today - 36 vaccines that are given rapidly and in combination cocktails to children carte blanche. Studies claim that "vaccines do not cause Autism" but the truth is that only 2 shots and a 1 single ingredient (Thimersol) have been vindicated. My son's story is one that many mothers of children with Autism will relate to. A child who was developing typically until receiving multiple shots at a well-visit who then became ill - stopped hitting milestones, lost speech and later regressed into Autism. When it came time for my second child to receive shots, I took a different approach. I vaccinated her cautiously - never more than a single shot per visit - and have declined some shots like the thimersol containing flu shot.
One shot that I do not agree with is the chicken pox vaccine. I'm almost 37 years old and I remember as a child having the chicken pox. At the time my older brother and sister had them too. I was a preschooler and one of my older siblings "brought it home" from school. We all got the chicken pox, and we were done with it. We didn't get vaccinated for the chicken pox, we built up natural immunity.
The push today is for children to receive 2 doses of the chicken pox shot. Here in New Jersey (Welcome to NJ: Got shots?) at least one dose is mandated before beginning Kindergarten - unless you can provide proof that your child has had the chicken pox. This vaccine is one that is being given for convenience sake. It was designed so kids get the jab and instead of the pox and parents don't have to take off from work and lose wages, kids won't miss school.
Oops - but the shot doesn't always work as planned. In some vaccinated children they end of developing a mild case of chicken pox from the shot alone. The bigger problem with the chicken pox vaccine is that the immunity doesn't last the way that natural immunity from having the actual virus normally does. Immunity from the vax, wears off and down the road your child (or maybe then teen or young adult) will get the chicken pox. Getting the chicken pox at a later age is far more dangerous and complicated. This most likely could have been avoided by having the chicken pox as a child. Instead, we are creating a culture of vaccination. And vaccination does not come without risk. Risk from the chicken pox vaccine includes fever and seizure. As a result of trying to "wipe out" the chicken pox virus, we are now creating more incidences of the very painful Shingles virus. In addition there have been no long term studies done on the chicken pox vaccine - not surprising.
Some questionable ingredients in the chicken pox vaccine include:
varicella live virus neomycin phosphate
sucrose
monosodium glutamate (MSG) processed gelatin
fetal bovine serum
guinea pig embryo cells
albumin from human blood
human diploid cells from aborted fetal tissue
sucrose
monosodium glutamate (MSG) processed gelatin
fetal bovine serum
guinea pig embryo cells
albumin from human blood
human diploid cells from aborted fetal tissue
EDTA - ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid
So, given the choice of my children receiving the vaccination or gaining immunity the natural way. I'd much rather they got chicken pox the good old fashioned way. If anyone knows of chicken pox parties taking place on the Jersey Shore, drop me a line!
Related Reading:
Why the Chicken Pox Virus is Nuts?
Chickenpox Party: Developing Natural Varicella Immunity
10 comments:
Interesting and timely, considering DH diagnosed with shingles TODAY. And now I need to find out if DD was vaccinated twice. Sigh.
having never had chicken pox myself I have always had the kids vaccinated for this. never considered any of this... seriously, thanks for all the info, as always you are a wealth of information!!!!
I agree, it does seem like the producers were pro vaccines, considering they had a Dr. give only one side of the story. The whole video comes across as a fluff-piece. I guess that is why you have to be careful who you do interviews for.
Thanks for looking into this. I would definitely go to a party rather than immunize and I would have immunized my children totally differently had I known then what I know now.
I totally agree with you and completely regret having my kids vaccinated for chicken pox.
I too have a son with autism and I whole-heartedly agree that shots were not the cause of his autism (which is not to say or not say it is the case for every kid).
If I had to do it all over again, I'd sign off on the same list of shots I got as a kid unless there was an exceptional reason why I should add one.
Excellent post!
A couple of years ago when son #2 was thought to have chicken pox (turned out he didn't), I got a phone call from the city board of health!
After a bit, I asked her if they weren't blowing this out of proportion when in our day the thing to do was get together with other kids and get it over with.
The explanation she gave was that there were so many more children who were immuno-compromised than in our day (premies and others who would not have survived 30 years ago), that they couldn't allow exposure to the general public and that he would have to be vaccinated anyway if he turned out he didn't have it.
I had the chicken pox when I was 9 months old, Calahan had them when he was 3 ... Noah, got the shot (and I was so mad when I found out it was mandatory for him to go into school) ... I'm not sure if I will be getting Nathan vaccinated, on one hand, I really don't want to - and on the other .... he's been through so much and I don't know if I would want him to go through chicken pox - it's scary... Calahan broke out of over 2 weeks ... he never had that high temp that you get when you break out and I kept finding new ones on him for over 2 weeks. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I won't get the vaccination for Kaedyn cuz he's so healthy. I maybe homeschooling them anyway so "mandatory" need not apply!!
"a culture of vaccination" I couldn't agree more! I have actually tried to hook my children up with others who have chicken pox but it hasn't worked. My oldest (who has had one CP vaccination only) did get a mild case. As you know, we have taken it very slowly with all our children vaccination-wise. (That didn't stop us from our own tour on the spectrum, but I believe if we had gone with the status quo things might have been so different.) Keep talking. You are helping more people than you know!
I had chicken pox and shingles. My daughter was vaccinated twice and got chicken pox anyway...eeik. I vaccinated my 4-year-old yesterday. :(
my daughter got the chicken pox vaccine since then she has had sever mentral cramps every month i believe there is a connection even the doctors say it is just coinsidence normally i dont allow my daughters to get shots or take any medication until i have informed myself for some reason i didnt this time and not i regret it after reading the insert merck has they state that they have not done any evaluatation as to whether it can cause cancer or impare fertility what is wrong with getting chickens pox but what is put in the vaccine is worse than getting chicken pox before immunizing your children against chicken pox inform yourself so that you can make an educated decision dont just take a doctors word
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