There have been many heated discussions on YWN regarding those who adamantly refuse to vaccinate their children against measles, chickenpox etc. They claim that the vaccines can cause autism, and other medical illnesses. Meanwhile, as YWN has been reporting in recent months, cases of measles in Frum communities worldwide his risen very high – and the numbers of people refusing the vaccines in Frum communities are growing.
On Sunday evening, the Associated Press reported the following: Families claiming that a mercury-based preservative in vaccines triggers autism will challenge mainstream medicine as they take their case to a federal court.
Two 10-year-old boys from Portland, Oregon, will serve as test cases that determine whether the children and their families in similar situations should be compensated from a government fund that helps people injured by shots.
Attorneys for the boys will attempt to show the children were developing normally until they were exposed to vaccines with thimerosal.
Thimerosal has been removed in recent years from standard childhood vaccines. Experts say there’s no credible evidence that vaccines containing thimerosal caused autism, a developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life.
Overall, nearly 4,900 families have filed claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in their children.
(Dov Gordon – YWN, with reporting by the Associated Press)
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10 Responses
Oysh, you’re just “mishing a chulent”.
The number of people – IN GENERAL – that are hesitating to vaccinate their children – is growing. Parents are simply educating themselves more now about vaccines – and the internet is definitely facilitating that. (Good thing!)
What exactly does frum have to do with this? Personally, I don’t know too many (who like me) are not keen about giving vaccines.
Whenever you write about the vaccine debate issue – it is quite clear that you are biased.
Parents, please find out the facts before deciding not to inoculate a child.
First, for those who are interested in the Halacha, yes, Rav Eliyashiv did paskin you should inoculate your children. But don’t take my word for it—check it out.
Second, there is nothing to prove that autism is caused by the vaccines. Nothing. No study. Period. Not only that, a recent study in California showed that the rate of autism continued to climb, in spite of the fact that mercury levels have dropped in the vaccines. But again, check out the facts. If indeed vaccines would be the cause, of course we should fight for safer vaccines. But what if the cause is something else? Like diet, environmental issues et. al.? Consider the health of your children and the community at large and find out the facts and don’t succumb to quackery.
Actually there has been a big Chilul Hashem caused by this because the last few months the only health alerts the the NYC D.O.H. has given out has concerned frum yidden and the measles.
Don’t forget, all of these childhood diseases cause other complications such as deafness, blindness, and death especially polio and diptheria. Because #1 is totally ignorant of that fact doesn’t mean that the yweditor is biased. It is only facts.
The autism health link is not with vaccines but with mercury. Newsmax.com reported about two weeks ago about a Blaylock Health Tip that autism is linked to exposure to mercury of pregnant women. Just google it and you will see.
And maybe before dontjustfollow shoots off his big mouth again he should come and see the people who are deaf or unable to start families because of the mumps.
#1, I agree that there are many aspects to this debate, and they need to be clarified.
My kids got the MMR, DTP, etc. but we did hold off on the chicken pox. Not sure if it should be lumped with the rest of them.
One thing that disturbs me is how many vaccines are given at once to an underdeveloped immune system. Maybe the schedule’s changed since my kids got their shots, but drs. would give vaccines for as many as 6 conditions in one sitting. I wonder if that will be addressed in the hearings.
if you don’t vaccinate your children, you are a fool. case closed.
I personally witnessed two friend’s completely healthy boys suffer seizures within a week of their first shots.
Do not invalidate the suffering of these families.
Allow for the possibility that a new and fledgling immune system may not always react positively when foreign elements are introduced into the blood stream.
This is not to say that vaccines need to be written off, wholesale.
However, at the very least, parents should be informed of the possible risks before these “routine” shots are given.
PS – Hepatitis C and Aids vaccines are also being given to newborns now.
pittsburgh (#7):
I am sorry for those children who are suffering. But blaming vaccines without evidence that they caused the seizures does not “validate” their suffering; on the contrary, if there is another cause, blaming vaccines will only make it harder to find that cause. Also, I doubt that newborns are given an AIDS vaccine, as there is none yet.
2 and 5 are correct. THis will never be passed, though these ppl bring this up every few years. Autism surfaces around 2years old which co-incides with the same time the TDap is given as well as other vaccines. It’s so much easier to blame the vaccine because the only other alternative is faulty genetics/ a fluke mutation which is too much for ppl to handle, so it’s natural to want to blame the vaccine.
Clearly #7 has no medical background. Seizures are caused by sodium accumulation in the brain, trauma, or epilepsy (unknown organic cause), also, there is no aids vaccine, unless you have just developed one overnight. Perhaps what you mean is that if the mother is HiV/Aids positive, baby is started on HRT treatment post birth- not the same thing but thank you for trying.
Numbers 9 and 10: I rushed my comment and the sloppiness shows. Allow me to make my point again.
Parents simly desrve to know what is happening to their children and that there are some risks associated with the shots.
The medical term seizure may not be correct but they both stopped breathing (luckily the mothers both wittnessed this immediately and they were taken to the hospital on time to be saved).
Most children cry for a little and that is all. Some develope rashes and fevers. But some have direct rections that are quite severe.
Beleive me things do happen. Not always as severe, but it is not always routine.
It may very well be in the community’s best interest for society to enforce innoculations. But parents should also be informed that it is not an entirely risk free procedure. Knowing ahead of time that there are possible side effects would, I beleive, provide some validation should a reaction occur.
As for Hep C – it is actually Hep B and you are probably correct about the HIV treatment – the article was proposing giving it to all newborns. Again my point being, that we are introducing more foreign substances into brand new babies and some immune systems may simply not be equipped to handle them.
BTW, some doctors’ innoculation pamphlets suggest postponing the shots if the baby is showing signs of auto immune defficiencies -such as severe skin rashes, etc.
This would seem to support the notion that some immune systems cannot handle the jolt to the system brought on by the shots.
training.
wrong again dear pittsburgh. “Showing signs of auto immune defficiencies” means that the child has specific symptoms indicating that the child’s own cells are attacking it’s own body- and these babies are given immunoglobulin instead because the other vaccines are (not dangerous for them but rather) simply ineffective. I’m soory sir/madam this really is my field, you can’t just try to sell your info that easily. You want to talk about a “jolt” to the immune system? Don’t breastfeed. Nursing babies recieve the equivalent of hundreds of vaccines via the memory b cells they recieve by passive immunity through the mother’s milk the very second they are born (mothers are encouraged to nurse their babies as soon as they are born.) In fact, the most antibody rich food in the world is the mother’s colostrum which appears for the first 24 (sometimes 48 hours) hours post birth. If that’s not a “jolt” to the immune system, I frankly don’t know what is.
Moreover, all most all vaccines given in the US are avirulent/killed and don’t have the capacity to precipitate the disease. Sensitivities and allergies which are rare- are primerily due to additives in the vaccine (ex: people allergic to albumin/egg will have a terrible reaction to the flu shot.)
I have seen children get measles and other awful diseases that chould have been prevented. These poor children are the victims of their parent’s uneducated decision not to vaccinate, based on a few circumstantial evidence cases of sensitivity. There are so many diseases that have been virtually eradicated (smallpox) because of the widespread use of vaccines, or dramatically reduced. So to the people who think that without vaccinating, your body will somehow miraculously defend itself- wake up- that never worked before. People died of these diseases when they were left with just their own immune system and no vaccine- get it? people in past years died.
And yes, the chickenpox vaccine is perhaps one of the only vaccines that does not have (common) serious repercussions- vaccinate or not -on this one- your choice. But answer this: when your child has to go get a tooth filled do you tell the dentist not to use novacaine because you don’t want your child to get a shot? of course not, you don’t want your child to be in pain. Then why is it okay for you that your child suffer the pain and discomfort of having chickenpox for a week and a half. Pathetic uneducated inconsistancies.
P.S. just so that you know- there are more ppl fatally allergic to the lidocaine in the shot at the dentist than are fatally allergic to the chickenpox vaccine. but ppl don’t know that. they would rather buy into mass hysteria than actually learn the facts.