MMR Vaccine + Autism

Please as part of your research look into the scary statistics of how horrible diseases that were formerly "eradicated" in the US are re-emerging because of people not getting vaccinations that have been standard for many years. Whether or not vaccines have any correlation to autism is not proven, but the deaths, disabilities, & negative effects on quality of lives of those who get things we can be vaccinated against is very well proven & documented.

I also ask you to consider that these vaccinations that some are strongly discouraging have been given for decades. I'm in my 40s and I had these. However, it is only in relatively recent years that we've seen this upsurge in autism spectrum diagnoses. Now, why is that? Do we know more about autism now & therefore more people are being diagnosed? After all, who heard of ADHD 30 years ago & now look at it! Or are there other factors in play?

Many things have changed through these many years. All sorts of environmental changes have occurred. Lifestyles, diets, etc are different. Vaccines are a convenient place to put blame for a troubling & confusing diagnosis, but they have not been proven to be the cause.

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While conventional medicine still denies the correlation, there are 10s (if not 100s) of thousands of mothers that will tell you the opposite and of course, there have now been legal cases that have shown the correlation. AND, there is scientific/medical research showing that for certain gene types, the vaccine doesn't even work! - i.e., no antibodies are produced. So, PLEASE listen to your instincts and do as the other mother suggested and just opt out entirely:
http://webds.dshs.state.tx.us/immco/affidavit.shtm

You will not regret it and you will save your child health issues down the road EVEN if they aren't as severely impacted as autism, there are still negative health impacts that can put your child in that range and cause learning and behavior problems, as some of the other ingredients in vaccines are potent neurotoxins - aluminum and formaldehyde. If you do decide to vaccinate, PLEASE read the detailed insert that comes with the vaccine and you will see this information. It is absurd in my opinion that they can consider a "small amount" of a neurotoxin something acceptable to inject in our children. Also, the aluminum did not replace the mercury (they have add another preservative, which is also toxic) - aluminum is in there because it accelerates the spread of the vaccine throughout the body. And, flu shots given to kids do still contain mercury.

I learned all of this the hard way and my biggest regret as a mother was having my kids vaccinated. I have opted out of getting any more vaccinations for my sons and have had NO problems at all with using the form. And, if you do come across a doctor that tries to scare you, please find another doctor - they won't be useful when you really need them anyways. Our pedi is not happy with my decision, but they will still see my sons.

The reality is also that the diseases for which they give vaccines were actually on the decline when they started these mass vaccination programs. Also, consider for example that small pox has been virtually eradicated with only about 15% of the population ever having been vaccinated - they have never had to PROVE that the vaccines WORK! You can read the stories about the outbreaks in schools and find that more kids that were vaccinated get the diseases than the percentage that were not vaccinated. Any mother should watch this video before having her child vaccinated:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6351515212287981735

And, then do the research yourself - the info is ALL out there - it's just suppressed by the pharmaceutical companies that make lots of $s from vaccinations.

And, one of the most unfortunate things is that NONE of this information can be taught in medical or nursing schools. I have a very good friend that teaches nursing at UTA and she will tell you this, so you CANNOT believe medical professionals who tell you they are safe - they've not read the research! My friend, who has a MS in nursing will tell you that all the above info is true.

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If you are really interested in the separate shots the last I heard is that they will be available again in 2011 so if you are comfortable waiting you could do that. My boys have experienced some significant language delays which has been attributed to high levels of heavy metals. I think that a lot of these did come from the vaccines. I am not entirely against vaccines but if I ever have more kids I will at least wait until they are older to receive any vaccines and even then would not allow them to get more than one at any one time. It is a difficult decision and I wish you the best in making it.

M.,

You are lucky to live in Texas, where it is legal to refuse vaccines. The problem is finding a doctor who will see you.

Dr. William Sears has a doctor referral list for "vaccine-friendly" doctors. The only ones in our area are Dr. Deborah Bain in Frisco www.healthykidspediatrics.com and Daniel Chartrand in McKinney www.harmonyfamilyhealth.com.

They will both do alternative vaccine schedules. It's worth the trip.

Good luck.

I understand your concerns. My 27month old dd still has not had her MMR. I plan on getting it for her in the next year, probably the next few months. She will not get any other vaccines at the same time and I will do everything I can to make sure her immune system is in tip top shape at the time she is vaccinated. I am not as concerned about autism per se, more about the ingredients in vaccines, and the age and sheer number of vaccince recommended to be given at once to children, by the government (which I think could possibly be some of the reasons some children develop an autism spectrum disorder). It is such a personal decision. Do the research, and base your decision on that solely, not fear. I know, I know, easier said than done where are most precious children are concerned.

I have info and resources for you to consider..1) As of January 2009, according to Dr. Sears' website getting the MMR vaccine seperately is no longer an option. The manufaturer has stopped making them seperately. Who knows- they may start up again? 2) You can get a waiver based on reasons of conscience from the Texas Dept. of State Health Services online. It is very simple to obtain this form. You will fill it out and then need to get it notarized. You can give this to your daycare provider in lieu of your son getting any vaccine. This will give you more time to decide what you want to do. 3) My kids' doctor, Sharon Dennis, is fine with an alternative vaccine schedule or even giving no vaccines as some other parents I know have chosen to do. She is in central Arlington though. 4) Dr. Sears has a website with vaccine info and he has a vaccine book our with an alternative vaccine schedule he recommends.

Good luck with your decision.

**Edited to add** After reading other posts, I wanted to add, that although anyone can make a report to CPS, at anytime, nothing will come of it solely for not having your child vaccinated. Luckily, in Texas a parent can legally refuse vaccinations for their child. The form from the Health Dept. is to cover all bases for child care providers and schools. Just as I said above, don't make fear your reason for not getting your child vaccinated anymore that having fear of some government entity or medical personnel, the reason TO get your child vaccinated. My kids' doctor, put it very well when I was interviewing her. She basically said that parents just have to decide which risk they are willing to take. Do you want to vaccinate and take a chance there will be a side effect or not vaccinate and take a chance your child could come down with one of these diseases? Both are possible, but neither are SUPER common. Of course, I'm no expert in the field. That last statement is based on the opinion I've formed from doing my own research.

M.,
I'm not sure about the availability issue of the separate MMR. In April, at my daughter's 12 month visit, I was told that the Mumps shot was not available tlll the end of the year. I'm not sure about the Measles and Rubella.
We just switched to Dr. Ken LeCroy and Lighthouse Family Medicine in Colleyville. He is very supportive of whatever you want to do with vaccines. You might try their practice. Plus, then you could find out the latest on availability.
www.lighthousefamilymedicine.com
Good luck!

Hi M.!

I LOVE Dr. Sears book on vaccines. You may want to check it out to help. I have been on both sides of the fence and don't know what the truth is. There is too much information out there to know for sure.
I have a 7 month old daughter and we are following Dr. Sears alternate schedule with some of my own changes.
Good Luck to you. I know it is a scary decision but ultimately, it will happen if it is supposed to.

MMR in seperate doses is not even available from the manufacturer.

I am married to a doctor (family med) and find it VERY interesting that our doctor friends know NOTHING about vaccines except when to give them. I MADE (had to literally force and whew we had some fights about it too!) my husband research vaccines like I had and he FINALLY changed his tune! And now we have one friend (a doctor as well) who after having a child, decided to research and changed their opinions on vaccines as well. This has happend three times to people I personally know. I have never met a doctor who has actually RESEARCHED vaccine safety themselves and come out with the same attitude of "vaccines are safe" - all of them have changed their minds (some may still elect certain ones while eliminating others and others omit them altogether). So for me if all these doctors have all changed their minds (which have basically been brainwashed imo through med school saying how safe and needed vaccines are!) after actually learning about vaccines, that says a lot to me. I'm just sooooo happy to hear that more and more moms and dads are doing the research themselves and not listening to the doctors who have little to no real knowledge about vaccines. I would highly recommend getting the state waiver and foregoing the MMR completely or until you feel 100 percent certain about getting it. Don't do it just to find a daycare, there are way too many that will work with you and legally they have to accept the state form anyways.

i'm from the "vaccines save lives" camp. i did all the research too. and my children have all the vaccines on schedule. i have a friend who chooses to space them out, but still give them. she still believes that vaccines are a good thing. no they DON'T cause autism. don't live your life based on fear. do what's right by your child. if you can't find the shots seperated out, do it together. it's the right thing to do.

hi megan. i also have not yet given my 2 1/2 son the MMR shot. i am leary a/b it also. they tried to give it to my 14 mo. old daughter, but i told them no also for her. i am not sure when to give it to them. i have never heard of them giving it separately. how does this make it any better? i would be interested to see the email responses you get. not sure how to look up past postings. thanks, K.

If you do decide not to use the vaccines please read up thoroughly on the symptoms and risks of each disease. As a teacher I was exposed to mumps by a child who had not been vaccinated while I was pregnant. It turned out fine but it was a very real scare that still frustrates me. Because someone else didn't vaccinate their child I could have lost mine. The risks of these disease are truly very real and dangerous to others including your child. Also, as a side note, I happened to teach students who had autism, some of which had never been vaccinated. Perhaps there is a link between vaccine and autism, but it can't be the only cause or those children wouldn't have had it (a few of them also became symptomatic around the age they should have had the MMR and had they had it, I am sure it would have been blamed on the vaccine).

DH and I take our daughter to Kid Care Pediatrics on Rufe Snow in Keller. We had decided to go with the alternate vaccination schedule as recommended in Dr. Sears' book and they were very supportive of it. We simply had to sign a waiver stating we're going with our own schedule instead of the standard, CDC-recommended schedule.

In addition, we mentioned that we wanted separate MMR vaccines. We also said we'd be willing to pay out of our own pockets in order to obtain this. Our daughter is still a while away from getting any of the MMR, but if separate vaccines are NOT available by the time she's due for them, you can bet that I will wait until they ARE available before she gets vaccinated against them.

Good luck to you! There are supportive pediatricians out there.

I would like to clear something up. Kat indicated that I was trying to scare you into vaccinating. THAT is false. My husband has been an ER nurse for over 10 years and if they feel at any time that a child has been neglected to be vaccinated or not received medical attention or putting others in harms way, they will call CPS. Hopefully, Kat and others will not end up in the ER with her un-vaccinated children to find that out.

My husband is a nurse and he says there is no proven link to Autism by MMR. People notice their child has Autism right around the same time they get their shots. If you don't get your child vaccinated and you come across a nurse of Dr. sees you refusing to get their shots, they can report you to CPS for child neglect. If kids were getting Autism from the shots then our 3 year old would have Autism too because she had the shot. Kids don't die from Autism, but they do die from Measles Mumps and Rubella, that is why there is a vaccine.

I'm so glad I just stumbled across this request. You've gotten some good information so far, and some terribly incorrect information.

The jury is out on whether or not vaccines CAUSE autism. It is my belief that some people are genetically predisposed to it, and the ingredients in some vaccines can pull that trigger. Regardless of how any else feels on this topic, the choice is always 100% up to you whether you vaccinate your child or not. It is very easy to get an exemption in this state.

I have heard that the manufacturer of the MMR vaccine has stopped producing it in the separate vaccines, but I'm not sure if you could still track some down online or by calling around (even out of state). Another option is to simply wait until your child is older to give the vaccine. It is my opinion that the greatest risk from measles, mumps, and rubella, would be that a pregnant woman would contract Rubella, because it could cause severe abnormalities or even death of the baby. For this reason, if I had a girl, I would give her the vaccination when she reached puberty.

To say that someone can report you to CPS for not giving your child this vaccination is completely false, and trying to scare you into vaccinating your child. I don't like scare tactics on either side of the fence. Read up on the topic, and make your own decision. As you said, you've seen real life situations of children who were affected by vaccines. My son had a reaction to a vaccine at 6 months, and while thankfully, it wasn't as bad as some (his whole leg swelled up and turned red, he got a fever, and didn't eat for 2 days), it was enough for us. At 18 months he has an expressive speech delay and some sensory issues. I'm not saying the two are related, and it's very likely that they're not, but I feel like we dodged a bullet.

A good friend of mine's son was born physically challenged, so he really focused on his verbal skills. At 14 months he was using 3 word phrases and had a quickly growing vocabulary. He received the MMR at 15 months and 22 hours later had a febrile seizure. Within 24 hours he had 8 more. He didn't speak again for 3 years. He is now 5 years old and has about 30 words, and is diagnosed as moderately functioning autism.

At a playdate with friends' kids last week we had two 18 month olds in speech therapy, a 5 year old with autism, a 6 year old with autism, and an 8 year old with ADD and sensory issues. All of the kids were too young to be diagnosed with anything (and the babies weren't even born) when we met. I feel like these people were put in my life for a reason, so I could learn about these things, and do what I can to protect my son.

I filled out the form online for the vaccine exemption and received the papers in the mail a few weeks later, and have never had a problem from his daycare. You need to make this decision for yourself and not be bullied into it by doctors and nurses who say you have to, or try to tell you that you're risking your child's life by not doing so.

For what it's worth, I will graduate from nursing school in May, and will practice as an RN who gives parents information and choices. Anything else would be irresponsible, to say the least.

If you want to talk more about it, or would like more resources, feel free to email me.

Good luck!
K.

Edit to add: I always tell people who are on the fence and need to do their own research, you can always change your mind and give your child a vaccine. Once you give it though, you can't take it back - regardless of the ramifications.

Edit again, because it won't let me add another response (in response to another poster):

This is the vaccine schedule for 1974:
2 months: DTP, TOPV (trivalent oral polio virus)
4 months: DTP, TOPV
6 months: DTP, TOPV
1 year: Measles, TB test
1-12 years: Rubella, Mumps
1 1/2 years: DTP, TOPV
4-6 years: DTP, TOPV

This is the vaccine schedle for 1984:
2 months: DTP, OPV
4 months: DTP, OPV
6 months: DTP
15 months: MMR
18 months: DTP, OPV
4-6 years: DTP, OPV

This is the vaccine schedule now:(many of these are age ranges, so the exact month may differ slightly, but the number of doses are the same.)
Birth: Hep B
2 months: Hep B, rotavirus, DTaP, Hib, PCV, IPV
4 months: rotavirus, DTaP, Hib, PCV, IPV
6 months: rotavirus, DTaP, Hib, PCV
12 months: Hep B, Hib, PCV, IPV
15 months: MMR, Varicella, Hep A (2 doses at 12-23 months)
4-6 years: DTaP, MMR, IPV, Varicella

The argument that "I got these vaccines when I was a child" obviously does not apply in this situation.

If it is a public daycare they ahve to let you sign a waver stating you chose not to have your son vaccinated. Don't tell them he has the other vaccinations, because apparently there can be problems with that. But just like public schools, they have to let you sign that waver. Private daycares and schools are different, but all public ones are required to do this in Texas. They may argue with you, but they don't know what they are talking about. It seems better to me to do this than to get your child a vaccine you don't feel comfortable with.

If you do choose to give the vaccine, I think your regular doctor should be able to do it, you just have to give them a head up that you want to do it separately so they can order the proper brands. I also suggest "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Robert Sears. It has all the info. about vaccines in a non-biased way.

I too have delayed my sons vaccines...when I had my daughter, I completely vaccinated her on the recomended schedrule. SHe is a healthy happy 4 year old. However, that does not mean that vaccines do not injure children. (the US has a vaccine injury compensation program that financially compensates familes for the injuries their children suffer from vaccines!) You cannot get the mmr seperate anymore. I have choosen to delay this vaccine until well after my little ones 2nd birthday. My son only gets one shot at a time and we vaccinated against the most dangerous, life threatening bugs first. I feel empowered in my decision but I also respect others opinions. I wish we could all agree that this is a personal decision and every choice should be respected! Good luck to you!

First of all you are the best advocate for your child and good for you for researching and asking questions. I will tell you that my oldest who is now 7 had the MMR vaccine at 4 years of age and reacted to it quite strangely - it was the worst doctor visit that we had had check-up wise. I can't say definitively it was from the vaccine, but he was diagnosed on the higher functioning end of the autism spectrum shortly after that visit. Now, he was showing signs of autism before that visit, but I do feel the MMR vaccine may have been the tipping point. Fast forward to now - my 4 year old has yet to get the second MMR shot and I am still very hesitant. If I were to do, I would split up the shot - my doctor is not too crazy about splitting it up - it is more of a hassle for them to get the seperate vials, but I am willing to pay more if need be. I feel that strongly about the possible risks. I could go on and on, but you need to go with your gut on this one and I am still skeptical and will always be. Best of luck