For the life of me, I do NOT understand the reasoning behind parents now days refusing to get their children their childhood vaccinations. I have heard all the "scare speak" out there, and I still do not understand it. I remember when Polio was a feared thing every summer. And I remember when Dr Jonas Salk came up with the polio vaccine. I was one of the first children in our area to get the shots. A series of shots, scary to an 8 year old, but needed. Then there was the small pox vaccine, the TB test and shots, then the DPT shots, the rubiola shots, etc.
I was a Military child, and every two years we were tranferred across the ocean. And everytime we moved, we all had to spend two weeks getting our shots updated. We were not allowed to travel without our shotcards on hand. (I think I actually still have mine) There was never a time when we were given the choice to get it or not. If we did not have our shots up to date, we did not travel, and we did not get admitted into our new school.
Flu shots were another new thing to us, and I got the Hong Kong flu back in 1958, and was out of school for three months. It was epidemic in Honolulu at that time. After that, I never got the flu again. I do get my flu shots every year. As I get older, I do not want to risk getting really sick and dying over something that can be prevented by a two day sore arm. I have heard "well, I always get the flu after the shot" "I am allergic to eggs" I am afraid of Vaccinations" etc. me? I dont want to die, and I certainly do not want to give something to my grandson, or some other small child.
There is an outbreak of whooping cough here on the island and in several cities and counties in Washington, it is close to epidemic in schools. They are asking EVERYONE to get their whooping cough vaccines updated. I am going to get mine the next time I see the Dr. I just can not imagine how I would feel if I gave something to Patrick, and he died. I could not live.
On the other hand, I just do not understand why any parent when presented with the opportunity to get their child vaccinated to prevent the spread of some disease, will refuse. Do they not realize they are not just putting their own family at risk, but anyone they may come in contact with. Diseases were eradicated in my childhood, and now they are coming back. Mostly from immigration from 3rd world countries, but mostly because parents just do not see the need to expose their children to a sore arm.
I am also stymied why these same parents expose their children to chicken pox and measles so they can get them and get it over with. There is an APP for that folks, it is called VACCINATION! You do not need to go through this anymore. You do not need to expose your family to the side effects of measles...going blind, rheumatic fever etc. or Chicken Pox: horrible scars on your face! or Polio: living your life unable to move or breathe without help. GOOD GOD! Science has created the cure. USE IT! Save your child! PLEASE? or even your parents...or ME!
5 comments:
Good post. I agree with everything except the flu shot which can be okay or not. I don't do them because I began to have severe allergic reactions to them as in swelling at injection site for months and sick as a dog for days after the shot. But I still got the one for pneumonia and shingles which caused me no problem.
I agree! I always get the flu shot, and then every two years the pneumonia. The one good thing about schools is that they HAVE to have their shot records before they can attend school. This has probably been forever, and I may have forgotten but was reminded when Hunter started. And, what some parents don't realize, at least here, they can take their children to the county health clinic if they don't have insurance. There is NO excuse!
Thank you for posting this important message,Mary Lou.
I agree. I've never had any problems with the flu shot except for one year when I was late getting it. i caught flu, but it was mild compaired to the 'normal' version.
One of my friends was a nurse who worked on a children's ward the year there was an epidemic of whooping cough, because people weren't bothering to vaccinate. She said it was awful to see the children suffering when they didn't need to. My brother nearly died from whooping cough, he caught it before he was old enough to be vaccinated (about two and a half months). Fortunately a neighbour heard my mum's screams and rushed in, turned him upside down and thumped his back until it cleared the blockage.
Children in France can't attend school unless their vaccinations are up straight. If they have allergy problems they have a certificate to prove it.
Everytime they changes schools I always seemed to have one or the other that needed a vaccination boost to comply with the rules
I think a part of the problem is that those who are parents today of young children have no memories of how scary those diseases can be as they have been suppressed in recent years because most of their parents & grandparents did have their shots. But now that too many have opted out or just plain not thought of them, some diseases are coming back. Schools in my state (Washington) supposedly have shot requirements but I know there are ways to opt out for various reasons and too many are doing that.
A Seattle TV station recently had a clip on their news saying that we older people should be vaccinated against whooping cough especially if we are around very young babies because they can't be vaccinated until 3 months of age or so and are very much at risk. We may have no symptoms as our bodies have become immune to it but we can still carry and transmit the disease.
I agree, vaccines are a must and those who don't agree are going to regret it some day. I remember taking all of those shots every year that we were overseas. I had a small pox vaccination when I was small and again at 14, both of them took!
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