Mar 26, 2008 - 04:05:06 CDT
Dr. Edward Fogarty should be commended for his proposal on childhood vaccinations. This new information on how our children should be tested prior to vaccinations is exactly what we parents should demand the very next time we take our children to the pediatrician. The simple lab test for titers could ensure against over-vaccination.
While I agree with Dr. Terry Dwelle (letter: "Vaccination is an act of love") that vaccines save lives, I am in conflict with his statements on studies that found no link between vaccines and autism. Most parents of autistic children who began life developing normally and then suddenly regressed believe there indeed could be a link. I take to heart parents' gut feeling and intuition about their own children's condition rather than a study. After all, who knows their own child better than mom and dad?
I am a parent who has met with resistance about vaccinations of my own young children on a schedule that differs from what currently is suggested. When I offer my concerns about the harm these vaccines could do to my child I am told that the risks are small and the benefits are great. While I believe this to be true, I don't want my healthy child to be one of the many to develop autism. I can only imagine the struggles the parents and families go through.
Now that we are aware of the simple test that can be done prior to vaccination, we should advocate for it. We should ask our pediatricians and the North Dakota Department of Health for it. We should demand it. We parents should do our part.
Dan Schultz wrote on Mar 27, 2008 12:28 AM:
Although even antibody titres are often not evidence of true immunity (cell-mediated immunity is more important) it is an indicator that vaccination is unecessary. Plus many children process a germ and develop immunity (and antibodies) to it without outward, noticable symtpoms -- again making vaccination overkill and unecessary.
However valuable this strategy may be, though, one must thoroughly research the adverse effects of vaccination. Of course, no one knows for sure what the long term adverse effects are because, to date, not one single long-term safety study has been conducted to approve vaccines. There is a large body of evidence to support vaccine's causal link to many autoimmune and neurological disorders.
Go to www.novaccine.com and do your homework.
Dan Schultz
President of the World Association for Vaccine Eduication "
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