infant vaccines

steve and i've been doing some research on vaccines lately.  we're trying to figure out what's best for our child...what's not needed or at least, what's not needed right away.  don't get me wrong, i think vaccines are super important.  the reasons we don't have all the nasty diseases we used to have is primarily because of vaccines, but i think for some diseases, the medical profession vaccinates too early and for others, it's just not necessary.  take hep B for instance.  hep B is a blood-borne pathogen, primarily transmitted through sex and infected drug and tattoo needles.  oohhh, and infected blood if your child needs a blood transfusion.  how often does blood become contaminated in a transfusion situation?  1 in every 65,000-500,000 blood units.  they try to give this vaccine to you before you leave the hospital.  why?  is you're newborn engaging in sex or drug use or getting their first tattoo?  probably not...

we've been reading the vaccine book by dr. sears.  i really like it.  every chapter discusses a vaccine.  he discusses the disease, how common it is, if it's serious, treatable, when the vaccine's normally given, how the vaccine's made, what ingredients are in the final solution, what the possible side affects are, reasons people get it, reasons they don't, travel considerations, options to consider when getting the vaccine and finally, dr. sears opinion on it.  it's a really in-depth book that's given me a lot of non-biased info.  

it's interesting how the book has opened my eyes.  i actually wasn't going to vaccinate our child until 1-2 years of age, but after reading this book, there are a few things that are actually, really important to get only in those years.  diseases such as pertussis, rotavirus, pneumococcus and hib are all pretty common and can be extremely dangerous in the first few years of life.  but mmr, hep b, polio, chickenpox and surprisingly the flu, are all silly to get when the child is a newborn.  

surprisingly, the flu is actually misreported by mmwr because it's lumped into the same group with pneumonia.  so you can't tell how many people have died or really, children have died, from the flu alone.  and according to the national center for health statistics along with the american lung association, in 2004, they found that there had been fewer than 20 deaths reported in infants under 1, kids 1-4, kids 5-14, young adults 15-24 and adults 25-34.  they go on to say that the total number of deaths each year average 1500 and over 90% of those deaths are actually people 65 and older.  that surprised me!  but, i'm glad i read it.  not that i'll never get or give my child this vaccine, but i'm not in a rush to give it, as i once was, and won't be giving it in the first few years.

mmr is incredibly rare in the us.  and the vaccine isn't the best to give an infant.  unless you're traveling outside the country, this is unnecessary.  you can also test later in life for natural immunity.  that's what we're planning on doing, unless we leave the country with young children, and then we'll go ahead and vaccinate...i'm not going to go on here, but if you're interested, you should check out dr. sears book.  it's really informative.  

this is what we're doing...i think...

• 2 months ~ DTaP, Roatavirus
  
• 3 months ~ Pc, HIB
  
• 4 months ~ DTaP, Roatavirus<
• 5 months ~ Pc, HIB
  
• 6 months ~ DTaP, Roatavirus
  
• 7 months ~ Pc, HIB
  
• 15 months ~ Pc, HIB
  
• 5 years ~ Tetanus booster
  
• 10 years ~ run a titer on your child to check for natural immunity to MMR, chickenpox and hep A.  Consider vaccinating if not immune.  Also consider a 3 dose polio series if travel to africa or asia is a possibility.
  
• 11 years ~ HPV 3 does, girls only
  
• 12 years ~ Hep B 3 doses