Making an Informed Decision When It Comes To Vaccinating Your Children
When I had my first child in 2008 there were a lot of questions regarding childhood vaccinations. A lot of accusations and speculation regarding some vaccines that people thought were connected to Autism. After my niece on my in-laws side was diagnosed with Asperger’s I got caught up reading a lot of the debates and to be honest, it scared me. However, in order to make my decision for vaccines in regards to my own child I called upon my experiences and memories in life as a child with the chicken pox. I had an especially rough time with it, and actually still bear the physical scars of my outbreak to this day. I also researched and read every possible bit of information I could, and then I made an informed decision.
Debunked Research
Since that time in 2008 I’ve learned a lot. First of all, not to believe everything I read on the internet (which I already knew but let my guard down). We all know now that the man responsible for the research into the MMR/Autism connection was proven to have manipulated evidence, among other things. He was barred from practicing medicine and the research was declared fraudulent.
To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate – It’s Your Choice
Even since those findings you will still find a large number of parents that don’t want to vaccinate their children. I’m not one of those people. I firmly believe in vaccinations. As much as it hurts to see your child receive that first shot (I cry too you know!) it hurts much more when they come down with a deadly communicable disease that could have been prevented. That’s not a risk I’m willing to take with my children but I fully support a parents decision to make the choice for their children themselves. However, I will still always highly encourage vaccines. That’s why I want to present some very important information to you today.
Protect Infants Now! Ask CDC to Recommend Infant Meningococcal Vaccines
As a parent that believes in vaccinations & as someone who watched unwittingly in my early 20’s a former roommate suffer from this horrible infection, never knowing it was anything more than flu, I wanted to take a moment to introduce you the dangers of Meningitis and to a petition for a Meningitis vaccine that I’d love you to consider signing after you have informed yourself. I’m going to provide you with some basic information and then links where you can educate yourself on this deadly disease for the safety of your loved ones.
What is Meningococcal Disease?
- Meningococcal Disease is a leading cause of Meningitis (an infection of the membrane around the brain & spinal cord) and sepsis (a life-threatening bloodstream infection).
- There are five groups of meningococcal bacteria that are responsible for causing most of the disease. They are: C, A, Y, B and W135. Four of these groups are vaccine preventable. (C, A, Y & W135)
- Each year approximately 1 in 7 people who contract meningococcal disease will die from it.
- The disease starts with non-specific flu-like symptoms, progresses rapidly and aggressively and can kill in as few as four hours, making it a very difficult disease to diagnose and treat.
- Of those who survive, 1 in 6 will suffer limb amputations, paralysis, seizures, strokes, hearing loss, blindness, organ damage, severe scarring, brain damage, and more.
There is an FDA Approved Vaccine Right Now
The CDC has already taken huge steps in preventing this disease in teens and young adults. Now they have an opportunity to prevent the same meningococcal disease in infants.
“Recently a vaccine was approved by the FDA to prevent meningococcal disease in infants as young as 9 months. Pending FDA review and approval there are more vaccines for infants as young as 2 months on the horizon. In order for infants to receive these vaccines the CDC must make a recommendation for their use in infants. This vaccine and recommendation bring us one step closer to eliminating this fast moving deadly disease that kills and maims children.”
“Right now, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is traveling around the country seeking public input on whether infants two years and younger should be immunized against meningitis.” “The CDC is in the process of gathering public opinion on this issue and in the near months ahead making the important decision of whether to recommend that all infants receive this life-saving vaccine, and others, as they become available.”
Educate Yourself!
You can find out more information at protectinfantsnow.org & tons of information at http://www.meningitis-angels.org/. You can read testimonials from real people like you and I who’s children contracted this deadly disease, some whom did not survive. You can also read up on the symptoms and educate yourself for the sake of your children.
Sign The Petition
After you’ve made an informed decision if you would like, I encourage you to sign the following petition to let the CDC know you’d like them to recommend meningococcal vaccines for infants: http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/protectinfantsnow
If you do nothing else today to inform yourself, please at least watch the following video! Thank you!
Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central and Meningitis Angels. This campaign was made possible in part through support provided by Novartis Vaccines. A small donation to a charity of my choice was made in my name from Mom Central as a thank-you for participating. All opinions in this posting are 100% my own.
