I wasn't agreeing or diagreeing Merc, it was just an anecdote.

I had a very nasty reaction to a flu shot I got about 6 years ago...haven't gotten it since. Apparently they have that nasal one that may not be as bad...I'll have to look into it.

While I have some concerns about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, I think the benefits far outweigh any consequences, based on the research I've seen in recent years.

Here's where the real problem lies, IMO. You don't vaccinate your kids in the US...okay, that's fine. No real risk per se. Then you go to another country, like say, Zimbabwe. That's where the problems start. I've never traveled outside this country, but IIRC, you have to have certain vaccinations to come into this country, and I would assume you need certain vaccinations to go to other countries. I don't know if there are any religious or other exemptions to that, though.

I hate to use a TV example, but...remember that ER episode a few years ago where this family that didn't vaccinate went to Africa and brought back with them a smallpox-like virus? That seems to be a rather plausible scenario if people aren't properly vaccinated.

I had both mumps and measles when I was a kid, and aside from all the philosophical discussion, if I can spare my kids the misery of that, I'm certainly going to do it!

I know what you mean cloud, California here and I work at one of my girl's schools, I've been tested for TB twice(employment requirement) and have been really nervous both times, due to the number of hispanic and actual Mexican children here

As opposed to theoretical mexican children?

No, as opposed to Hispanic, which covers a large group, many of whom have never seen Mexico.

:P I was being facetious, I do apologise.

If they've never seen Mexico, do they still have a higher incidence of TB?

Compared to whom? Non-hispanics in the same area, or people from a different area? The whole region has a higher incidence of TB, because of the people who cross the border in either direction and bring it from Mexico.

Some scientist is saying that the 1918 epidemic was not a shift but came from outer space, meteor.
Moron.
Then why was it identifiable as influenza, why did the elderly fight it better than the young (they had anti-bodies after having an earlier version, otherwise it would have killed them faster) why did it shift back.... etc, etc, etc?
I can't believe they let these quacks publish and put them on television.
Personally I think he is just trying to capitalize on the event that happened recently when people got sick after a meteor fall... the two events have nothing in common. It should not be encouraged.

Its just one more instance where an active public health program would more than pay for itself. Foreign nationals do not get health care here other than on an emergency basis. People from Mexico and elsewhere who have TB do not receive treatment for the disease, increasing the probability that TB will spread among other population groups. I think its called being penny wise and dollar foolish.

As for measles and chicken pox: My Mom grew up in the 20's and 30's in an isolated region of the mountains. There were no vaccines against the major childhood diseases no matter where you lived, anyhow. My Mom caught an especially bad case of the measles which attacked her inner ear. From the age of 8 on, she was partially deaf, and her deafness became worse with each passing year. Not being able to hear has effected her entire life in a very adverse way. I'd get my kids a measles immunization in a heartbeat just based on that one experience.

I think people need to study what happend when there were massive outbreaks of communicable diseases in the last century and before. Flu, TB, smallpox, polio, etc., etc took a horrible toll. Certainly, we should be aware of the possible side effects of various types of immunizations, but we should hardly be throwing our babies out with the culture bath, as a result. :headshake

My children had to be tested for TB because their father is Samoan, even though they had never been there. It's a program set up for infants of islander parentage involving a chest xray. It's got something to do with antibodies etc. In Australia, TB is virtually unheard of whereas it's a problem in the pacific islands and apparently, children of those parents can be born with it (or no antibodies or something). I don't know the full story because my kids were fine, but some kids are not. At the time I was a zombie and didn't have time to think about informing myself.

If you're really interested I'm sure you could find the answer to the question though.

From MSNBC: Sabrina Rahim doesn’t practice any particular faith, but she had no problem signing a letter declaring that because of her deeply held religious beliefs, her 4-year-old son should be exempt from the vaccinations required to enter preschool.

She is among a small but growing number of parents around the country who are claiming religious exemptions to avoid vaccinating their children when the real reason may be skepticism of the shots or concern they can cause other illnesses. Some of these parents say they are being forced to lie because of the way the vaccination laws are written in their states.

Interesting new superbug response to the ear ache vaccine eh?

When I worked at an animal shelter 10 years ago, they made me get a series of three rabies pre-exposure vaccinations to protect me in case I had a run in with a rabid animal.
That is when my food intolerances started...Until that point I had always eaten anything I wanted without a problem. Now I have to live with being gluten intolerant, and I have immune reactions to a zillion foods other than gluten grains. It's easier to list the foods I CAN eat than the foods I can't. I also developed chemical sensitivity and what seems like chronic fatigue sydrome...along with constantly swollen lymph nodes.

Update on the over-done vaccination front:
The government has conceded that vaccines may have hurt Hannah, and it has agreed to pay her family for her care. Advocates say the settlement — reached last fall in a federal compensation court for people injured by vaccines, but disclosed only in recent days — is a long-overdue government recognition that vaccinations can cause autism.

We are modifying brain development in many ways, vaccines, environmental chemicals, and intellectual stimulation all have an impact, but we don't know how much. I see kids every day whose mind/body connections are disrupted,.. somethings up.