My son has recently entered Grade 1/First Grade. I was a little shocked to find the school pushing a TB/ Menigitis shot. They were even more shocked when I told them I wanted to research further before giving parental consent.
I am of the firm opinion that apart from the obvious inoculations (polio, whooping cough, etc.), most healthy children should avoid any of the so called pre-cautionary shots, unless of course, one is to visit an area that has high prevalence of certain health problems. Excessive injections lower the natural immune system of a healthy human, and should only be used as a last resort.
Is Tuberculosis (TB) an rampant issue in Taiwan today? There have obviously been a few instances lately of TB patients worldwide flying about, avoiding quarantine. Yet, is it prevalent enough to warrant having 7 year old kids endure what is to them a most severe & traumatic incident?
[quote] The respiratory illness still rages in Taiwan, even with the life-saving development of penicillin and other antibiotics over the past 50 years. Every year, 15,000 people are infected with TB and 1,300 patients die from it. On average, TB takes a life every six hours, according to the center’s statistics.
“Tuberculosis is still the top killer disease [in Taiwan], responsible for nearly 70 percent of deaths of communicable diseases. In fact, TB has never left us,” said Wu Yi-chun (吳怡君), chief of the center’s TB prevention section.[/quote]
[quote=“TheGingerMan”]Excessive injections lower the natural immune system of a healthy human, and should only be used as a last resort.
[/quote]
Where did you get that idea?
[quote=“Jive Turkey”][quote=“TheGingerMan”]Excessive injections lower the natural immune system of a healthy human, and should only be used as a last resort.
[/quote]
Where did you get that idea?[/quote]
It is more of a fact than an idea. I have done a lot of research on the net when my son was born and was shocked at what I found out.
I think everyone should do their own research and make up their own mind about it, it is a very sensitive issue as it concerns our kids and it is something that “we always have been taught to do” :vaccination.
Again, do some research and think for yourself.
TB is still a problem here on the island. Hepatitis is one of the big killers for children under 10 years old.
Somewhere on here, Forumosa.com, I linked to a Taiwan gov’t website that listed around 10,000 children a year here die from hepatitis and its liver related diseases.
Remember that next time you’re in a restaurant or food stall and see their…“sanitary” procedures for the dishes and food.
[quote=“igorveni”][quote=“Jive Turkey”][quote=“TheGingerMan”]Excessive injections lower the natural immune system of a healthy human, and should only be used as a last resort.
[/quote]
Where did you get that idea?[/quote]
It is more of a fact than an idea. I have done a lot of research on the net when my son was born and was shocked at what I found out.
I think everyone should do their own research and make up their own mind about it, it is a very sensitive issue as it concerns our kids and it is something that “we always have been taught to do” :vaccination.
Again, do some research and think for yourself.[/quote]
Oh, so “research on the internet.” I’m a bit of a skeptic myself and have done a bit of reading on vaccinations, but I haven’t really been convinced by any general arguments against mass vaccination. Most of what I’ve read has been critical of vaccinations for non-immunological side-effects, not for weakening the immune system in general. My belief about it is if the disease is generally not life threatening or dramatically life-altering, or is life-threatening but not found in non-vaccinated populations nearby, I won’t have my son vaccinated against it. I’d definitely have my son jabbed for TB and Hep A/B if we were living in Taiwan. I think it’s a bit nutty, though, for folks to be paying out extra for things like chickenpox vaccinations.
I just had a Dr. chastise me for not giving my daughter all the necessary shots like chicken pox, Hep B, and polio. The thing is, we just moved here from the States and these were viewed as not necessary shots. When I tried to explain, he just looked at me in complete disbelief and said, “Where did you get the idea that some shots are just not necessary?” It’s interesting to me that in the States, it’s common belief that you only get the shots you think you need and don’t get the ones for diseases you’re not likely to catch. My daughter is now caught up on Hep B and polio but I still want to wait a little on chicken pox and I’m afraid it’s become a fight with the Dr. When I told him that we took a class on vaccinations when my daughter was born and we made our decision on which vaccinations to get after information from the class, the Dr. told me flat out that I must have misunderstood the information, that I must be misinformed. I think we need to change doctors.
Not to hijack the thread, but this has always been in the back of my mind since I got to Taiwan a year and a half ago - I never got any shots when I arrived, is that a bad idea? How many of you got shots and which ones did you get?
Coming from a developing country, where such vaccinations such as TB, polio and meningitis are rather mandatory, I had never questioned the need for such.
For instance, back in the day they used live TB virus -really- which I think has been already given up -though I am not sure. Also, many years ago, we got “inoculated” against measles and chickenpox through “experience”, meaning in the 3rd or 4th grade you would lose a couple of weeks of school to it and join the rest of your classmates in “forced vacations”. Now they vaccinate kids against it.
I am also aware that the kind of viruses we have back home are far more exotic or powerful than anything found here or in other developed countries. Yet, when we came to Taiwan, we were advised to have our hepatitis shots, and be really careful with the other stuff. I have considered taking the Japanese encephalitis vaccination, too.
I think, why take the risk of getting something nasty? I mean, is there really proof that vaccinations are bad in teh long run? I have read some about reactions in cats, but humans?
was getting a bit overwhelmed with the constant trips to the hospital for vaccinations (we’ve already politely declined an influenza jab, but the rest just keep on coming). So did a quick compare of what extra she’s had in taiwan compared to back in Uk:
birth - BCG against TB - I guess necessary, if TB is still as widespread as posted above.
early months - Hep B - Uk only recommend if mothers are already Hep-B carriers.
1st year - oral polio - this is a weird one. She has 2 inactivated polio jabs given, and then goes onto to have 3 lots of oral polio. I was given that when I was at school (it used to be presented on a sugar lump), but then they phased it out in favour of the inactivated jab. So why she has to have both the jab and by oral, is a question the doc is getting next time we’re in.
1st year - RotaTeg x 3 lots (guards against the rotavirus: severe vomiting and diarrhoea).
To come:
MMR - still optional in Uk due to the much talked-about autism link, but seems if she doesn’t have it, she can’t go to school here, so…
Jap encephalitis - not given in Uk, but fair enough for here.
Varicella (chickenpox) - in the Uk, we tend to let kids develop chickenpox and then ride it out. Prefer that approach, but suspect it’s another “compulsory” vaccine here.
Meningitis can kill you within a day if your body reacts poorly or isn’t vaccinated.
My friend had it - felt run down one day, went to the hospital the next morning & had passed away by early evening from septicemia/blood poisoning. I got a shot of antibiotics due to proximity & related symptoms. Her friends and coworkers were all given preventative antibiotic pills “just in case”.
It is a relatively common bacteria carried by many people & transferred by a cough, sneeze, kissing, etc, and the most prevalent time/place to catch it is at a school, in a dormitory, and during winter cold season.
Small kids who play & cough everywhere are especially susceptible, as are college students and others who live in close quarters or deal with lots of people every day (say, a cashier or store clerk).
The chance of losing your child overnight should far outweigh any remote worries about side effects from the vaccination.
EDIT: just realized this thread is several months old…still, since school just started up again, I’d recommend getting the shot. Have your kid get it again before going off to college.
Just to add a bit of info. Aside from all the regular shots we get in Canada, my doctor (a travel clinic specialist) recommended these for Taiwan, which we all got:
Hepatitis A/B
Typhoid
Japanese Encephalitis
I am extremely skeptical of “research on the internet” showing the dangers of vaccinations, dangers which scientific studies have not replicated to my knowledge. It is very complex and there is an incredible amount of misinformation out there, so it is actually a subject I suggest you do not research on your own, but discuss your concerns with your doctor. Vaccinations are one of the true miracles of modern medicine and in my opinion it is foolish not to take full advantage of it, especially if you have children.
My boy is full of all kinds of immunizations because he was born in Taiwan and we moved back here to the States when he was still very small. Still, when he began kindergarden last year, they insisted that he would need some of his boosters again because he hadn’t had them all on the correct schedule. I had to insist through my son’s doctor that he would not be re-immunized simply because some shots were later than they would have been. He still had them all, after all, and they were off schedule because he was born someplace else–and was better vaccinated than most kids here as a result. Stupid sheeple.
About the Chicken Pox vaccine, it was a few drops that he took by mouth, not a shot, and I was glad to allow him to have it as I had Chicken Pox twice, once in second or third grade, and once as a high school senior–both times very severely sick. (somehow I managed to get out of both of those without any pock marks. I just have these little white dots on my arms when I get any sun where the pox were.)
A) got definitive proof of that? (and more than from the CDC saying it will compensate those who had vaccine-related deaths as was announced last week, because those cases are not, still not, definite vaccine-caused deaths, but just made it onto the list for various reasons, some of which are genuine, but some as a result of cajolerey, some as a consequence of a medical worker using vaccine related death to divert attention from bad practice, and some by coincidental timing).
B) many many more would have died without the vaccinations. that’s why they require that children have them.
