I’d second what Lisa said about allergy testing. It’s possible there’s something in the flu vaccine that caused her allergic reaction that isn’t in other vaccines. Even if she’s incapable of having vaccinations due to medical reasons, though, that’s all the more reason to want to have everyone else vaccinated. The more people around you who are vaccinated, the less chance a virus has of moving through the population to get to your wife and/or baby. With less people immunized (and not for valid reasons like allergies but for bad reasons like “measles vaccine is worse than getting measles”), the herd immunity breaks down and your family’s risk gets much higher.

Your wife may have an allergy to eggs and most of the time, flu vaccines “…use eggs to culture inactive viruses for vaccines…” http://foodallergies.about.com/od/eggallergies/f/swinefluvaccine.htm

Thought you might want to know and maybe she can get tested for that allergy. My son and husband have various food allergies and eggs is one for our son, so he doesn’t get the flu vaccines. However, it is interesting to note that sometimes they may (or do) create an egg-free vaccine for the flu. A talk with your doctor about them each year can help you stay informed, then make an educated decision. I hope this information is helpful.

Coincidentally, I’m going through some communication training right now for work. Using that training’s lessons, I’d identify the anti-vaxxer’s motives. Some anti-vaxxers would settle for nothing more than the complete obliteration of Western medicine. These people grab headlines and I don’t really think you can rationally argue with them.

However, those people aside, a parent who is questioning vaccinations is likely the victim of faulty risk assessment. They haven’t seen the horrors of the disease that vaccines protect against and they’ve been fed poor information about the risks associated with vaccines. They’re scared and want to do what is best for their children.

Acknowledge and agree with this motive. Tell them that you agree that the children’s well being is paramount. Then calmly (and without being insulting) state that there is some information they might not have received. Point them to the websites with the proper information and be helpful (but not controlling, try to control their decision and they’ll rebel and do the opposite). A gentle hand is required instead of insulting their parenting skills and their intelligence.

I think that’s the biggest problem. Vaccines are a victim of their own success. People of my generation (min 30′s) and younger (and even some older) have never had to personally see polio, mumps, whooping cough, etc. At least not in the widespread pre-vaccine days. As such, we don’t immediately think of iron lungs, paralysis, death, etc.

Instead, our minds bring up images of similar diseases that we *have* experienced. Like, for example, chicken pox. Then, even though those comparison-diseases are far less serious, we use this mental comparison to access risk. “Oh, so measles is kind of like chicken pox. You itch for a week and it’s over.”

Obviously, this risk assessment is highly flawed. (I’d rather get chicken pox than measles!) Still, it persists. Add in vaccine risk questions, half-truths, and even a few outright lies and the risk of vaccinating seems to sky-rocket.

If we were still seeing children regularly paralyzed or dying of these diseases, there wouldn’t be any anti-vaccine movement at all. Sadly, we seem to be moving to that situation.

As much as I don’t want to feel like I’m piling on, I will reiterate what some have already said in various ways here. The importance of widespread vaccination is not just to protect those who get the vaccine, but those who don’t or can’t, much like your wife who apparently had a very legit and terrifying reaction to it. There are some who simply can’t be vaccinated either due to allergic reactions or compromised immunity. What’s important is that herd immunity protects these folks too by making it nearly impossible for such diseases to linger and perpetuate.

By all means, take a good long study at such vaccines. For those with histories of allergic reactions like that, it’s good, safe policy. However, don’t take your wife’s reaction to vaccines as a sign of inherent danger in vaccination as a whole. That would be akin to considering peanuts to be inherently dangerous because there are those with severe nut allergies.

Sorry to hear about your wife’s experience. One of the questions that is asked (or should be) before any vaccination is whether the patient has ever had any allergic reactions to similarly formulated vaccines or if the patient is allergic to any ingredients (e.g., egg allergies are a contraindication for the flu vaccine). Medical reasons like that for not receiving a vaccine are quite valid, and they make it all the more important that those who can be vaccinated are vaccinated.

Your story also shows why good communication between doctor and patient is important.

BTW, if anyone reading these comments has ever had a bad reaction to a vaccine but still supports their use and would like to share their story, I’d be interested in hearing from you. Clicking on my name will take you to one of my sites, with contact info there.

Yes, there are some people who shouldn’t or who can’t get vaccinated. They rely on everyone else around them being vaccinated.

While I’m sure that was scary there is a reason all shots are done where there is medical personal. So that in the rare case something like that happens, help is right there.

You say your wife nearly died but did she really nearly die? An anaphylaxis reaction is serious but with medical personal right there it would very rarely be life threatening.

Just because your wife had a reaction doesn’t mean your child will.

I was fortunate and got through without serious outcome but was also lucky to be visiting caring family on holiday who took care of me, as I was living alone and interstate at that time. With the high fever I was hallucinating, delirious and at one point suicidal after 4-5 days of no sleep. I didn’t eat for 10 days. I remember one night being stripped of clothing and sat under a cold shower in a effort to drop my body temperature.

It wasn’t until my fourth visit to doctors/hospitals that an older GP worked out what was wrong with me, none of the younger doctors had witnessed the symptoms before – and so he asked if it was OK for them all to see me for experience (I agreed of course!).

When I thought about how I contracted it – I was working hard, stressed, traveling lots, over tired and one day I had to make a tour of a local primary-aged school to show a visiting colleague the facilities should he move his family there. I can only imagine that was the likely source. But who really knows?

I sure hope most of the kids there were vaccinated.

And it’s the children who pay the price…

Along with a few other stories like Dana McCaffery‘s one.

I’m sure almost everyone knows that story – all the regulars here anyhow – but if you haven’t and on-the off-chance folks reading this don’t know what I’m referring to see :

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/02/04/dana-mccaffery/

&

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/08/04/the-avn-falsehoods-keep-on-a-comin/

and if you need something more cheering but also pretty effective on this topic see :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1xw0Ob5bqs

for the vaccine song.

And if you don’t think measles is that big a deal, watch this:

Powerful, moving clip.

Every anti-vaxxer should see it* – and it should be played or come in some form with every last bit of anti-vax propaganda they spew into the world.

Along with a few other stories like Dana McCaffery‘s one.

* But I’m sure they won’t.

Or if they do, the anti-vaxxer will probably just come up with some rubbish “justifications” and more sickeningly, vomit-inducingly, bad science “arguments” against it.

That’s nothing. Auckland, New Zealand currently has 300 students ordered to stay at home due to the largest measles outbreak so far this year in New Zealand.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/5170103/Pupils-ordered-home-in-measles-outbreak

There’s only a bit over 1 million people in Auckland.

“But what sympathy can you have? They are idiotic sheep…”

Simple: you have sympathy for their children.

I’m thinking that we are too far removed or the people who are in the anti-vaccine movement are too far removed from having known anyone who suffered from these diseases. They have no one to tell them horrific stories of how whole neighborhoods would be virtually deserted even in the summer when a polio outbreak would hit. Or worse, as you well know.

I can’t help but think what a wonderful life this child would have had with a mother. As it was, the father remarried soon afterwards to start a new family, and gave his firstborn away to be raised by someone else. I can only think it was due to his unbearable pain at losing his wife to polio that he couldn’t bear to look at his daughter. And, I have to tell you from what I’ve heard throughout the years, the daughter (my cousin whom I’ve never met) has lived a very troubled and unhappy life.

There’s a reason why they invented vaccines: to save lives, and to keep people from having to live with severe health consequences. These unsung medical heroes saw what happened to people who went through these terrible diseases, and wanted to help patients avoid the pain (sometimes lifelong), permanent health damage, and death. Perhaps we are far too removed from what patients had to endure and maybe doctors/pediatricians need us (as parents) to watch a documentary on these diseases to become correctly informed and understand WHY vaccines are needed, prior to administrating the shots. I think it would help all parents understand the importance and the necessity of vaccinations.

Thank you for posting this video. My heart goes out to this mother. She just didn’t know or realize the consequences of her action (or inaction) when she chose not to have her child vaccinated.

It was. The public health women from my city thanked me for showing up. The anti-vaxxers had activated their bat-signal and filled up almost all of the available spots.

Where were the science peeps, and the allies? It was very hard to be the only one at my table, and only about 3 other tables had evidence-based individuals too.

Stop just blogging and commenting, and really get out and support public health people who are trying to hold back this tide please.

Whenever I debate the death penalty with any one, I find it useless to bring up the possibility of innocence. However, if the person is a Christian, I always bring up the possibility of redemption and bringing the person to Christ. If you kill him, I ask, how is that going to happen? It works. They always tell this atheist that I make a good point.

My reactions tend to be to walk out of the room or tell the anti-science folks they are idiots, but this issue is too serious. They need to be convinced and telling them they are stupid isn’t going to work.

And, boy, did I breathe a sigh of relief when my daughter-in-law, in response to my question about vaccinations, went on a tirade about the anti-vaccers and the danger to society these people pose.