A reply I got from someone

[Guest guest]

I thought you'd all be interested in this reply I received from someone whose

infant was in the hospital with severe respiratory problems. I sent his

grandfather the information you all gave me about the HepB, and below I've

sent his reply. I would love your comments!

Karla in Indiana

<< Okay, I've read some articles that I've found on the " Hepatitis B Vaccine

>debate " on various websites... AAPS, babycenter, MedicalCrossfire, etc, and

>here is what I've concluded so far. (I'm going to ignore the sites that

>discuss this as some sort of government conspiracy to get a database of all

>children and track their whereabouts, because that has no credibility and

>screams of paranoid conspiracy theory rather than medical fact - vaccine's

>aren't needed for that, they have social security numbers).

>

>There are some doctors out there who are questioning the practice of

>universal required HBV vaccine. Their main concern seems to be the fact

>that there is a lack of required disclosure about the risks v. the benefits

>of getting the vaccine. As with any vaccines, there is a very small risk

>associated with it, and being told of those risks is definitely fair. From

>all I can find, the incidence of complication from the vaccine is extremely

>minimal compared to the incidence of childhood infection of the disease.

>There is some argument about whether the disease is spread through lateral

>transmission (methods other than sexual tranmission), and there seems to be

>some evidence suggesting that it does.

>

> >From what I can find, both the governmental and medical communities see

this

>is a vaccine where the benefits (both to the child, and to society as a

>whole in working toward the eradication of this incurable disease) outweigh

>the risks. As this group (doctors - not to mention insurance companies who

>pay for the stuff) has no vested interest that I can detect in harming my

>children, I am generally going to follow their recommendations on medical

>procedures and practices, since I have not been to medical school and am not

>knowledgable enough to make my own determination as to the safety of a

>particular vaccine.

>

>The internet is a great venue for open communication, but I am not going to

>make the mistake of deciding to simply stop vaccinating my children entirely

>because of some newsgroup or chatroom that is making these wild assertions

>of a grand conspiracy on the part of the government and all doctors about

>covering up the fact that they are forcing something harmful on my children.

>That would be a grave mistake, and a major misjudgement in my

>responsibilities as a parent.

>

>That's my two cents worth... if you wanted it. ;-)

>

>

> >>