New study! Results just came out this month… I recommend reading Dr Sears’ excellent blog post.
I am asking my baby’s pediatrician about splitting up the MMR, but I won’t be worried about her having the single jab if that’s all that’s available.
Hope this helps to put some of your minds at rest too. 
Uploaded social story danger of hieght .
My child is autistic and saying it repitivly .It is working ,worth u give it a try.
]In my case i think it was of manengites he had it when he was 1 year .He had the mmr when he was 4 .Some times i think it is because the food we are eating AND POLUTION .ABOUT THE LED AND MERCURY TODAY I JUST HAD RESULTS THAT THEY ARE LOW .HAVE U ANY ANSWER FOR ME .
my grandson too is autistic i found this site a very helping site . i am uploading social stories if they interest u and i uploaded 1 in maltese too .
To share my story with you all, my son doesn’t get any vaccines, as I’ve seen too many parents lose their kids to death, seizures, and other severe brain damage as a result of vaccines (I personally know quite a few whose babies were perfectly healthy and these things happened within moments or hours after receiving the vaccinations).
If I were to tell you all that I was going to give my son a peanut butter sandwich with mercury, formaldehyde, aluminum, antifreeze (ethylene glycol), and bacterias and viruses cultured in dead animal cells, wouldn’t you all think I was crazy? You’d probably all call child protective services, but that is exactly what doctors are injecting into your babies blood stream (minus the peanut butter) and no one thinks anything of it. I have been researching vaccines for years and simply saw the risk too dangerous, especially since the vaccines don’t even work a large percentage of the time (for example most whooping coughing outbreaks occur in vaccinated populations, and there has not been a natural case of polio in the United States for over ten years [the only way you can get it is from the vaccine])
There is a lot more to the story and everyone has to make their own decision regarding their child’s vaccinations, however I opted out of it just looking at the ingredients list is enough for me. For those of you interested in the ongoing debate about autism and vaccines you should read Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy by David Kirby. It is not completely conclusive (for instance, he is not anti-vaccines and does not come to a strict conclusion about the controversy) but it does present a lot of information about the debate and is worth the read. Anyhow, that’s just my story and decision but every parent has to make the choice for themselves.
karma to you DomanMom
my daughter is not getting any vaccinations
there is a lot that is unknown about the long term damage done by vaccination
and i don’t like all the things that are in the vaccines including msg which is linked to autism and many other things
another good book about this is called What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations
by Stephanie Cave m.d, f.a.a.f.p
tatianna - I haven’t heard of the autism - msg link ( although msg is something we try to avoid) I would like to read more. Can you reccommend any web sites?
thanks
a great site is
www.msgtruth.org/autism.htm
www.msgmyth.com
this is from a government web site
www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/additives.htm
Additional Facts
Additives used in the production of vaccines may include
Common substances found in vaccines include:
* Aluminum gels or salts of aluminum which are added as adjuvants to help the vaccine stimulate a better response to the vaccine. Adjuvants help promote an earlier, more potent response, and more persistent immune response to the vaccine.
* Antibiotics which are added to some vaccines to prevent the growth of germs (bacteria) during production and storage of the vaccine.
* Egg protein is found in influenza and yellow fever vaccines, which are prepared using chicken eggs. Ordinarily, persons who are able to eat eggs or egg products safely can receive these vaccines.
* Formaldehyde is used to inactivate bacterial products for toxoid vaccines, (these are vaccines that use an inactive bacterial toxin to produce immunity.) It is also used to kill unwanted viruses and bacteria that might contaminate the vaccine during production.
* Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and 2-phenoxy-ethanol which are used as stabilizers in a few vaccines to help the vaccine remain unchanged when the vaccine is exposed to heat, light, acidity, or humidity.
* Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative that is added to vials of vaccine that contain more than one dose to prevent contamination and growth of potentially harmful bacteria.
For children with a prior history of allergic reactions to any of these substances in vaccines, parents should consult their child’s healthcare provider before vaccination.
Documentary:
Vaccination - The Hidden Truth 1998 [1 hr, 30 min, 31 sec]
Amazing Fact:
On January 29, 2001, Jock Doubleday offered $20,000 to the first U.S.-licensed medical doctor or pharmaceutical company CEO to publicly drink a mixture of standard vaccine additive ingredients. The offer had no takers!
On August 1, 2006, Doubleday increased the $20,000 offer to $75,000: (http://www.vaclib.org/links/jockslinks.htm#press)
The new $75,000 offer had no takers.
* On June 1, 2007, the offer was increased to $80,000.
* On July 1, 2007, the offer was increased to $85,000.
* On August 1, 2007, the offer was increased to $90,000.
* On September 1, 2007, the offer was increased to $95,000.
* On October 1, 2007, the offer was increased to $100,000.
* On November 1, 2007, the offer was increased to $105,000.
* On December 1, 2007, the offer was increased to $110,000.
* On January 1, 2008, the offer was increased to $115,000.
* On February 1, 2008, the offer was increased to $120,000. . .
This offer has no expiration date unless superseded by a similar offer of higher remuneration.
How long does it take a medical breakthrough to be acted upon?
A Canadian doctor, Dr. Andrew Moulden says he conclusively proved
seven years ago that vaccines cause micro-vascular strokes. Dr Moulden
has a 21 year record of award-winning medical study and practice
starting at Nipissing University, but he has been unable to get the
attention of the College of Physicians or politicians to investigate
his findings, which have been corroborated by other doctors.
How vaccines cause micro-vascular strokes
Dr. Moulden says the shots cause our body’s own immune systems to
hyper-react as large white blood cells naturally rush to attack the
foreign particles injected into our bloodstream. The white blood cells
are too big to enter, so they surround tiny capillaries where the
foreign particles land, clog and collapse the capillaries.
CBNNews.com - He was a normal 18 month old with a 10 word vocabulary. Then two days after Jeremy received a shot for diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus, he was in the hospital.
“He was hospitalized two days after the shot and he was running a fever of 103. And he was so hot that the nurse that was standing there could feel the heat radiating off his body.” Jeremy’s mother Lynn said.
For the last 29 years, Jeremy has not spoken an intelligible word.
Cases like this are not uncommon – 4,500 families are suing the government because they believe vaccines caused their child’s autism.
Since the 1980s, critics have questioned the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Government health officials and most doctors insist the benefits are large and the problems exaggerated.
“The risks are far greater to your child of not getting immunized than any kind of speculative potential relationship between the vaccine and the development of autism,” said Irwin Redlener, MD, Columbia University.
Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center says there are real problems, but many doctors are in denial. She said, “It can’t be true – because how, how, could they possibly really live with the idea that something that they try to do that was good - has turned out to be bad for a lot of people.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK:
Are Vaccinations Safe for Your Kids?
Now a June survey of more than 10,000 families suggests the problems are more than speculative.
It found teenage boys vaccinated as children were:
–Twice as likely to suffer from autism
–Four times as likely to have Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
–And boys and girls of all ages - vaccinated as children - were more than twice as likely to have developed asthma.
At one time, Beth Miers thought vaccine critics were kooks.
“That’s crazy, why would you not vaccinate your child?” Meirs believed. “You want to put your child in danger of developing those diseases? And so I really did think these people were way out there.”
But her mind changed in March when a doctor found that her daughter, 8-year-old Emma, had high levels of toxic mercury - a preservative used in childhood vaccines until recently.
Beth first became suspicious last October after Emma had a flu shot.
“It was almost a depression, and she was having… negative thoughts that bothered her and she would say, ‘Mommy I’m having the bad thoughts, I want them to go away.’ And we would pray for them to go away-- and it was very concerning,” Beth said.
She then began to look back and connect that with changes in Emma’s behavior after she received shots as a toddler.
Emma “.developed allergies at 2 which is pretty young. sensitive to clothing, to heat. she would fall very easily. she reacted so strongly, just tears and screaming. those kinds of things, it just didn’t seem right,” Beth explained.
Emma showed some improvement after going on a healthier diet several years ago, but still struggled. Now with medical treatment to remove the mercury, taking supplements, and a diet free of wheat and milk, she’s doing better.
“I would have really bad nightmares,” Emma said. “And I also used to see colorful spots, and they also went away, too.”
No one knows how many Emmas are out there – subtle cases that never make it into the medical statistics. Many neurological experts consider such cases part of a spectrum of vaccine afflictions, from the tiniest damage to ADHD up through the worst, autism.
Mercury was taken out of kids’ vaccines by 2004 - though not the flu shot - but vaccines still contain aluminum and dozens of other potentially harmful ingredients.
One of them is monosodium glutamate, or MSG - a potentially toxic flavor enhancer in some foods - yet an ingredient in many vaccines. John Erb has investigated vaccines as part of his work with autistic kids in the last 20 years.
Erb said, “If there are glutamate-bearing ingredients in that vaccine, think twice. Because science has proven for the last three decades that glutamate has a huge effect on living beings.”
Brain expert Dr. Russell Blaylock believes much of the problem from vaccines is their effect on the cells of the brain’s immune system called microglia.
For example:
-Invaders like viruses and bacteria activate the microglia, which return to normal after the threat.
-But vaccines - especially multiple vaccines injected the same day - can put the microglia into constant battle mode.
-In that mode, the brain turns on itself, causing what’s known as “bystander damage.”
A leading neurology journal seemed to confirm this with autopsies of autistic brains.
“.They found all of them had over-activation of the brain’s microglia, chronic brain inflammation, which is by this mechanism,” Blaylock said.
Mercury, aluminum, and MSG are powerful activators of the microglia – linking brain damage with vaccines. Fisher says the vaccine companies try to exclude that damage.
She explained, “The manufacturers conduct clinical trials and whenever anything bad happens in that clinical trial – nine times out of 10 if not 10 times out of 10 – they write off the health problem that occurs or the death that occurs as a coincidence.”
So what can parents do to at least limit the side effects?
-Don’t vaccinate a child who is sick or has had a previous severe vaccine reaction.
-Be careful about giving multiple vaccines on the same day, especially to premature babies.
-Tell your doctor if your child or your family has a history of autoimmune or nervous system disorders.
-Learn vaccine side effects so you can monitor your child after vaccination. In case of problems, immediately call your doctor.
Blaylock says, also, that the most important thing is good nutrition to build a strong immune system.
That’s not just theory, that’s history. The fall of mass death from infections occurred when nutrition improved on a large scale.
“When they looked at diphtheria and they looked at measles and they looked at all these infectious diseases that were killing so many people, they found a 75 percent, 90 percent, 50 percent drop in the number of people who were dying before the vaccine programs were ever started,” Blaylock said.
In other words, the drop had nothing to do with the vaccines.
That kind of information is needed by parents, Fisher believes. Know the risks and the benefits. Then make an informed decision. And know that vaccine policy may need radical reform, so parents are allowed to pick and choose what’s best for an individual child.
“We have to individualize the policies to begin with,” Fisher said. “But we have to do the scientific studies to really determine whether a policy of using 48 doses of 14 vaccines before age 6 is a wise policy.”
here is some more info
i don’t know if the links are still good
tatianna
BREAKING NEWS: The most recent research as of 2/17/07 shows that two areas of the genome have been found to play a role in autism. This is a huge vindication for those of us who have long suspected free glutamic acid plays a role in the rise of autism. See the following link to the Scientific American article:
http://www.sciam.com/…
Neurexin 1
The first genetic player in autism is Neurexin 1 which codes for proteins involved in building glutamate synapses - the very locations where glutamate is used as a neurotransmitter by the nerve cells.
The Amygdala and Fear Response in Autistic Children
The latest research about autism links overstimulation of the amygdala in the brain to perceiving faces as threatening. This explains why autistic children avoid the gaze of others.
It should be noted that the NMDA receptors that respond to both glutamate and aspartate (the amino acid found in aspartame) are found in the amygdala. The amygdala is part of the limbic system and is involved in the perception of taste and smell as well as fear.
A link about glutamate receptors in the amygdala:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.n…
Could ingestion of MSG and aspartame, by stimulating the amygdala, result in the perceptions and behaviours typically associated with autism?
Mercury
It is already known that children with higher levels of glutathione are better at chelating mercury (a suspected cause of autism) and removing it from the body. However, MSG, when injected into mice, has been proven to reduce these glutathione levels that are protective against mercury poisoning. Could the ever-increasing amounts of MSG in the diet of developed countries be putting children at unnecessary risk of mercury poisoning?
MMR Vaccine
MMR vaccines have come under scrutiny recently due to autism rates in Scotland climbing 18% in just one year. Also, other vaccines have been suspected as well. Gelatin is one of the common ingredients in vaccines, as well as mercury.
Here is the ingredient list of an MMR vaccine: http://www.medsafe.go…
It should be noted that gelatin is 10% free, active glutamic acid: http://www.gelatin.co…
A new “study” in one Japanese city has shown that since MMR vaccines were stopped in 1993, autism rates continued to rise. Some are claiming that it proves no link between autism and vaccines. However, it was only one city in a country that consumes the most MSG, and fish (a dietary source of mercury) in the world. And, it was only one vaccine that was stopped - the MMR. Other vaccines that were continued may include both mercury and free glutamic acid. Compared to both the amount of mercury consumed in fish, and the amount of MSG consumed in the diet, the MMR contribution of mercury and MSG was probably a small contribution to what a typical Japanese child is exposed to. Autism rates in Japan still increased. Children from other countries with a lower consumption of fish and MSG may find a correlation between a vaccine and autism - such as Scotland did. A rise when a vaccine is introduced as opposed to no reduction when the vaccine is stopped. Perhaps in Japan, the diet plays more of a role in autism than the vaccines. However, in a different country with different diets, the role of vaccines in autism may be plainer to observe.
Regardless of the controversy and whether mercury or vaccines cause autism, we still question the wisdom of including both free glutamic acid and mercury in any vaccine since it WILL put children at greater risk of mercury poisoning by concurrently poisoning the child with mercury and hindering the ability of a child to rid themselves of that mercury.
Autism and ADHD Linked to Addictive Food Additive
For the last fifty years, the medical community has been baffled by the rise
in cases of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and Autism. These two
diseases, unheard of before 1950, have been striking an increasing number of
children. Physicians have been unable to explain to parents why their
children are suffering these maladies despite there not being any family history of
the disorder.
Finally these parents will know the answer. Thanks to John Erb, a
developmental disorder researcher and author of the book The Slow
Poisoning of America , the cause of ADHD and Autism is no longer a mystery.
“These diseases appear to be caused by a food additive commonly known
as MSG or Monosodium Glutamate.” John Erb explains, “MSG is added to
food because of its addictive qualities, it is nicotine for food. It is
highly reactive in the human brain and other organs.”
MSG and its related ingredients have been found in increasing amounts in
processed and fast foods. Almost every restaurant and most processed
foods from snacks and soups to ready made meals have glutamate in them in
some form or another. MSG has no nutritional value. Scientific studies
have shown that food laced with the MSG cause people to eat more of it, and
faster, than food without it.
“Corporations use this knowledge to sell their products. Their competition
uses MSG, so they keep adding it in larger amounts to keep up with them,”
John Erb comments. The FDA has no limits on how much MSG can be added
to foods, even though as little as two tablespoons of it has been shown to
cause epileptic convulsions and death in animals such as dogs.
MSG is a highly reactive amino acid. It is used by scientists in studies to
purposely cause death to areas of the brain and is fed to rodents to make a
strain of obese and pre-diabetic test subjects. MSG is classified as a
neurotoxin: too much of it introduced to the brain can cause rapid cell
death. It is this kind of destruction that John Erb states is the cause of ADHD
and Autism. He came to this conclusion after reviewing hundreds of medical
journal articles detailing the ways in which glutamate affects organs such
as the brain. According to John Erb, “When a woman becomes pregnant, the
placental barrier is not fully formed in the first month of fetal development.
The chemicals the mother eats can go directly to the developing child.
The glutamate stimulates rapid growth in the brain, creating ADHD symptoms.
Too much glutamate over-stimulates areas of the brain, resulting in neuronal
cell death. This destruction to the neurons results in the symptoms categorized
as Autism.”
MSG is used in almost every institutional setting across the country. From
hospitals to school cafeterias to elderly care facilities, MSG is being
added to mass produced food to increase its palatability. Women are being
exposed to a major toxin that can cause irreparable damage to their child even
before they discover they are pregnant.
Shocked by his discovery, John Erb met with Dr. Thomas Ward, Nova
Scotia’s Deputy Minister of Health, a pediatrician who specialized in
Neonatology. When Mr. Erb explained to Dr. Ward about the dangers of MSG,
Dr. Ward replied, “I know how awful the stuff is, I would never touch it.”
When John Erb pressed the Deputy Health Minister to remove it from all food
products, Dr. Ward said that it was an issue for the federal government, and
suggested that Mr. Erb take his book The Slow Poisoning of America to the
federal government and “Hit them over the head with it.”
John Erb took his discovery to Dr. Susan Bryson, head of the Autism
Research Center in Halifax, and one of the leading Autism scientists in
Canada. She was amazed by his findings, and confirmed that current studies
being done by the National Institute of Health show that the cause of Autism
has been linked to a toxin invading the embryo’s brain stem at as early as
twenty days after conception. The NIH had not yet identified the toxin, but
thanks to John Erb’s discovery, they now know the direction in which to
focus their research.
“The sooner people know that MSG can cause ADHD and Autism in their
unborn children, the sooner they can take steps to avoid being another
victim of the steadily increasing numbers of these disorders,” John Erb states.
Autism, unheard of before 1950, (MSG was introduced to the American diet in
1948) has now risen to epidemic proportions, with one in every 200 children
born with the affliction.
“There may be a genetic component deciding who is stricken with ADHD and
Autism, otherwise when you consider the rampant use of MSG in today’s diet,
every child would be born with either ADHD or Autism. But if the growth
curve keeps going the way it has, it won’t be long before this is the case.”
MSG has been hidden in food ingredient lists as hydrolyzed vegetable
protein, autolyzed yeast extract, soy protein isolate, and many other names.
Every year, the amount of this substance hidden in foods rises
astronomically. Just because the name MSG does not appear on the label,
does not mean that the food does not contain the excitotoxin glutamate.
“People should demand that the food industry, both restaurants and food
manufacturers, remove the added glutamate in all its forms from anything we
ingest,” John Erb states emphatically. “The fact that they add it to make
us addicted to their food is appalling enough, but considering it is doing
terrible damage to our children, for that there is no excuse. The sooner these
corporations are held accountable for poisoning us, the sooner we can
eradicate ADHD and Autism from the maternity wards across the nation.”
Very interesting. MSG gives my mom a migraine headache.
I had never heard of this. I remember being pregnant and ordering chinese food without MSG, but only did it during pregnancy. I didn’t realize it appears in so many of our foods.
My Dad get sleepy and a stuffy nose when he eats foods MSG.
Free glutamate content of foods (mg per 100g) roquefort cheese 1280
parmesan cheese 1200
soy sauce 1090
walnuts 658
fresh tomato juice 260
grape juice 258
peas 200
mushrooms 180
broccoli 176
tomatoes 140
mushrooms 140
oysters 137
corn 130
potatoes 102
chicken 44
mackerel 36
beef 33
eggs 23
human milk 22
the more I read about the controversy on vaccines the more i think its a bit too generalised…
what i mean is, I wouldn’t not give ANY vaccines or give ALL vaccines at the same time…
I believe that really thorough research should be done by parents about each and every ingredient in the vaccines, whether it is still included in thevaccines, whether it is a problem on its own or combined with another ingredient…etc
That way, the risk vs. benefit of each and every vaccine is clear and the decision has even better concequences for your child…vaccines do protect from outbreaks at certain times and not all vaccines are evil just as much as not all of them are good
This is what I would personally do, when the time comes to take a decision about this.
According to new research, cases of the developmental disability autism, which was controversially associated with the triple MMR immunisation, have levelled out since 1992. The new research suggests that the rise in cases since 1979 may not have been “real”, but rather the result of better awareness, diagnosis and record keeping. They also suggest that some parental claims of a link between MMR and autism may have increased after the immunisation debate arose in 1997.
If MMR did cause autism, you would expect to see a sudden rise in cases when it was started and this isn’t the case.
Deciding whether to have the vaccine can be tricky, but it’s important to weigh up the health benefits and risks
for families and those affected by autism, my advice would be to discuss it further with your GP, practice nurse or health visitor and get more information. After discussion with our GP, all of our children had the triple MMR and experienced no side effects.
It’s encouraging that diagnoses are being made earlier and that the condition has gained extra recognition over the years.
According to new research, cases of the developmental disability autism, which was controversially associated with the triple MMR immunisation, have levelled out since 1992. The new research suggests that the rise in cases since 1979 may not have been "real", but rather the result of better awareness, diagnosis and record keeping. They also suggest that some parental claims of a link between MMR and autism may have increased after the immunisation debate arose in 1997.
In the 80’s 1 in every 10,000 children were diagnosed as autistic and today the rate is about 1 in every 150. Looking at those numbers it is impossible to say that it was just “undiagnosed” previously and doctors are just getting better at labeling something that has been around for a very long time. 1 in 150 is a very, very high number. And we must also consider that before the 1950’s it was not even heard of. Now we see it everywhere, literally, and for a disease to go from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 150 in less than 20 years is considered an epidemic. Most medical doctors say that autism is “strictly genetic”, however there is no such thing as a genetic epidemic.
The following link might be of interest. “That rates in recent surveys are substantially higher than 30 years ago merely reflects the adoption of a much broader concept of autism, a recognition of autism among normally intelligent subjects and an improved identification of persons with autism.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1170424.stm
More recent “MMR and autism link is dismissed”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article3308485.ece
“By protecting their own children, parents are also protecting other people’s children from the serious health risks associated with the illnesses of measles, mumps and rubella.”
Chris
Well, I suppose it’s just a matter of opinion. I find it a little bit hard to believe that in 1900 1 in every 150 children had autism but doctors just didn’t know what to call it so the diagnoses were zero. Doctors started seeing this after the 1950’s, and even as early as the 80’s and 90’s it was very rare, now it is everywhere. I’m sure everyone in this forum knows at least several parents with children diagnosed with autism, and that certainly wasn’t the case twenty years ago. To me it seems a bit silly to just say that 100 years ago there were just as many kids with autism except the only difference was doctors didn’t have a name for it yet. 1 in 150 is a big number, and more than a big number, it’s a lot of kids, a lot of lives effected, which just wasn’t the case until the past few years. Of course each to his own, that’s just my observation on the epidemic.
There are a lot of arguments out there for and against vaccines. Doctors dismiss the “risks” as few and far apart and stick to the dogma that vaccines are perfectly safe, and that is the type of information that you will find in most mainstream sources. A big argument, as you have mentioned, is that we should just stick to the vaccines to prevent those horrible diseases from coming back, to make sure the whole population stays vaccinated to “protect” other people. But that’s not enough for me. For instance, there have been no natural cases of polio in the USA for over 15 years. The only way that you can get it is from the vaccine. The flu vaccine often does not even work as the virus changes every year and the vaccine is basically just a guess at what it might look like this year. Many people who have been vaccinated against Hep B still get the disease, same goes for whopping coughing, and chicken pox. I can’t even begin to describe the horror with the new vaccine Gardasil. Just google “Gardasil deaths” and you can see what I mean. And as was mentioned before, if you will look at the numbers, you will find that all of these diseases such as measles and small pox started diminishing (substantially) before the vaccine was introduced, so it’s highly questionable about their effectiveness. But that’s not what they teach you in medical school, where vaccines are the flawless, most genius discovery of medical history.
There’s a lot of research to be done by concerned parents, and there’s no easy answer either way. One can be sure that the fact that vaccines are a multi-billion dollar industry has a substantial effect on the whole debate, too. Each to his own - just be sure that you’re informed to the best of your ability.
The thing is though, diseases are making a comeback in areas that children are not vaccinated. There was an outbreak of measles this year (around 131 cases when this was reported) and nearly all of them were children who were purposely not vaccinated. There have also been outbreaks of whooping cough in the last several years.
You can read my previous posts and see that I am not for nor against shots. I am stuck in the middle. Gabriel gets the absolute necessary shots spread out more than the normal schedule.
But you do have to realize that vaccines were created to eradicate these horrible diseases, and they have largely worked. Diseases can come back if large numbers of people don’t get vaccinated.
Like you said Elizabeth, to each is own.
You’re right about that, Nikki, and in that regard I’m somewhat stuck in the middle too, as even though the evidence is questionable about how strongly the vaccines helped in comparison to better nutrition and living conditions (as was before mentioned, because in nearly all cases of vaccine introduction you will see a 30-, 50-, or even 90-percent drop BEFORE the vaccine was introduced) it is true that vaccines have done something in many cases, especially in poorer nations with lower living conditions (sanitation and nutrition, etc.), or in other words, they’re not completely useless. I just don’t agree with the idea that vaccines are flawless, perfect, and harmless and we should give as many of them as possible at the youngest possible ages. Unfortunately that is the view of most medical doctors, and the current recommended vaccine schedule for tiny babies is in my opinion, irresponsible and dangerous.
If I were living in an area where these diseases were a real threat (because of poor living conditions and sanitation) I would consider vaccinations, however in my personal opinion, I believe the best line of defense is breast-feeding, good nutrition, and good sanitation because a baby who has had that will have a much higher rate of surviving a disease than the one who missed out on those things, even if the one who missed out is immunized (because getting a vaccine does not necessarily mean you are immune).
There’s a lot about “Every child vaccinated for the safety of the community!” but if you can actually get the disease from the vaccine (like polio, the flu, etc.) then you’re not doing the community much good.
The biggest thing for me about avoiding vaccines in the early years is that so often they don’t even work and you can even get the disease from the vaccine. To me that’s just not worth it, to be putting all that garbage in your body which is causing who knows what kind of permanent damage, and then not even necessarily being immune and actually risking contacting the disease from the vaccine. I don’t know, there’s a lot to it, but that’s just what I have concluded about it but each person has to weigh the pros and the cons either way, and it’s very much a personal decision as there’s no easy answer.