Should You Vaccinate Your Child?

If you are considering whether or not to vaccinate your child, it is important to take it out of the realm of emotions and find the science that supports your ultimate decision, the April release of the Journal of Translational Science is an excellent place to start! DR. CHAD LARSON

In Episode 27, Dr. Larson discusses:

• A lot of emotion surrounds the decision to either have your child vaccinated or not, mostly because there isn’t much data about the long-term effects of vaccinating children
• It is important to note that Dr. Larson is neither an anti-vaccination or pro-vaccination proponent, it is just important that people know the facts when making an informed decision
• In the 1950s children between birth and the age of six received seven various vaccine doses
• In 2013, that number rose to 36, and this year, the total number increased to 48 doses to cover 40 different types of vaccines
• That equals a 400% increase in dosages in less little than seventy years
• The pharmaceutical companies that develop the vaccines have done a lot of research on the short-term effects of vaccinating kids, and they insist that the risk for their short-term health are very low
• What has been understudied is both the long-term effects of vaccinating children and what the combination of so many vaccines have on a child’s overall health and wellbeing
• After nearly a century, the science is still very ambiguous
• Last month a study was published in the Journal of Translational Science that took a look at the data related to the health of vaccinated versus non-vaccinated children
• The researchers set out to compare 600 children to measure two major objectives in youths ages six to eighteen
• 39% of the participants in the study were not vaccinated
• The first objective of the study was to quantify the incidence of acute and chronic conditions comparatively between vaccinated and non-vaccinated children ages six to eighteen
• The second objective was to study neural developmental diseases, specifically three main ones, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and broader unclassified learning disorders and disabilities related to neurological degradation, to find if there was a difference between the kids who were vaccinated versus the kids who were not
• The results for objective one was that the risks for two acute diseases whopping cough and chicken pox were lesser in the vaccinated group versus the non-vaccinated group
• But, for all the other acute conditions that they studied those children who received the vaccination had a higher incidence of acute illness or there was no significant difference
• One specific acute illness, which was significantly different, was that children who were vaccinated had an increased risk of developing pneumonia by as much as 420%, or an odds ratio of 5.2:1, versus children who were not vaccinated
• Other acute conditions that they studied showed that there was no statistically significant difference between those children who were vaccinated and those who were not, they both had about equal risk and incidence of getting acute conditions no matter which group they belonged to
• More shockingly, when they studied the chronic conditions of autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, the vaccinated group was at a 320% greater risk of developing these types of conditions
• When it came to other chronic neurological conditions like broad spectrum learning disabilities, the risk was as high as 420%, or an odds ratio of 5.2:1, if the child was vaccinated versus non-vaccinated
• When it came to chronic conditions, things such as allergic rhinitis, which included things like seasonal allergies and hay fever, those who received vaccinations had an odds ratio of 30:1, which means that they were as much as 2900% greater risk of developing allergies than their non-vaccinated cohorts
• So, according to the latest study done, the only benefit that the researchers could find between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated group was that the vaccinated children had a lower risk for chicken pox and whopping cough, on all other spectrums they were at great risk long-term chronic and acute conditions or there was no statistical significance of risk
• Just one study, it is a great insight into where further research should continue, not conclusive, it might suggest that before you have your child vaccinated, you do the research to ensure that it is a decision you are comfortable with and you know what types of risks you might be exposing your child to
• If you are considering whether or not to vaccinate your child, it is important to take it out of the realm of emotions and find the science that supports your ultimate decision, the April release of the Journal of Translational Science is an excellent place to start.