Rotarix is on the vaccine schedule to give to our infants at age 2, 4, and 6 months. It has only been on the market since 2008 and is one of two vaccines given to almost all American babies for the rotavirus. Scientists doing a study on something else stumble upon the pig virus and notified GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer. And the FDA suspended the vaccine until they can determine if the pig virus is dangerous. The other vaccine, RotaTeq, is made by Merck. RotaTeq was found to contain a virus similar to simian (monkey) retrovirus, but the FDA hasn't suspended this one.
I opted out of the rotavirus vaccine for West. I didn't know any better with Nate and he got the full doses at his young age of 2, 4, and 6 months. In the US doctors can easily identify the virus, and then I can give my child the fluids and rest that he needs to fight it, and then rake in the rewards of natural lifetime immunity.
The question here is really why is there a pig virus in a vaccine that no body knew was there? How is that safe? What else has gone undetected in this vaccine and all the others? Why do we have a policy of distributing the vaccines first, and then thoroughly testing it later? We are injecting our most vulnerable and precious babies with vaccines that we put full faith in. Should we really have full faith in these vaccines? Are the vaccines really less risk than the virus? We need to gauge our own threshold. For me, I feel like I can handle diarrhea. It isn't that big of risk compared to the unknowns of vaccines.
The manufacturers don't even know what's in their own vaccines. The FDA doesn't know. It is just by luck that some scientists saw the pig virus and notified us. Doctors just do what the FDA says to do. I feel like a big herd of sheep all following huge pharmaceutical companies off the cliff.
When has my child's pediatrician gone over the brand option for my child's vaccines? I asked Nate's pediatrician what brand he was selling and he had to go get the insert to find out. When have they sat down with me and really told me what was in those vaccines? Are we really making informed choices? To be informed, I need to do the research myself. At least I can have the peace of mind that I did the best that I could. I did enough research to feel comfortable with my decision to inject my children with these vaccines.
And it isn't just the question of whether to vaccinate or not. With every vaccine that is on the schedule, I need to ask myself: what is this vaccine? What is in it (that is noted!)? Just like reading the label on my food. If I don't know what it is, I need to find out or I don't eat it! What are the differences in the brands available to me? Not all brands have the same ingredients in them. What is the virus? Is it really that bad that my child needs a vaccine? Remember that vaccines are making our doctors and those big drug companies a lot of money.
From the National Vaccine Information Center:
“Today, even though almost all US infants receive vaccines for rotavirus, and despite efforts to improve the management of childhood rotavirus-associated diarrhea, hospitalizations of children in the U.S. with the disease have not significantly declined in the past two decades.”
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/22/rotavirus.vaccine/index.html?hpt=T2
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/17/major-vaccine-suspended-due-to-contamination-with-pig-virus.aspx
I opted out of the rotavirus vaccine for West. I didn't know any better with Nate and he got the full doses at his young age of 2, 4, and 6 months. In the US doctors can easily identify the virus, and then I can give my child the fluids and rest that he needs to fight it, and then rake in the rewards of natural lifetime immunity.
The question here is really why is there a pig virus in a vaccine that no body knew was there? How is that safe? What else has gone undetected in this vaccine and all the others? Why do we have a policy of distributing the vaccines first, and then thoroughly testing it later? We are injecting our most vulnerable and precious babies with vaccines that we put full faith in. Should we really have full faith in these vaccines? Are the vaccines really less risk than the virus? We need to gauge our own threshold. For me, I feel like I can handle diarrhea. It isn't that big of risk compared to the unknowns of vaccines.
The manufacturers don't even know what's in their own vaccines. The FDA doesn't know. It is just by luck that some scientists saw the pig virus and notified us. Doctors just do what the FDA says to do. I feel like a big herd of sheep all following huge pharmaceutical companies off the cliff.
When has my child's pediatrician gone over the brand option for my child's vaccines? I asked Nate's pediatrician what brand he was selling and he had to go get the insert to find out. When have they sat down with me and really told me what was in those vaccines? Are we really making informed choices? To be informed, I need to do the research myself. At least I can have the peace of mind that I did the best that I could. I did enough research to feel comfortable with my decision to inject my children with these vaccines.
And it isn't just the question of whether to vaccinate or not. With every vaccine that is on the schedule, I need to ask myself: what is this vaccine? What is in it (that is noted!)? Just like reading the label on my food. If I don't know what it is, I need to find out or I don't eat it! What are the differences in the brands available to me? Not all brands have the same ingredients in them. What is the virus? Is it really that bad that my child needs a vaccine? Remember that vaccines are making our doctors and those big drug companies a lot of money.
From the National Vaccine Information Center:
“Today, even though almost all US infants receive vaccines for rotavirus, and despite efforts to improve the management of childhood rotavirus-associated diarrhea, hospitalizations of children in the U.S. with the disease have not significantly declined in the past two decades.”
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/22/rotavirus.vaccine/index.html?hpt=T2
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/17/major-vaccine-suspended-due-to-contamination-with-pig-virus.aspx