Wow-WARNING-graphic pictures on website

[Kate]

Cindy and Ann-feel free to yank this if you don't approve or if it should be OT. I was just sent this and went through it-there are very very graphic pictures of a little baby who suffered a horrible reaction to the hep B vaccination. I feel that this is very well written...informative. She isn't saying that kids should not get vaccines, but that parents need to be better informed. What a sad sad situation. Ughh..

http://iansvoice.org/vaccines.aspx

[Alethia]

Maybe I'm too tired to work it out properly, but why was he given a hep B vaccination at so young an age? Is it a routine thing in the US? The pictures are heartbreaking, that's for sure.

[Kate]

Ya-they give them the hepB before you bring them home from the hospital-then again at 2 mo and 4 mo.

[Mom2TwinsPlus1]

My kids got them at birth, two months and one year. Its required by law that you have them to go to school.

[My little figther]

Yes in the US Hepb is first administered at the hopsital then at 2 months then at 4months usually - I can't imagine the ordeal these parents went through with their baby just for a vaccine. I sure hope she pulled through.
Michelle

[JWorthington]

Oh my, that poor boy. I don't understand the need to give a hep b vaccine to a baby. I am pro vaccine and all my kids have had their vaccines, but it is scary to see what they can do.

Julie

[TommysMommy]

I sat and read his complete story last night and looked at all the pictures. Its a very moving story. We just assume that vaccines are good for our kids and don't hesitate.

[Kate]

Rene-I guess that is why I posted it...getting away from the should we vaccinate or not--but what this mom is saying is we as parents need to be more informed. I feel so ashamed sometimes-I just do it because that is what they usually do...though I do split up all of the shots but know nothing about them. I was so ticked though when I brought Sam in...they started putting this stuff in his mouth and I looked at the nurse and said, "UH...what is that?!" She casually said, "oh that is a new vaccine we do."

I think some of it lies on the drs and nurses to better inform parents. I do think that they are scared of parents saying they don't want their children vaccinated so they don't go through it-they act like it isn't a big deal.

Julie-that is what this mom said too--that why would a new born need the hepB vac before leaving the hospital...that they should've just waited but they were uninformed.

I thought it was very well written. Very graphic...but well done.

[babybear]

Just because you are informed doesn't mean you have any control over how your child will react to a particular vaccine. Sometimes I feel like we're "d@mned if we do, d@mned if we don't" regarding vaccines. You could choose to skip a vaccine, and your child may contract the disease, or you vax and your child suffers a horrible reaction. It's a tough situation.

[Kate]

I agree. So they waited a few months--the baby could've very easily had the same reaction..you just don't know. I think things just happen how they happen.
Sometimes all the information in the world wont change the situation.

[Niff]

Oh my word - how awful! I can't imagine the pain that family went through. I suppose it's another example that the "ordinary" medical things are not always so easy.

I wonder if their next child (assuming they plan to try again) is more likely to have the same reaction to the vax? I think I'd be very scared.

[Kate]

I think they had another one--I didn't get a chance to read through it though. I'm assuming they waited on the vaccine--but don't know. Yes, I'd be terrified.

The mom keeps a blog...I read a bit of it and I think she has cancer-at least that is what I got from the blog. I didn't have a lot of time to go through that part though.

[bryantem]

With my first 2 kids, I did everything the medical community told me to do and I didn't bat an eye. With Addisyn, however, I question everything. They asked me right before my c-section if I wanted her to have the Hep-B. She was born at 28 weeks and I told them no. She was going to have enough to deal with, we didn't need to add any vaccinations in the mix. Like mentioned earlier, it is not something that is airborne. It has to be transmitted through bodily fluids. I think they almost viewed me as a problem mother because when she was 2 months old, they asked if there was any reason I didn't want her to have other vaccines. I told them that I wanted to wait for the Hep B until she was stronger and they agreed. In the end, she got the vaccine in a combo shot, however I had to explain that about a dozen times whenever they would say she hadn't gotten Hep B at the new hospital. In the end, I felt the vaccine was important because she will be hospitlized more than the average infant. With that comes healthcare workers and dealing with needles. I can't guarantee that the healthcare workers do not have HEP B, so I felt the vaccine is nessesary for her. The hospital did break the vaccines up for me because if she were to have a reaction, I wanted to know which one it was to cause it. They were very understanding and accomodating with my request.

[Niff]

Beth - I'm typically a delayed vax person but with Mac in the hospital, Andy and I thought it best to go ahead with the vaxes on schedule since she posed more of a risk of getting the infections. I made sure she was given her vaxes on separate days rather than all at once, with the same idea you had that if she were to have a reaction we'd know which one caused it. Our hospital was completely okay with that and the attending neonatologist said she preferred to give the vaxes that way anyway, but they have to go off pediatric standards and the majority of pediatricians give combo vaxes.

[bryantem]

I did opt for the combo vaccines. One of my reasoning was because she has been stuck so many times, I wanted to minimize the needle factor. My older two kids didn't have any reactions to any vaccines, but Addisyn likes to defy the odds. She is set to get her second set of vax's next week or so. Her pediatritican delayed it without me even having to mention it because of her recent illness. I am very fortunate to have a dr that will listen to our concerns and will break them up as we see fit. I think if I were that mother, I probably wouldn't vaccineate my child for Hep B at all. At the very least, it would be delayed until a trip to the allergist.

[Baby1107]

When Austin was born I refused the Hep B vax and you would have thought I asked them to remove a limb. Several Drs & nurses tried to convince me I was wrong. But I just felt like he had so much going on and I did not want to deal with it at the time. At our frist Ped visit (outside the hospital) I told her and she did not bat an eyelash. She said no problem we will start when he gets his 2 mo. shots, and we did.