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CNN.com and Dr. Bob help parents answer the question, “Should I vaccinate my baby?”
CNN correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explores how parents attempt to answer this question, and how various doctors across the nation are responding to parents’ concerns, in her weekly column on www.CNN.com
I believe vaccines are very important and have played a tremendous role in limiting many serious diseases in our country, as do all of the doctors interviewed by Elizabeth for her column. However, more and more parents are concerned and want to take an approach that varies from the regular CDC schedule. I believe that if more and more doctors offer parents such options, we will have better vaccination rates than we are seeing now.
Here are just a few of the options that Elizabeth presented in her column:
- Don’t give the Hepatitis B vaccine to newborns in the hospital. Because this shot can cause fever, lethargy, and poor feeding (problems you don’t want to see in a newborn), it’s better to delay this shot for the first two months of life, especially since the disease doesn’t even occur in newborns (it’s a sexually-transmitted disease).
- Checking “titers” (blood immunity levels) for various shots before doing boosters. Some kids don’t need some of the booster shots at age 5 years because their original infant series may still be working just fine. While this is a costly and time-consuming approach, some parents prefer it instead of automatically getting all the boosters.
- Getting fewer shots at each infant checkup and spreading the shots out over more time. This is the hallmark of Dr. Bob’s Alternative Vaccine Schedule.
- Limiting large combination shots. Some parents prefer to split some of the combo shots into separate components to decrease the chance of a reaction. While we don’t know if this precaution even helps, it is an option that some doctors like to provide for concerned parents.
The bottom line is that more and more parents want options. If we don’t provide them with options they are comfortable with, more parents will opt out of vaccines altogether. We will then see more and more disease fatalities and complications.
Dr. Bob Labels: Alternative Vaccine Schedule
Larry King Show Continues to Raise Questions About Vaccines and Autism
Last night’s show was a great mix of pro-vaccine doctors, doctors who have some concerns about vaccines, and parents who are demanding a different vaccine schedule. While everyone on both sides had good things to say, as expected there really was no conclusion reached and most parents are still probably just as confused as ever.
I’ve looked at all the research, and I’m still confused as well. There is no clear answer on whether or not vaccines contribute to autism. But there is one thing that is very clear – more research needs to be done. Well, make that two things – more and more parents are going to decline vaccines unless they are offered an alternative vaccine schedule.
So, while the scientists, doctors, government officials, and parents battle it out over the next couple of decades, here’s what YOU, the concerned and confused parent with a little baby waiting for vaccines, can do NOW. Educate yourself about all the pros and cons of vaccines, understand the risk of diseases versus the rare risk of a vaccine side effect, look at all the research that does exist so far, and when you do decide you are comfortable beginning shots, vaccinate according to my Alternative Vaccine Schedule or my Selective Vaccine Schedule.
I do believe change is in the wind, but it may be a very gentle breeze that takes many years to fill the sails (nice metaphor, huh? Or is that a simile? Never could get that straight. Maybe it’s an analogy). For now, I encourage parents to follow one of my suggested vaccine schedules. Labels: Alternative Vaccine Schedule
Alternative Vaccine Schedule vs. Regular Vaccine Schedule: How do I switch?
How do I switch to the Alternative Vaccine Schedule if I’ve already started my baby on the regular vaccine schedule?
All of you have expressed so much interest in switching to the alternative vaccine schedule, but you aren’t quite sure how to do it since you’ve started getting some shots already. I suppose I should have foreseen this situation when I wrote the book. The most common situation I hear about is a parent who has already given their baby the 2 and/or 4 month shots, and now wants to switch to an alternative schedule. Here’s how to do that. Make a copy of my alternative schedule and cross off everything that your baby has already had, no matter when it is due on my schedule. Then at your baby’s next checkup continue with whatever is due according to my schedule. This most likely will be DTaP and Rota, then Pc and HIB a month later. What about the shots that your baby already had at 2 and/or 4 months that are NOT on my schedule until later during infancy or childhood? The two shots this mainly applies to are Hep B and polio. If your baby already had polio at 2 and 4 months, you would not get any more until 2 years. If your baby only had one polio shot, you’d pick up the next one at 12 months. As for Hep B, you will notice I don’t usually give this until age 2 or 3 years. If your baby has already had 2, then you would just wait to get the third between age 3 and 4. If your baby has only had 1 Hep B, get the second at 2 ½ and the third at 3 years. Here are a few other things to know. It’s fine to switch brands of vaccines anytime you want. You can also switch from any combination vaccine to using individual ones. The hard part will be convincing your doctor to order a different brand just for you. If you have a few other friends with similar age kids going to the same doctor, that might make it easier if you all gang up on your doctor together. (Kidding, of course). Alternatively, the doctor can give you a prescription for a single dose through a pharmacy. Hopefully as more patients make these requests doctors will become more compliant. Second, don’t worry if you mess up the actual spacing of each series of shots. The spacing is flexible. For example, even though the first three DTaP shots are supposed to be 2 months apart each, don’t worry if this gets spaced out further. And if you get only one or two polios or Hep Bs early on, but then delay the rest for some years, you don’t have to start the whole series over. You just pick up where you left off. Third, if you are starting the schedule late, such as at 4 or 6 months, don’t hurry to catch up. Just start the schedule as if your baby was 2 months old, and you’ll go through the whole thing but always be 2 to 4 months behind. Here’s an example of someone who already had the 2 and 4 month shots but who now wants to switch. At six months you would just get DTaP and Rota, then at 7 months HIB and Pc. By nine months, you would skip polio because you’ve already gotten it at 2 and 4 months. You may get the flu shot though. At 12 months get mumps, but NOT polio again since you already got the 2nd dose at 4 months. At 15 months it’s Pc and HIB, and at 18 months it’s DTaP and Chickenpox. You continue on from there according to the schedule. I hope this makes sense. Your doctor will be able to help you figure out the details. Labels: Alternative Vaccine Schedule
How to talk to your doctor about following an Alternative Vaccine Schedule
Many parents today are looking for a different approach to vaccines. But most doctors feel that the standard vaccine schedule is so important that they are unwilling to work with such parents. Well, I have good news. Times are changing. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that doctors work with parents who have questions and concerns and want to do things a little differently. The new AAP guidelines are listed in the 2006 Red Book of Infectious Diseases – a manual that almost every pediatrician owns. In the Book, the AAP suggests: A non-judgmental approach is best. Listen carefully and respectfully to the parent’s concerns. Inform the parents of the risks and benefits of each vaccine as well as the risks of each disease. For parents who are concerned about multiple vaccines at one visit, develop a schedule that spreads the vaccines out. Continued refusal to vaccinate after adequate discussion should be respected (unless the child is at significant risk of serious harm during an epidemic). In general, pediatricians should avoid dismissing patients from their practice solely because of refusal to vaccinate. But parents who have concerns and extra questions about vaccines need to understand the best way to talk to their doctor. You can’t wait until your baby’s two-month appointment, wait until your doctor is done examining the baby, then suddenly hit the doctor with a dozen questions. It takes a good 15 to 30 minutes to discuss vaccine concerns and options in detail. Us doctors don’t have the time to do this within the normal amount of time allotted to a regular checkup. You have to schedule a separate appointment, preferable well before your baby’s first shots are due. That way you and your doctor have a nice chunk of time directly devoted to discussing vaccines, without having to go over all the other questions and concerns of a normal checkup. What can you do if your doctor won’t work with you? Find another doctor. I know it isn’t easy, and my Vaccine Friendly Doctor database (see the home page) will hopefully grow bigger and bigger over the years so patients all over the U.S. can find a doctor near them who will happily discuss vaccine options. You can help it grow by asking any vaccine-friendly doctor you know to contact me through the website Labels: Alternative Vaccine Schedule
Is it worth the trouble to spread a baby's vaccines out over more visits so less shots are given at a time?
The main difference in my suggested alternative vaccine schedule is it spreads the infant vaccines out over the first few years of life, instead of bunching them all up in the first 18 months. It gives fewer vaccines at a time, gives the most important vaccines first, and slightly delays the less important vaccines. But ultimately the end result is the same - a fully vaccinated child. What are the benefits of my alternative schedule compared to the standard one? - By only giving two vaccines at a time (instead of as many as 6), I decrease the chance of chemical overload from grouping so many vaccines chemicals all together at once. This allows a baby's body to better detoxify the chemicals one or two at a time.
- I give only 1 aluminum-containing vaccine at a time (instead of the recommended 4). Overloading on this metal can be particularly toxic to the brain (See Resources, page ___ of The Vaccine Book to view the research on this).
- I give only one live-virus vaccine component at a time to allow the body's immune system to better handle the live viruses in these vaccines.
- Giving fewer shots at a time may decrease the side effects, in my experience.
- Giving fewer shots at a time also makes it easier to figure out which vaccine a child is reacting to if a severe reaction occurs.
Sure, vaccinating this way means more visits to the doctor's office, more gas money, more insurance co-pays and more time off work to take your baby in. BUT, some parents may decide it's worth the extra time, money and trouble. Labels: Alternative Vaccine Schedule
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