Rotavirus vaccine and disease: Do you want your baby to be among the first to try a new vaccine?

Sunday, September 2, 2007

 
This is a dilemma faced by all parents every time a new vaccine hits the market. And parents are once again faced with a new vaccine - Rotavirus. There's no question that this disease is a real pain in the diaper area. It is extremely common and can be very severe for infants. But since the vaccine is fairly new, some parents are leery. No one wants their own baby to be among the first to try out a new vaccine, but someone has to! You want your baby protected from this bad disease, but you'd rather wait until the vaccine has been given to hundreds of thousands of other babies first.

Since this vaccine went into widespread use in 2006, nothing really bad has shown up yet. That's why I've put it first on my Alternative Vaccine Schedule. But this debate will come around again the next time a new vaccine comes out.