Well, I'm a big believer in not making fear-based decisions, so I think you need to look beyond the fear of autism vs. the fear of polio and look at each vaccine individually. Start with finding out what shots your dd is due for at the visit.
This is the CDC's immunization schedule for 2007:
http://www.cdc.gov/Nip/recs/child-schedule-image-0-6-ppt.jpg
It looks like she's due for a MMR booster, varicella booster, IPV and also a DTaP. Possibly hep B depending on if she's completed the series or not. (varicella has just recently had a booster dose added to it because of the high failure rate after a few years from the first dose.)
Some dr.'s do have a slightly modified schedule they use though, so I'd call your dd's dr. office and ask what vaccines they normally give at a 5yr check-up so that you can start researching those specific vaccines.
MMR is the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. There is a lot of misinformation regarding the MMR vaccine - mainly that there was thimerosol in it and it was then removed. The MMR vaccine has never contained thimerosol because it is an active virus vaccine. Thimerosol is used as a preservative and it would've inactivated the viruses. I don't dispute that in some kids the MMR is the trigger to autism, I just don't necessarily think that the trigger is thimerosol - it could be any number of things - including the viruses themselves.
MMR is a shot many decline on the basis of it being against religious beliefs because the rubella portion is grown in human diploid cells. Human diploid cells are cells from an aborted fetus. So all MMR vaccines contain aborted cells from an aborted fetus.
On the subject of rubella, this disease is only a risk to pregnant women IF they haven't had rubella or aren't immune to it. If a pregnant woman gets rubella, sometimes their fetus can get congenital rubella syndrome. This risk to the unborn baby is the reason why all kids are vaccinated against rubella. Rubella itself is not a dangerous disease. It's also worth noting that not all pregnant women who get rubella will deliver babies with congenital rubella syndrome, and there are also nutritional things a pregnant woman can do should she be exposed to rubella. The fetal cell line used to propogate the rubella virus was obtained from abortions that were done specifically because the woman had been infected with rubella. They did a number of abortions before finding a baby that was actually infected with the rubella virus.
Varicella - aka chicken pox. I guess the most important thing to know about this vaccine is that it does not prevent shingles because it introduces the virus into your body. This is also a live virus vaccine. Booster shots are now recommended because they found the vaccine was losing it's effectiveness over the years following the original dose. As a result, instead of getting chicken pox in childhood when it's a relatively benign disease, the disease was shifting to teenagers and opening up the door for young adults to be susceptible to the virus. Chicken pox is more serious and complications are more common as you get older. So they've recommended a booster. It's not unlikely to think that in 5 yrs time they may be recommending a booster every 5 years similar to the way that they recommend all adults get boosters for tetanus, diptheria and pertussis.
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Being that you're in California, you have a lot of options when it comes to vaccinations. California has medical, religious and philisophical exemptions available, so kids can go to public school without any vaccines providing an exemption is completed. Also, if you do decide to vaccinate, the actual required number of doses for school of any given vaccine varies from state to state. For example, some states only require one dose of MMR. 95% of those vaccinated with MMR develop antibodies after the first dose. The booster shot is given to try and sero-convert the remaining 5% of those who don't respond to the first dose.
Different states also have varying requirements on polio.
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Hep B is a disease transmitted the same way as AIDS. For this reason, it's just not a disease that kids get on a regular basis.
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My advice is to find out the specific vaccines that your dd is due for, research the ingredients in each vaccine, side effects, known reactions and then research each disease. Research what the typical course of the disease is - fever? Rash? Potential complications? Worst case scenario? And then with both the risks of the disease and the risks of the vaccine in hand, decide which set of risks you're more comfortable with.
There are risks with vaccinating, and there are risks to not vaccinating - it's a matter of which set of risks are you more comfortable living with. Most diseases can be treated, many vaccine reactions can't be resolved.
For us, we've decided that we'd rather our kids get any of the diseases that they could be vaccinated for, rather than risk a reaction. My dd did have a reaction to one of her shots, and it scared the living heck out of me. My comfort zone is that I'd rather support her immune system to do what it was designed to do, and not interfere with it and risk more reactions by continuing to vaccinate her. Ds has never had a vaccine and is not going to have any.
Honestly, this is a hot button topic, so be prepared for some pretty opinionated replies.
It's impossible to find unbiased information when it comes to vaccines. What it comes down to for me in the end is doing what I'm more comfortable with. I won't tell you what decision to make, but I will say to follow your heart. Don't vaccinate out of fear - and don't refuse vaccinations out of fear either. If you need to, delay this current set of vaccines until you can do enough research to make a decision you're comfortable with. You can always go back the week after to get the shots done, once the shot is given, there's no way to undo it. :twocents: