What shots E got

This is going to be brief as I am really wanting to go to bed, but I thought that I would report what happened at the pediatrician (in case anyone cares). I reread the chapter on the pnuemococcal vaccine in Dr. Sears book and reread the Dallas study and decided that I didn't think we should get the shot. Well, we showed up at the doctors office and the doctor was unhappy about our decision. She had read the abstract of the paper (I sent her the information 2 weeks ago as she was interested in it and hadn't heard about it, but doctors are busy and I don't think she got the chance to read it in full), and in the abstract it says that in Dallas the number of invasive (serious) pneumococcal cases had dropped 86% from 1999 (pre-vaccine) to its nadir (their word) in 2003. This is a true statement, but doesn't mention the fact (as shown in the plot that I put in the blog and which I showed the doctor) that the reduction between 1999 and 2005 (the last year for which there is data) is only 17% and that the non-vaccine types are rising steeply to the point that the number of invasive cases by now might well be much more than 1999.

Anyway, we spent far too long in the office with the doctor trying to convince me that this is a good vaccine and worth the risks (aluminum in the blood, seizures), and me feeling that this is a bad vaccine for the risks, for supporting bad medicine and science, and for its measured effects. Well, in the end Emmett only got polio, and I have decided that I will do a lot more research on this disease to see if we will end up giving him the shot (this is a good stall in some ways as waiting a couple of weeks puts a full month between shots with aluminum rather than the 2week/6week spread that the doctor had advocated for).

It is very unfortunate that there is so little scientific data on what is going on with this disease. This Dallas study seems the only of its kind, and in talking to a pediatrician who was at the new parents group that Andrea and Emmett normally attend without me (and which I got to attend because of the doctor's appointment getting me out of work), I learned that UCSF is now finally analyzing each invasive case of pneumococcal to determine what strains are causing the trouble. Without this kind of information the doctors are prescribing this vaccine blindly and without fully understanding the ramifications of its widespread use.

Anyway, this is the scorecard for those keeping count: the American Academy of Pediatrics says that by 2.5 months Emmett should have had the HepB twice, HIB, Pc, DTaP, Rotovirus, and Polio vaccines. Dr. Sears has DTaP and Rotovirus only with HIB and Pc at 3 months. Emmett has had HIB, DTaP, and Polio, so we are kind of in an intermediate position at present.

Luckily I have heard that immunization is that last hard decision we have to make before Emmett graduates high school.