I have always thought that your topics, even before your blog have been thought provoking and worth exploring. I appreciate your mind and how you think.

I did not have the time to read all of your comments (I have two boys that keep me busy) but I did want to say I agree with the fact that whole no-vaccine thing has gone a little overboard. It defiantly is a heated topic.

As a mother of two boys one that I thought was autistic at first and has had 40 ear infections I have been very careful about immunizations. I researched for hours and days and labored about what to do.

I decided to vaccinate with my doctor of Oriental medicine first and then did each shot individually and half dosed them. I am not sure if the vaccines themselves cause the issues in the children. I think we should vaccinate but maybe not on the schedule that the doctors want us to follow. I think there are preservatives in the shots so the companies can save money and the vaccine can sit on the shelf longer. So I feel the doctors push way to many shots all at one time. Most children get 5-6 shots at one time, that is too much in my opinion. One or two at one time I think is a lot safer. The doctors reasoning is the child will associate the doctor with getting a shot and then they will not want to come to the office. I would rather spread things out for my child and have him be healthier.

Again Joey, great topic and it is a topic that I could talk about and read about for hours. Thank you for bringing it up. I hope we all stay as healthy as we possibly can.

Hmm, what else happens around age 2 or 3? The last round of vaccinations!

Shit happens; it’s not necessarily anyone or anything’s fault if we get stuff wrong with us. The human body is such a wonderfully complicated thing that it’s not surprising if bits of it malfunction.

Improved medicine and public health, together with healthier diets have led to a majority of us who live in the developed world living longer. In those countries where they’re not so fortunate, life expectancy is still well under 50, as it was in the UK a few 100 years ago.

Life is risky. We take a calculated risk every time we get into a car, for example. You can’t eliminate every possible danger, whether in child protection, medical treatment, or whatever. The tendency to expect assurances, and then sue anyone you think might have contributed to a problem, is very expensive and very unhealthy. For example, children don’t develop common sense responses to potential dangers as they’re so over-protected, they can’t judge what is or isn’t dangerous. This is something that’s only developed in the last few decades. When I was a child, it was normal to disappear out into the countryside to play all day. Kids in developing countries work, using dangerous tools just like their parents, and care for their younger siblings. No one sues anyone for making mistakes. While travelling, my son observed that in India, every other child seemed to have his or her arm in a sling after falling out of a tree.

Jon wrote: “Toxic ingrediants (sic) in vaccines like the flu shot build up in the brain and nervous system and disrupt the operation of a healthy immune system.” Where’s your evidence? Anyhow, my immune system’s not healthy. I’ve been ill since 1986 with ME/CFS, and I’m happy to have the vaccine because I’d rather not have the flu, thank you. Flu can kill. It killed more people in 1918 than the 1st World War did. I’m 65 and have survived cancer (twice), so I’m not all that bothered about living into great old age, but I’d rather not die from something avoidable, like the flu.

A major problem we have nowadays is that there are so many scare stories about vaccine “risks”, such as the one about the death of Natalie Morton, and the MMR scare story spread by that lunatic Andrew Wakefield, that we’re seeing a loss of the herd immunity that’s been built up and children are dying from preventable diseases like measles again, which is shocking.

The risks of dying from measles or of your unborn baby being killed by it are high, if you live in an area where there is no herd immunity from vaccination. The death rate in some countries can be as high as 28%.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women under 35 in the UK. Each year, about 2,800 British women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and over 1,000 will die from it. The potential risk from the vaccine is negligible. Serious effects in a very small number of cases appear to be entirely coincidental, such as in the Morton case; she had a massive, undiagnosed tumour, and could have died at any time.

Take it from someone who’s had a lot of problems and is quite comfortable with her mortality: life is for living, enjoying, and not wasting by looking for potential dangers everywhere. In a developed country like mine, a huge number die from self-indulgence (smoking, drinking, over-eating, casual sex) and careless driving. Unfortunately, there’s no vaccine against stupidity.