Child Immunization?

What are the pros/cons of having a newborn/young child immunized etc? I would like to hear from both sides, for and against.

Informed answers only please - if you're only answer is 'OMG do it you idiot" then please move on to a different question.

well...I'll start by saying I'm not a doctor, but i am a mom.
i can only tell you our family's person situation 8 years back:
we had our daughters immunized, all of them but 1...my girls were 3 and 4 at the time, all their shots up to date and it was time to get more. so my 4 year old is very healthy and gets all her shots; including the chicken pox vaccine. my 3 year old had a heart defect and was kind of small and had a lot of small infections all the time...she got everything that day except chicken pox.
about 6 months later they both got the dang chicken pox...4 year old had a light case and was over it in about 2 1/2 weeks, my 3 year old got the most severe case of chicken pox our county has seen in the hospital!! spent 7 weeks off and on in and out of the hospital, with IVs and 2 surgeries to remove rotting tissue (strep a flesh eating virus infected a sore), and re- potty training! do what you want but we've NEVER missed any other doses!
doctors never figured out whether it got so bad cuz of her heart condition (we fixed the next year) or if the vaccine would have helped or not...

I received all available immunizations at the appropriate intervals and ages. I'm fine. I'm not autistic, I don't have ADHD, I don't have any weird medical problems. I would do the same for my children. I would rather have them immunized than to hope and pray they never come in contact with measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chicken pox (which can outbreak again as shingles *VERY PAINFUL* later in life), etc etc etc. All of these diseases are potentially life threatening. I would not put the life of my child on the line over mild discomfort for a short period of time. Polio isn't seen because it has been vaccinated against - But as seen in other countries, once you stop vaccinating, you get an outbreak of the disease. It is still in the environment. It hasn't just mysteriously disappeared. The only disease that has been successfully nearly eradicated except for two known strains is small pox, kept in high security laboratories.

Direct from the CDC

"Many people are not aware that, before a vaccine was available, there were approximately 11,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths from chickenpox in the U.S. every year." - http://www.cdc.gov/nip/diseases/varicell...

The most common complication, as one young lady mentioned, is staph or group A strep bacterial infections (they're not a virus...), which are a potentially deadly complication of the chicken pox. Viral encephalitis isn't unheard of with the chicken pox, and is usually deadly, not to mention typically an excruciatingly painful way to die - as any encephalitis is.

Whether or not vaccinations cause any sort of medical problem beyond mild discomfort - well, the jury is still out on that one. Once I see rock solid evidence that they do more harm than good, then I might chance my stance. But as long as it's heresay and hypothesis, I'll protect my children.

Would the person that gave thumbs-down mind commenting and giving your opinion? Or are you just being a childish brat that can't stand the idea that someone doesn't share your view?

All of my children have their immunizations required by the state. I feel there is a greater threat to them and to others if they are not immunized properly. School systems require children to have their vaccinations before entering Kindergarten. I don't know if this varies state to state.
I do however think the benefits of immunizing far out-weighs considering not to.

I was very unsure about immunizations, when my daughter was born! The doctor basicly pleaded with me to get it done . He said the benefits far out way cons. it was the right decision for us. Do more research and make an educated decision that is right for you and your baby!

OMG do it you idiot

Well they have been prov-en to work.Our children in the U.S. are more healthy than any where else, but I still wonder if autism is caused by the shots, or possibly the child's fever getting too high.I gave my son all of his shots and we made sure to keep him on children's Tylenol every four hours even when we had to wake him. Hope this helped.

children need the shots for their safety and for others whom interact with your child...there are even shots that you can get for your child that can further protect your child(build up immunity) but at a small price ....I believe its all worth it..look at the children that died before they figured out how to protect children from harmful diseases..

well I looked into it a little to late, I had my little girl immunized with some vaccines. For instance the polio vaccine, polio has been gone for years, so why vaccine for it ?? when theres a very very low chance that your child will get it. Also regarding the MMR I have not given her that one because of all the things I read regarding autism. I decided not to give her the Chicken pox, because that is not a deadly sickness. There is also a vaccine which I don't know the name, but it's a vaccine in case your child gets a bad cold and ear ache it helps prevent the earaches, since my daughter is very healthy ( she's 2 and has never been sick) not even a cold, I decided against that, this vaccine is only good until they hit the age of 2, so why bother.. So this is a very touchy subject, but I know more then a dozen people ages ranging from 15 - 60 that never had any vaccines and they are very healthy and never had any problems. So it's really up to you to decide which vaccines are important. I also noticed that my doctor kept on pushing certain vaccines and I thought that was odd. So if you decide not to vaccinate be aware that your doctor will probably try to talk you into it.

Both my children have been fully immunised against everything you can be vaccinated for. However, before I had them 'done' I spoke to the doctor about risks and family history, for example some suggest that if there is a history of epilepsy in the immediate family then perhaps it is not such a good idea.

Nevertheless, my daughter's paediatrician ran a clinic for children who may have been damaged by immunisation and he advocated it fully, stating that in only two cases at the clinic could it be proved that the vaccination had caused the damage.