I probably shouldn’t write about this. Vaccination is a dangerous topic. I can’t tell you exactly why this is a dangerous topic. I cannot explain why it is that the topic of vaccination is yet another arena in which the public at large would like to wage their wars, but there it is. I’ve talked about this before. But that was before the H1N1 scare began.
So here we are again.
June’s school posts notes on the front door of suspected H1N1 cases within the school and from which classrooms they have been reported. This is kind of them. I recognize that. But I cannot tell you into what kind of panicked hole I run myself every day when I see that a new post has been put on the door. It goes something like this:
Should I take June out of school? I mean, after all, all I’m doing is writing and such when she’s there. She doesn’t need to be there. We could save some money. But she loves the school so much. And it’s so good for her. She’s making all kinds of little friends and has learned so much. But what if all of the other little kids cough in her face and wipe their noses on her hair? What if she catches the virus and dies?..
You get the idea.
And then the question of whether or not to vaccinate her arises (which I recognize is a moot point at the moment since the vaccine is not even available until mid-November). Well, this might make you hate me. It might make you decide to never read my blog again. So be it. Because, that’s right, we’ve decided to vaccinate June against H1N1. I know, I know, I’m evil. I don’t really love my daughter. I just don’t want the inconvenience of caring for a sick child. And so on. But…
Otherwise perfectly healthy pregnant women and children are dying from this flu, or suffering severe complications. I guess that’s motivation enough for me. I guess I don’t really believe that this information is hype. This isn’t to say that I think all of the information we’re receiving on this topic is valid, from either side. Which is kind of my point. We just don’t know. It’s true that for the majority of the population, this strain of flu will do you no more harm than the usual strains of flu, but June is a child and, well, like I said, otherwise perfectly healthy children are getting violently ill. Of course, I’ve already shown what a heartless parent I am when I chose to vaccinate June as a baby. I had to make sure to defend myself at the time by saying, “Well, we didn’t give her all the vaccines.” In other words, I’m not that wicked.
Ugh.
Lately it seems that I can get pretty worked up on this topic, which is odd for me. Before I had June I would never have imagined trying to encourage people to vaccinate their kids. I still believe that it’s up to every parent to do what they think is best. But now, even as I write that, a tiny voice creeps up that says, “but vaccinations only work when the vast majority of people agree to them.” I guess what disturbs me is that many people are making decisions for their children (and themselves) based on irrationality and misinformation. And fear. We want proof that vaccines do not carry with them any sort of risk or harm, which is something we will never have. But we do know that they, in great part, bring with them benefits, the primary one being fewer sick people.
I guess all I want is for parents to arm themselves with real information, but exactly where can we get that sort of information? From medical and scientifically based sources? Unfortunately, they are biased. From Jenny McCarthy? Well, she’s pretty biased too.
I’m just not sure, but I know that my views on this topic have changed radically now that I have a child. I suppose I could say that about a lot of things.












