I Fear Death, Not Autism

My best friend's daughter, who I consider to be my "honorary niece" is allergic to a whole bunch of things. She's allergic to wheat, milk, pineapple and eggplant. She's deathly allergic to eggs and soy. She carries an Epipen.

They actually discovered the egg allergy after she had an allergic reaction to a vaccine. Luckily, that reaction wasn't deadly, but since many vaccines are made using egg albumen, it means she cannot get vaccinated.

This doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the vaccine. Her reaction to it is not because the vaccine is bad. Also, her body reacting this way to common foods does not make her bad. It's just the way her body works. In fact, as long as she doesn't eat (or get injected with) any of her allergens, she's a wonderful and bright little girl.

Because she cannot get vaccinated, she needs to rely on the people who can get vaccinated to reduce the spread of deadly illnesses, hopefully reducing her chances of catching one. And that terrifies me because so many people are opting not to vaccinate because they fear autism more than death.

I don't fear autism. You can live a long and healthy life with autism. But I do fear one of my family members or friends dying from an illness that can be prevented. And I really shouldn't be having these types of worries in this day and age.

I am scared because despite my son being vaccinated, I know he could still get measles or whooping cough from someone who didn't get vaccinated. I don't like the idea of my son suffering from a potentially fatal disease. I especially don't want him to suffer from a preventable disease when we've taken all the precautions available to us, but others didn't. I certainly don't want him to be left with scars or permanent damage caused by surviving such an illness.

I wonder, is it selfish of me to want kids to be healthy? Is it bad of me to wish everyone who could get vaccinated does, so they protect everyone? I usually am "live and let live" about most things, but in this case when people don't get vaccinated, they're potentially stopping me and those I love from living. That's not really fair.

You may also be interested in reading: Vaccines Scarier Than Illnesses

Vaccines Scarier Than Illnesses

I wrote a response to an article about whether you should get the annual flu shot that responds to what I think the cause is with people choosing to be "anti-vax."

I've been getting the flu shot every year since my son was born (H1N1 came out when I was pregnant with him). Prior to this, one year I had the misfortune of being saddled with the flu for a full WEEK with fever, so I know what the flu can do! My opinion is while it didn't kill me that time, I really can't afford to be half-dead in bed for a week again. Forget about taking care of a kid, my work gave me a really hard time about it also (I've quit them since then!) 

I get my son vaccinated too, because it would kill me if he ever got seriously ill over something I could have easily prevented. We still get sick (duh!) but not flat out on our asses for weeks. 

I've travelled a lot - I have shots for diseases most people can't even pronounce - and I trust them because I have seen the suffering of those who don't have vaccines first hand. I think a lot of the fear associated with vaccines is purely because my generation (70-80s) have never seen their friends die from whooping cough, chicken pox or polio. If we had seen our classmates die or have serious disabilities caused by the diseases when we were growing up, we'd be a lot more scared of the diseases and less scared of the vaccines. But we were all vaccinated and we almost eradicated tons of diseases - now they're coming back and innocent children are dying again.

The decisions you make for yourself are one thing and those you make for your child are another. I know plenty of people who make sure their child drinks milk, yet they don't eat the appropriate things to ensure they meet their own calcium requirements. So we know that children have different needs and different (underdeveloped) immune systems. If you're a healthy adult and you get the flu, you'll probably survive. If you're a child and you get the flu, there's a higher chance there will be complications or even death. Besides, why would you want your child to suffer with something you can prevent?

I am a lot more scared of watching my child suffer or die from chicken pox or some other illness than I am of any minute chance he'll have a bad reaction to a vaccine.

And before anyone asks, I am 100% sure my son was born autistic. Vaccines haven't done anything to him except for protect him.