Don't get me started...

"Your child is the canary in the miners cage."
(graffiti written on the wall by my old home)

Not my child.


The kids school sent home a notification of intent to immunize all grade five kids for HepB AND Chicken pox this year. Well - I am not going to descend ito the stupidity of the Chicken Pox Vaccine, mostly because my son has already had the disease and as such they wont require him to recieve the immunization, but Hep B is fair game in my books...


Anyone know what Hepatitis B is? Thats right... it's a blood borne, semi contagious, lower risk virus mainly passed on through sexual contact, or non casual contact with blood/body fluids. The virus, if one should become infected, can cause nausea, vomiting, fatigue, low grade fever, pain and swelling in joints, headache, cough, jaundice, enlargement of the liver and fatigue. Even in cases of acute Hepatitis B most patients do not require hospital care and more then 95% of patients recover completely with no side effects (with the case-fatality ratio being approximately .1 %) and furthermore acquire life-long immunity for their troubles.


Well guess what? I don't have Hep B, and I certainly didn't have Hep B when my 10 year old son was born. So, unless my ten year old son is sexually active, an intravenous drug user, or a f**king paramedic, gimme a break.


Oh yeah, and North America has had the lowest actual percentage of cases in the world (along with Europe), with the occurences of the virus itself declining since 1985. Yay for personal hygiene.


There are some increasingly troublesome connections and implications between vaccinations themselves and long term auto immune side effects (as well as immediate debilitating side effects, like death) that should concern anyone considering this procedure for themselves, or others. Thankfully, in Canada, we are allowed Informed Consent with respect to making these choices, although unbiased information is hard to find.


A quick perusal of product package inserts (all medication in Canada must come with a little data sheet that you may - and should - read before taking a medication) will reveal a multitude of all sorts of neuro toxins used as perservatives in the carrier solution of the vaccine, including (but not limited to): Sodium Chloride; Sodium Hydroxide; Formaldehyde; Hydrochloric Acid; Thimerosal (mercury); Phosphates; and Monosodium Glutamate.


Who needs that crap inside their body? Not me thank you (I was never vaccinated since my parents had friends' whose baby became severely brain damaged after recieving her first immunization). And not my kids. Sometimes, you have to make choices with all of the risks considered, and after looking at both sides, I decided that I did not want my child to be merely a statistic that I would spend a lifetime blaming myself for.


Michael Belkin, who testified twice before the ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IMMUNIZATION PRACTICES, for the CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (USA), lost his baby daughter within hours of her recieving the Hep B vaccine. His words echo the pain many families feel after they discover the potential risks, too late. He warns “Parents should be aware that the Hepatitis B vaccine is not administered for the well being of their child. Rather, it is delivered by the long arm of some incompetent and mindless bureaucracy in the name of stamping out a disease most babies can’t possibly get,” and I hear him. My child is not at risk of contracting Hep B, and even if he did get it, we would get through it.


It's a Shot in the Dark, and not one I am willing to take.