Vaccinating or not vaccinating comes with responsibility to oneself, one’s children, and the community. Both vaccinated and non-vaccinated people are capable of being infected and spreading some infections. Vaccination also adds the risk of an acute vaccine reaction or long-term vaccine injury. It’s important to know the risks, benefits, and limitations of each choice and to have a ‘game plan’ in case of a vaccine adverse event or disease exposure.
In the presentation below, Dr. Sam Eggertsen, M.D. discusses why some parents choose not to vaccinate their children.
If you choose not to vaccinate:
- know the risks (range of severity and frequency) of disease exposure in your area
- know how to recognize and address any serious infection that you may be exposed to
- use proper precautions when sick to avoid spreading infection: stay home, wash hands, cover sneezes and coughs, etc.
- maintain optimal nutrition and lifestyle to adequately support your immune system
If you choose to vaccinate:
all of the above, plus the following:
- be aware of vaccine risks and know how to recognize an acute vaccine reaction or long-term vaccine injury
- know how your family medical history, genetics, and mitochondrial state may impact your personal risk of a vaccine adverse event
- know what type of medical help to seek in case of a vaccine reaction or vaccine injury
- be aware that the immune system can be sensitized to food-like contaminants in vaccines (e.g. baker’s yeast, bovine casein, soy peptone) that are ending up in vaccines due to the manufacturing process
- be aware that some vaccines may increase susceptibility to other infections*
- know about vaccine limitations in preventing transmission and act accordingly to avoid spreading infections unknowingly**
*Flu vaccines increase the risk of other infections:
- Inactivated Influenza vaccine (TIV) increases the risk of other upper respiratory viral infections.
- Live influenza vaccine (LAIV) increases the risk of strep and staph carriage, and pneumococcal translocation and persistence within the Middle Ear.
**Acellular pertussis vaccine permits colonization and spread of infection by carriers showing no or few symptoms of disease:
- Pertussis. The protective effect of the acellular pertussis vaccine against symptoms of whooping cough wanes quickly, becoming shorter with each dose. This vaccine has also been found to permit colonization in those exposed to B. pertussis, which creates the potential for fully up-to-date vaccinated individuals to become carriers of B. pertussis and unwittingly spread it to vulnerable groups, such as infants. Please see the Pertussis page for more information.
See also the Community Immunity page to learn which other vaccines do not prevent the transmission of the corresponding infection.
The MMR and Varicella vaccines may cause disease symptoms from live vaccine-strain viruses; vaccine failures and waning immunity accounts for breakthrough disease from wild strains:
- MMR (measles, mumps, rubella). Measles and mumps outbreaks have occurred both in non-vaccinated and highly vaccinated communities, involving fully vaccinated individuals. MMR is a live vaccine and therefore the recipients have the potential to shed live virus after being vaccinated. A fraction of MMR recipients develop high fever and viral rash from the vaccine. Rubella is a trivial infection in the childhood, often going without symptoms. Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) happens in a fraction of cases when a non-immune pregnant woman is exposed to rubella during the first trimester. Clinical efficacy of MMR against rubella has not been established, and pregnant women who are exposed to rubella are offered an option of rubella immunoglobulin to protect the fetus from CRS.
- Varicella. A fraction of the varicella vaccine recipients develop chickenpox from the vaccine strain, and some may contract wild chickenpox due to vaccine failure or waning of vaccine protection. The Varicella vaccine is a live virus; therefore, there is a potential for viral shedding following vaccination. A case of a recently vaccinated toddler infecting his pregnant mother with a vaccine-strain varicella has been documented. The childhood vaccination program against chickenpox in the USA has also led to an increase in shingles (herpes zoster) in adults.
See also the Unintended Consequences of Mass Vaccination page.
