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From: canopus@amdahl.UUCP (Alpha Carinae)
Newsgroups: net.kids,net.med
Subject: RE: Immunizations causing handicaps
Message-ID: <2044@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 20-Sep-85 16:36:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: amdahl.2044
Posted: Fri Sep 20 16:36:23 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 23-Sep-85 02:46:51 EDT
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Xref: watmath net.kids:2079 net.med:2441

> The very best situation is for everyone _else's_ children to be vaccinated,
> but not yours.  Then you avoid both the possibility of getting the disease, and
> having any side effects from the vaccination.

  Unfortunately, this statement is not true.  The virus which causes
  Polio, for example, is still around.  Back in the early fifties I
  remember my parents going into a panic each year during the "polio
  season".  The fact that polio has been virtually wiped out due to the
  Salk vaccine does NOT mean the polio virus has been eradicated.
  An unvaccinated child is at risk.

> The whooping cough vaccine can cause side effects - something like the 
> disease, I gather.

  Most, if not all vaccines, have a certain percentage of risk
  associated with them.  The best of all worlds would be to know in
  advance if one was susceptible to reactions.  Some reactions are
  quite severe, leaving victims permanently disabled.

  It is a difficult choice for parents to make for their kids, laws
  notwithstanding, whether to immunize or not.
-- 
Frank Dibbell     (408-746-6493)     ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,sun}!amdahl!canopus
Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA     [This is the obligatory disclaimer..]
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