Should I vaccinate my baby?

Of the many advances of modern medicine, none seems to evoke as much emotion as childhood vaccines. I’m a mom (that’s my son on the left) and like so many parents I had to decide whether or not I would vaccinate my child. Luckily for me there was far less public debate, especially in South Africa, when I was considering the question and the decision was an easy one for me to make. I decided to vaccinate my son, I had been vaccinated and so had my parents and I had not even heard of the alleged risk of autism.

In the past few years there has been a disturbing increase in activity by people urging us to stop vaccinating our children. I am not going to re-hash the arguments from either the pro-vaccination or anti-vaccination spokesmen. These arguments have been made too often and they are always the same. So I will provide you with two links;

Firstly the anti-vaxxers have a website which promotes their position and wants you to look at 14 studies which supposedly show a link between vaccines and autism. That straining sound you can hear is me NOT tearing into all the fallacious arguments presented on this website. I would like you to have a look at a blog post which handles the problem far better than I could, Science-Based Medicine is a blog which deals with medical issues. Mark Crislip is a hospital based Infectious Disease doctor and in his article “14 Studies Later” he analyzes the evidence put forward by the anti-vaccinationists.

All of this verbal sparring with big words and inflamed ego’s can get a little overwhelming for the concerned parents who simply want to do the very best for their children. That is where the CDC steps in and produces a great video which answers a few of the most pertinent questions in a simple and concise way. Thanks CDC guys! (watch to the end – it’s really cute)