I choose to explore immunizations in children. In my current line of work, it is extremely important that I have detailed health documents for every child at my center, as per Department of Public Welfare regulation. One day, I approached a caregiver reminding her I needed an updated Child Health Record for her granddaughter. The grandmother so kindly reminded me that she refused to have her grand daughter vaccinated because it did more harm to the body than good and she would not allow her to have foreign substances that could cause Autism in her body. Out of 163 children at my center only one child does not have immunizations and to me that was quite interesting. In our country, families have the choice as to whether or not their children get immunized and their reasons vary from religious reasons to they just don't feel that it is medically necessary.
I wanted to look at immunizations and how they are handled in other countries and I perused www.huggies.com (yes the diaper company!). They have immunization schedules and the direct website for many countries. I decided to take a look at Singapore. While many of the vaccines are similar to ones administered in the USA, I did not see one for chicken pox or the flu included in Singapore's vaccine schedule. Singapore also has a wonderful interactive and user friendly website, "National Immunisation Registry" that families can use (www.nir.hpb.gov.sg).
Noting this information, I can be sure to remember that not all countries require, encourage, or monitor vaccines in children. As I was reading the above information, I realized that the grandmother I was talking to is not from the United States. It could also be a cultural choice not to immunize her granddaughter. I need to continue to be aware and respectful of these choices, while also educating myself and my staff.
4 comments:
It is sometimes difficult for me to say which side of the fence I am on for this debate. My two children have been vaccinated without me ever questioning it. However, I do beleive parents deserve to choose what is best for their children. On the other hand if they do not vaccinate they are exposing so many people to these different illnesses. This one has a good fight on both sides. Therefore, I go with let the parents decide.
I think it's up to the parents to decide in most cases now if the parent is not able then that would be a different story but my child will continue to get vaccinated.
I believe that here in Virginia that children must have vaccinations before they are allowed to attend kindergarten. We have vaccinated all of our children, but we refused the Hep A vaccination. We just did not feel it was necessary. If the time comes when the kids need it for travel or for a specific job they are pursuing, then they can get it then. It was hard enough to hold them down to receives the shots so the less the better!
Thank you for the wonderful feedback. I too believe it should be entirely up to parents, but parents on both sides of this issue should be as educated as possible on whatever choice they make for their children.
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