NJ's New Mandatory Vaccine: Mama's Angry All Over Again

It's not that I'm against vaccines...I'm not. I think a lot of vaccines are necessary. Polio, for example. Mumps. Measles.

What I have a problem with is vaccinating kids for EVERYTHING. And worse yet, FORCING me to have my kids vaccinated for everything.

Let's give this some context. I'm the mother of a child on the autistic spectrum, as well as three asthmatic boys.

While there's no 100% ideal link between vaccines and autism, there is enough circumstantial evidence - and enough questions have arisen - to give me pause. For one thing, look at the rise in autism diagnoses in recent years. (And sorry - no, I don't believe it's all because of the new diagnostic criteria.)

First of all, why in the world was anything even remotely related to mercury used to bind any vaccines? And no, it's not in the MMR anymore - but is still in the flu vaccines. Seriously.

We'll recall any toy with lead-based paint on the outside chance our kid might chew on it, but we'll inject thimerosal directly into our kids' bloodstreams.

Can someone explain this to me?

Secondly, have you looked at the American vaccine schedule lately? 10 different vaccines before a child's first birthday. Does that seem a little extreme? The UK requires THREE.

But who has the bigger pharma lobby, I wonder?

This just drives me CRAZY.

Now New Jersey, my lovely home state, is requiring me to vaccinate my kids against the flu, as well other illnesses including whooping cough and meningitis.

But let's think back to last year. Anyone remember flu vaccine recalls? How abou the the year before. And hey - didn't Merck just recall the Hib vaccine?

At the end of the day, here's how I feel.

• I will absolutely vaccinate my kids for diseases that pose a dire risk to them and to the public -- Measles, Polio, etc.
• I will not vaccinate my children with predictive vaccines that may or may not be safe or carefully tested.
• I will not allow my children to be injected with vaccines bound with thimerasol.
• I do not think it's necessary to vaccinate my children for non-life-threatening illnesses they're perfectly capable of fighting on their own, like chicken pox.
• I protest the compulsory vaccination of 9-year-old girls for sexually transmitted diseases.
• I DEMAND that vaccinations not be mandatory because pharmaceutical companies have enough money and power to lobby to make it so.

I'm tired, and this may or may not make sense...honestly, I'm not a freak, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm the mom of a child with an autistic spectrum disorder, of three asthmatic boys, who has a LOT of dangerous questions.

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Baby Iggy's Food Allergy

Ig woke up with hives onthe outside of his buttocks on Sunday.

We started solids at six months, introducing a new food every week. First rice cereal, then bananas, then apples, pears, peas, yogurt and carrots. Couldn't tell if it was the carrots or the yogurt, but naturally, assumed it was the yogurt.

The peds agreed it was probably the yogurt, but I put him on a reduction diet anyway. Bananas and rice cereal only since Sunday. (Poor guy's probably going HATE bananas.)

But the hives were back this morning, so I took him to the peds.

Thank God I'd put him on the reduction diet...I suddenly realized (DUH) that it was something I was eating, what with me nursing and all.

I had lobster on Saturday night, and then again for lunch on Wednesday. Pretty crazy...I'm a 20+ year vegetarian, but I occasionally weaken and indulge in crustaceons. It's a rare week that I have lobster twice!

So...it seems Iain might be allergic to shellfish.

(And that'll teach me to stray form the course of vegetarianism, right? Is this some conspiracy by Peta? Do they do this to all offending veggies?)

Could be worse -- I have a girlfriend whose son breaks out in a rash every time she eats peanut butter. I can't imagine life without peanut butter. I'm far too lazy a vegetarian to live without it.

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Iggy's on Flovent

Forgot to mention this in the last post...but yes, my 11-month-old is now on Flovent 44. Not surprising considering:

• He was born in respiratory distress and spent his first 24 hours in the NICU
• He turned blue when he was about 4 months old (he was fine)
• He has had three illnesses involving serious coughs in the last 9 months, including the one last week

And to my friend who was asking about an alternative to Pulmicort, ask your doctor about Flovent and QVar, which are both in metered-dose inhalers (MDIs) rather than administered via nebulizer. Much faster, easier, and child-friendlier.

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No Flu (I don't think) and Iggy's Ear

So, I'm feeling a lot better today, and while I haven't taken my temperature since I woke up, I don't think I have a fever. So...phew.

Ig, on the other hand...not so good. I took him to the peds for his millionth ear infection on Tuesday and we started him on Omnicef. The deal was, if the Omnicef didn't work, we'd have to talk to an ENT about treatment. (read: TUBES)

So we're on the fourth day of treatment, and I've finally brought him back to daycare, and they call me less than two hours after dropoff to tell me that he's running 100.5. Yes, that's a low-grade fever, but four days into an broad-spectrum antibiotic, should there be ANY fever? I think not.

He's also had two rough nights in a row. Wednesday he was up screaming bloody murder every two hours. Last night, he was up at about 1:00 screaming. I gave him some Dimetapp (mostly because he was coughing -- and I couldn't remember when I'd given him Motrin) and a cup of water -- which he sucked back like he hadn't seen fluids in a year.

Both nights were better than Tuesday when he spiked up to 104.9.

Spoke to the peds today, and they said that the antibiotic could take another day or two to kick in (yeah, right...) but that if he had another rough night, they'd see him tomorrow morning.

Ah, nothing like the pediatrician's office on a Saturday!

(Did I mention the hideous cough, by the way? We'll be talking about that with the doc, too. I've been giving him albuterol twice a day.)

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Iggy's Mystery Illness

So, by now you may have noticed (if I've kept up-to-date with my posting, that is) that Iggy gets sick every two weeks. Every other Friday, I work from home because he's running a fever, coughing, has an ear infection, a stomach virus...something exciting like that.

This week's illness is just WEIRD. He has "the cough", but I only hear it a few times a day. Per the doctor, who - by the way - now thinks I'm completely neurotic, his ears are clear, his throat's only a little red, and his chest is clear. And he's negative for Strep. He's had little or no fever in the morning for the past few days, but he's gone up to 102+ at night. His diapers have been nothing short of repulsive -- but normal in number.

During the day, he's irritable and lethargic. My normally sweet, cuddly boy is grumpy and tantrum-prone. He's not eating well, he's not playing...he'd rather snuggle than toddle aorund, but after a while, he'll start crying and writhing -- then he won't let you put him down, or continue to hold him, or put him in his crib. Not without screaming.

So...knowing that there've been cases of mono and flu in the area, I'm wondering if either of these could be a possibility.

Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, experiences to share? I could definitely use some advice, and I don't feel like I have my pediatrician's attention right now.

BTW, we're in the NY Metro area, if that helps.

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Swimming Bad for Infants' Lungs?

Just saw this article in the ALA Weekly Breather, which I rarely get to read anymore. It's so good, though -- I highly recommend that newsletter to all parents of asthmatic kids.

Anyway, here's the article. Have to say I'm not a big fan of teaching anyone younger than 3 to swim -- no one that unstable walking should be near a pool without a vigilant grownup nearby anyway!!

Infant Swimming: Chlorine Lung Risk?...WebMD Medical News reported on June 4, 2007 that infant swimming lessons may lead to problems with children's lung development and possibly make asthma more likely, a new study suggests. The researchers included Alfred Bernard, PhD, of the public health department at Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium. They studied 341 Belgian schoolchildren who were about 11 years old, on average. The children provided blood samples and had their lung health tested. Bernard's team noted that 43 of the children had taken infant swimming lessons in indoor pools. The researchers also noted other lung health hazards, including maternal smoking during pregnancy and exposure to secondhand smoke. The lungs of children who had had infant swimming lessons appeared to be predisposed to developing asthma and recurrent bronchitis, according to the study, which appears in Pediatrics.

For the full article: click here.

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Iggy's Sick

Yesterday, when I dropped Ig off at daycare, I noticed his friend Jack had a croup-y sounding cough. Jack's a first baby, and his very sweet mom often asks me for advice. I told the caregivers in the room that they should keep an eye on Jack and watch his breathing at naptime. His cough, to me, sounded a little like bronchiolitis.

I mentioned this to my husband last night at bedtime, after telling him that I had given Ig albuterol again.

Naturally, when we woke up this morning (Ig slept right through!), Ig felt a little warm to me. I took his temp - 100.6. Not SUCH a big deal, since he ALWAYS seems to be running a low temp. But was getting cranky, so I gave him some ibuprofen.

Then I noticed, as I was changing him, that he seemed to be breathing a little fast, almost panting. He had some crusted mucus under his nose (also kind of a standard look lately), so I figured it might just be upper respiratorty stuff, but I gave him some albuterol anyway. Hey, our action plan says, "at first sign of a cold."

And THEN, about an hour later, I noticed a steady stream of green goo coming out of his nose. Awesome.

So...I'm refreshing my memory on the symptoms of bronchiolitis (so paranoid, I know) and keeping a close eye.

Meanwhile, I gave him some Dimetapp and put him down for an early nap. $10 he wakes up with a cough and AT LEAST 101.5. Can't seem to get a break with their health this summer...

UPDATE: In fact, Iggy woke up with 102.6, but no cough. He was fever-free by Sunday, but the green goo still lingers.

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