Taking your child to the doctor for shots is a heart-wrenching experience. It is not pleasant seeing your child in pain, or trying to hold them still, and then you start to wonder what they are getting and why you are really doing it. If you follow the vaccine schedule, your child will receive over 25 shots before they reach five. Many parents have decided to forego shots for a variety of reasons, but many of those reasons are not factually based. Many believe that vaccines cause autism, but a recent review of such claims concluded that there is no such evidence. Another concern parents had was exposing their children to a form of mercury, thimerosal - a preservative in some vaccines. Thimerosal had not been proven to be associated with any childhood disease, but parents heard the word mercury and decided that was enough. In July 1999, the Public Health Service agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and vaccine manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure. Since 2001, with the exception of some influenza (flu) vaccines, thimerosal is not used as a preservative in routinely recommended childhood vaccines.

When children are not vaccinated they are put at risk for illness and death and so are others they come in contact with. Several schools in the region are now experiencing high rates of unvaccinated children and outbreaks have been reported. While it is not easy (on many levels) to have your children vaccinated you should do some serious research if you are thinking about not vaccinating your children.

Please read the following piece in the LA Times about undervaccination:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immunization29-2009mar29,0,3148179.story

Here's some info about childhood vaccines:

http://www.cispimmunize.org/