infant vaccine concerns

[ny2125]

what is the latest stance on vaccines and babies concerning autism/developmental delays?  i have read places that say even tho the vaccines are not supposed to have mercury in them anymore, all of those contents of the vaccines can cause developmental problems for a child.  my niece has autism and her parents are convinced it was from vaccines.  tho my sis in law's uncle has autism so it might be in her family if that makes any sense.  i remember when my kids were younger and got the shots sometimes they would give 4 at a time!  i dont know if i should space out the shots more and/or not let them give so many at a time?  obviously, i am very confused so any insight would help!  thanks.

[jlaszlo]

I'm no expert, but I had this delima when I needed to get my kids vaccinated.  What I decided in the end was that the potential side effects of the vaccines were less sever then the potential risks of not getting vaccinated.  Another point, with the autism link, is that autism doesn't show up in children until they reach 18-24months, which is the age they are when they get the vaccine in question.  Therefore, it is believed that the link is just a conicidence and there is no real proof that it is caused from the vaccine. They have also found that just as many kids get autism that have not been vaccinated as those that have.  I hope this helps.

[vet_tech428]

I agree with jlaszlo.  For me, there was never any question about whether or not to get the vaccines for my children.  The risk of dealing with "what they could get without the vaccines" verses the risks of "the side effects getting the vaccines" was a chance I was willing to take.  I live in a very diverse and transient area with many people from other countries coming and going out of the US every day.  The immunization rules and regulations are not nearly as strict in other countries as in the US.  Many other countries are still dealing with many diseases that the US eradicated 20 or 30 years ago due to our immunization program.  With my children attending school in such a diverse area, you better believe that keeping them up-to-date on their immunizations is one of the first things at each of their well-child check-ups.