Vaccination: What to Do?

With the recent report of measles in the Collingwood area, we’ve been fielding many questions from local parents. Is my kid at risk of measles if they are vaccinated? What about the kids who aren’t vaccinated?  Are they at risk? Are they increasing the risk of infection for my child?

There is much emotion in the media, with arguments on both sides.  The “Pro-Vaxers” blame the “Anti-Vaxers” for the current outbreak, and the Anti-Vaxers point fingers at the profit motive for big pharma to not publish the real risks of vaccines.

Vaccines are risk management tools. There are no zero-risk vaccines. There are no zero-risk diseases. And there’s no right answer. The risk profile for every disease and every vaccine is different. What we know for each ranges from decades of testing and research, to very little. You have to decide on the risks and benefits yourself.

The parents we work with at StoneTree are neither purely anti- or pro-vaccine. What they are is pro-informed choice They want to have all the information they can get to manage the risk of both the disease AND the vaccine for their children.

There is no absolute right answer that fits everyone. Getting the best, most unbiased information is the only way to come up with the right answer for you and your kids.

Here are the resources that we most often recommend to our patients.

  • Site: Dr. Katia Bailetti, ND – Dr. Bailetti ND, is a naturopathic doctor who had to make the decision for her own child and went into an intensive investigation of the data. She has written two books on the subject and offers parents consultations and seminars on this issue. Her site has a number of vaccination resources.