Awakenings

This page is for the parents who have decided vaccinations are not in the best interest of their children. I only wish I could have been one to those parents.

I delivered our son, Brandon Beck into the world on April 13, 2006. We had him at home, drug free, all natural and in about 1 hour. My water broke at 10:15 and my contractions started at 11:30 and he came out at 12:17pm. He has never had any vaccines and never will! He is so alert and has been since day 1. The day he was born he was looking all around the room and taking it all in. He had two bowel movements within hours of being born and nursed within the 2nd hour of life!! He latched right on and nursed twice before I laid down a few hours after his birth! He has been around a few sick people over the last ten months and gotten sick once and fought it pretty quick. Being that we don’t use antibiotics or conventional drugs, his antibodies are all built up and in his system, nothing has been wiped out! I am so happy that we can give him this great healthy start.

Meet Adi and Yossi 18 and 20 and completely unvaccinated. The picture of health, mom says she can count on one hand how many times the two of them combined have even been sick.

Dr Dubbs and his unvaccinated family.

My wife and I had our first child 7 months ago and of course, took the advice of our doctors and health "professionals" and had the appropriate vaccinations done. At the 4 month shot, our son had a slight reaction.... ie. fever, and general discomfort for about 24 hours. He was very upset and we found it very troubling, given that he is generally an extremely healthy and happy baby. This slight reaction prompted us to take the time to research what it was we were actually injecting in to our precious child.

We had no idea..... The cheery little immunization pamphlet provided by the hospital is the most biased, unjust and un-educational piece of work that I have ever read. Full of gorgeous smiling, happy baby pictures, the pamphlet by passed every important issue by simply stating that the diseases are far worse than the needles. Never ever mentioning of course, that these vaccinations contain ingredients that belong in toxic waste dumps, not in small children. I wonder what would happen if these pamphlets stated the full ingredients of the vaccines and the full processes in which they are made? Would people think twice?

We've since had numerous arguments with our parents who refuse to research the facts and continue to uphold views based on biased and un-educated principles. Their views are based solely on the advice of doctors and/or heath professionals. "How could all of these professionals be wrong," they ask. "What makes you think that they'd want to harm our children?"

These are good questions. I suppose the answer lies within our arrogance as human beings in believing that we have conquered the natural processes of disease. (Just as we have conquered and exploited everything else on this Earth.) The normal, God given abilities of the human immune system, to defend and repair, has been overlooked. Vaccines are considered by man as one of the greatest developments in medical history! So of course, medical officials are going to have a hard time accepting any theory's related to anti-vaccination. It seems that they have made up their minds long ago and refuse to conduct proper and thorough research because of their own stubborn arrogance.

Health officials are forfeiting our children's rights and harming the core of our society. Our children..... Children are herded into medical offices like cattle, and injected, with an un-ethical, toxic, irreversible shot, which is serving to do nothing but enforce this "quick fix" attitude that our western world has adopted so readily. We should be teaching our children how to obtain overall health and vitality with proper nutrition, exercise and environment.

I just wanted to say that I have found your web site particularly informative and very well put together. Writing from a moms point of view is a very good way of getting across to other parents. I will continue to recommend your web site to others in hopes that they can find the truth about what vaccinations have really done for humans. With more readily available info and increased awareness, I believe that we can put an end to this travesty. Keep up the good work!

Sincerely,

Brian, Lauren and Kai Lacey

Gold Coast, Australia

Labor of Love: How I Became a Medical Renegade

Gretchen was born 1 February 2007. It was a Thursday evening and she was delivered C-section after I labored for more than 36 hours, endured 2 epidurals, and braved 2 catheters (which resulted in a UTI 2 weeks later). My husband and I had absolutely no clue what was going on during my entire labor in spite of Lamaze class, various videos, and multiple books we had tried to absorb and understand during our 9 months of pregnancy. I didn’t know then that the majority of the resources upon which I was relying for information were inadequate and at times even faulty.

Without going in to too much birthing detail, I will only say that if I had done as much research BEFORE Gretchen was born as I have done in the 3 months SINCE she was born, I would have never opted to use an obstetrician (I would have found a midwife instead), I would never have gone to the hospital (I would have stayed home instead), and I would NEVER have injected myself with so many drugs, allowing our daughter to be poked, prodded and tested in her first minutes of life while I lay helpless, pinned to an operating table (I would have been able to hold and breastfeed her instead).

In retrospect, I mourn my lack of initiative in researching natural medicine versus conventional medicine for the conception and birth of our precious little life, our answer to many prayers. For 37 years I have accepted - hook, line and sinker – conventional medical standards. I have lived in a fog of acceptance, blinded to the butchery of a profession that is rarely held accountable for the damage it does to its victims – victims who pay to have themselves sliced, diced, and sometimes “iced” (i.e. who die in the hands of conventional medicine). If I sound dramatic, I suppose it’s because I am angry with myself for being so stupid. It has only been since acquiring this new role of “mama” that I understand the depth of love and ferocious protective instincts this role evinces. As a result, I have blinked away the haze of compliance. As a result, I have begun to ask questions. Perhaps it is too late for me; my health may already be compromised in ways I don’t know or yet see. But our baby girl is mostly untouched by unnecessary medical procedures; she still has a fighting chance.

I accede that modern medicine has its place in our lives. But I believe its place is limited and rare; there are emergencies that require the skill of a doctor or surgeon to save lives. These are the times, I believe, that doctors prove their talent and worth…motor vehicle accidents and poisoning are the first things that come to mind. But the long hands of doctors and Big Pharma have infiltrated our lives so assiduously. We pay huge, corporatized pharmaceutical companies to control our lives and our health, with doctors as their willing and perhaps even unwitting accomplices. It begins at birth with Apgar tests, antibiotic ointment in the eyes, PKU tests, vitamin K shots, Hep B vaccine if the mother tests positive, and hearing screening. All of these things are done to hospital-born babies, often when they are barely minutes old, especially if a mother is drugged from a C-section and not allowed to hold her newborn because she may be shaking too hard from a reaction to the drugs she received in the epidural. These hospital procedures (whose merits or faults must be left to the discretion of each child’s parents) merely set the stage for the beginning of many other questionable procedures performed by pediatricians on children who cannot fend for themselves and whose parents may not truly understand the magnitude of harm to which their children are being subjected.

Of all worthless and outrageous procedures carried out on children, it is my belief that vaccines rank highest. It is my belief that vaccines are the biggest culprits in a long list of health crimes against both children and adults (autoimmune diseases, cancer, diabetes, asthma, etc.). It is my belief that the myth and lie of vaccines as “beneficial” is propagated by Big Pharma and underwritten by governments because vaccines are a cash cow whose moneymaking potential is virtually bottomless. It is my belief that this “cash cow’s” dependability is guaranteed because parents’ first response is the protection and safety of their children and mainstream medicine tells us vaccines are how responsible parents protect and keep their children safe. It is my belief that this systematic poisoning of our children and even our adults (flu shots) is intentional.

I never understood the preciousness of life before becoming a mother. I took my own life and health for granted. My regret is poignant, my former blasé attitude toward my health an act of irresponsibility. But for Gretchen I will labor, with love, to protect her from the outrages of conventional medicine. For Gretchen I have made myself a medical renegade.

Wendy, my wife is, as you see, quite eloquent. Why do you think I married her?
I will add this to what she's written, to give you my side:
My Dad's dad dropped dead suddenly when I was three years old. He was 56.
My Dad dropped dead suddenly when I was 30. He was 51.
I'm the oldest of six boys. We've all been wondering, for years--which one of us have it?--the bad heart--How many of us have it? Which one did the genetic roulette choose?
Well there was a genetic roulette, but I no longer think it that the heart was the heart of the matter.
I may have to give my brother a kidney someday soon. Someday soon, somebody is going to extremely probably have to give my brother a kidney soon. My brother was diagnosed with a serious kidney disease two years ago. I had no idea--neither did any of us--that the kidneys have so much to do with regulating blood pressure. My brother's blood pressure was through the roof.
My Mom and my youngest brother saw my Father pass away. It didn't look like an "ordinary" heart attack. We all thought at the time, from descriptions my Dad gave us as he was leaving this life, that he had ruptured an artery. (Note: There was no autopsy. He had lost his job and his health insurance just prior to that time, because the aeropspace munitions-manufacturing corporation Lockheed-Martin let all the older guys go, just prior to their having attained full retirement, so they could hire younger guys for less money--nice world we live in, eh?).
Well anyway, my brother, with this kidney thing now, and me having my first baby now, finally--anyway the subject of vaccinations comes up. I am really confronted with it for the first time in my life, because I have heard some bad stuff about them, because I stopped getting my news from corporate news sources some time ago. I knew about mercury. But I knew nothing of the details about the true horrors of vaccinations yet--the colossal error of an entire generation.
And I read, and I educated myself, crash-course-style as is my penchant--I studied anti-vaccination literature by the likes of Eleanor McBean, Walene James, Rebecca Carley, Wendy Lydall, and now Wendy Callahan, while my beautiful newborn daughter sleeps in her crib. When the baby is not in my arms, my nose is in a book.
And I am confronted for the first time in my life with a huge ugly potentiality that just might have been infecting my family's history for so long. I am apprised, through this suppressed literature, of this thing called "autoimmune disease." MY HEAVENS!, I think, YOU MEAN TO TELL ME, THE PATHOGENS THAT ARE IN A VACCINE CAN LINGER AROUND IN THE BODY, THEN FINALLY "LODGE" THEMSELVES SOMEWHERE, IN SOME OR OTHER VITAL ORGAN, AND THEN YOUR OWN BODY ATTACKS THE ORGAN!!!???
I have no proof that my Grandfather's death was the result of kidney disease induced by vaccinations; I have no proof that he had kidney disease---they never had M.R.I. technology back then, which is almost the only way to diagnose polycystic kidney disease--but I DO have proof that my grandfather had had more than his slate of vaccinations. He was a soldier in WWII. He fought in France, after D-Day. Of course he would have had all his vaccinations. (Read Eleanor McBean's book if you want to find out what these vaccinations are doing to our soldiers!)
And I know that my father was vaccinated. My father grew up under the big polio scare, so of course he was vaccinated up, but good.
And my brother was vaccinated, and guess what. My Mom now informs us, informs me, that, out of all my brothers, this brother, the one with the kidney thing--THIS brother had the most severe reaction to the vaccinations we all had. The most severe reaction by far. His whole leg swelled up--each time. Each time he was vaccinated, his leg swelled up. My Mom trusted the whitecoated authority-figure idiots. She feels horrible about that now.
I do not know for certain that this kidney thing running in my family is a vaccine-induced autoimmune disease with a genetic susceptibility toward kidneys. BUT I DO STRONGLY SUSPECT IT.
Why? Why else do I think that? Because, my friends, when you FINALLY get off this world's disinformation major media "services" and read the anti-vaccination literature, you are finally introduced to the real facts and statistics, and one thing about those statistics is this:
It was not until the huge rise in vaccinations that western civilization saw the huge rise in kidney disease. And diabetes. And heart disease. And autism. And lupus. And multiple sclerosis. And yes, CANCER. These are the facts. TV and radio and major newspapers, magazines, and major book publishers are LYING to us. Thank God for the Internet, for as long as it lasts before they take it away! Seriously, I never would have known about Wendy Callahan, or Eleanor McBean, or Walene James, or Ingri Cassell, or Mary Tocco, or Wendy Lydall, etc, etc, if it wasn't for my access to the Internet!
I will tell you one more thing and then I'm outta here. I have spoken with people who never were vaccinated, and they tell me, nonplussed as to why, that they themselves have always seemed healthier, all their lives, than the people around them who were vaccinated. I have a good friend who was a 9/11 rescue worker. He's terribly sick because of the toxins he was exposed to at Ground Zero which he was falsely led to believe (by these damned lying authorities again!) was not harmful. He is seriously, seriously ill. Yet he is still alive as of this date. He tells me that, most of the rescue workers who were with him at Ground Zero on 9/11--most of those people are dead. He credits the fact that he is still alive to the fact that he was not vaccinated. He said that, growing up, he never got sick--not like his vaccinated friends in school. Sounds like his immune system never got compromised by this horrific, vast and colossal medical bungle of our time.
Wendy, I look at my baby girl, my sweet beautiful unpolluted baby girl, and when she smiles at me---Wendy, knowing what I know now, I look at my girl and I realize they will have to kill me before anyone jabs her and puts poison in her veins which might--if it doesn't cause her to have a violent instant reaction like what happened to your babies, Wendy--it might cause her to suffer some terrible autoimmune disease long down the road, when the profiteering numbskulls who gave it to her--who injected it into her veins--will be long gone and unblamable. No, they'll have to kill me first. They are not touching my child.
I think of the pediatrician my wife and I just kicked to the curb because he wanted to jab her, and his office policy mandates jabbing her. This guy--he is coincidentally a TV junkie. Everytime in his office, all he ever wanted to talk about was this TV show, or what's going on with this channel. This is exactly what I'm talking about. This man is brainwashed. And he's an authority? No thanks. We'll homeschool Gretchen. We'll crash-course ourselves and become knowledgable in homeopathy.
And you just watch and wait and see if we don't have the healthiest child on the block.
They once laughed at Dr. James Lind because he said Vitamin C cured Scurvy. Then they persecuted him.
They once laughed at Dr. Semmelweis because he told the doctors in his hospital to wash their hands in between seeing patients. Then they persecuted him.
They once laughed at Galileo because he said the earth goes round the sun. Then they persecuted him.
I bet there was some guy somewhere in Rome who tried to warn the town plumbers not to change the city's old water pipes to these brand new lead jobs--and I bet they laughed at him. And I bet they persecuted him.
Mankind learns nothing. Only the dates and the names change.
God bless what you are doing, Wendy.
David

We chose to not vaccinate Parker after much research and prayer. We even insisted he not get Vitamin K or the Hepatitis shot at birth. He is an extremely healthy active one year old boy. I am a stay at home mom and plan to stay diligent in keeping him as safe and healthy as possible. It is impossible to do everything right as parents, but being educated about vaccinations is so important. It breaks my heart to hear the stories of those parents whose children are damaged or dead because of these vaccines.

I have 4 children and we were strong vaccinators, until we realized what poison we were letting our pediatrician inject into our children. However it did not go over well with family, until my mother in law also found out what toxins were in the flu shot she religiously receives every November. It takes very little effort to find out what is in the vaccines. I can never again justify putting that into my children ever again. Pediatricians are supposed to help aid us parents grow strong happy and healthy children. They seem to be really well educated. Note that I said seem to be. I am currently searching for a pediatrician, as ours told us not to come back to her office until we vaccinated our children. She said, "your unvaccinated children will give their germs to my vaccinated patients". HUH?!?!? I really had hoped that she misspoke, because to it sounded like she didn't believe the very toxic vaccines she gave to her patients worked very well. Aren't vaccines given to the mass population to prevent the spread of diseases? Well apparently this doctor didn't think so. Non the less she didn't want to treat us anymore. Which is fine by me. ( of course I talked to Wendy a while to help ease the shock, but I am glad I stuck to my guns! thanks Wendy!) Pediatricians are supposed to give us parents the information to make a wise decision, not railroad well meaning parents by playing guilt trips, or by playing the well child card. We as parents need to know that the world does not revolve around the doctors, and that we are the parents we have the final say. These are our babies, and if we don't stand up for them who will? I will not let my four children be poisoned anymore. We stopped vaccinating our children April 2005. Which means the older three children are pretty much completely vaccinated except for boosters they will hopefully never receive! Our children are perfect, healthy, and full of life. However we were one of the lucky families. I hope that every parent will take the time to read all package inserts before they let their children be vaccinated. God Bless.

Home schooling since 12-06-04

Children are a gift from the LORD;
happy is the man whose quiver is full of them!
Psalm 127:3,5

All rights not demanded are presumed waived" ~Scott Thurston

My life’s journey into the power of how God and nature “cure”
By Sara Landis

We believe that the best way to illustrate how our bodies work in both health and dis-ease is through personal testimonies. We asked Sara to share her powerful life story with our readers this month so you, too, will be empowered to take the steps necessary to heal yourselves. As the father of American Herbology, Dr. John R. Christopher stated, “There are no incurable diseases; only incurable people.”

A Rough Start
My journey into natural medicine began long before I ever knew I was even on one. At six weeks old my mother took me in for a well-baby checkup, which included what she believed to be the DPT vaccine. The next day, between 5-10 minute sleeping intervals, I began arching my back and screaming.

Eventually my mother took me to the hospital concerned with dehydration since I was also unable to hold anything down. The doctor gave me a suppository to control the vomiting. However, by the time we reached home my diaper was filled with blood (thanks for the suppository, doc). My mother rushed me back to the hospital where they further assaulted my body. My mother and her best friend held me down while the doctors removed fluid from my soft spot and administered a spinal tap. I was diagnosed with “multiple viruses” and placed in intensive care. Night after night my parents were told not to expect me to live. They placed a cloth that many had prayed upon in my hands, and I held it tightly as a prayer chain continued around the world for me. I clung to my cloth as my parents sat outside the hospital crying. They told God they would love to keep me, but that if they couldn't, they would still serve him. From that moment on I started getting better.

Second miracle
I spent part of my childhood in Alaska. I made sure I ate plenty of dirt and tormented my older brothers with my favorite snack: garlic oil capsules. For an extended period of time I would only eat French fries and apple juice. Later, my childhood fare consisted of the typical American diet: flour, sugar, canned and processed stuff labeled "food", and more than my share of French fries. My diet and extended antibiotic use (for chronic sinus and kidney infections) led to chronic constipation. Eventually, my bowel problems landed me in the hospital when I was 12, for a blockage that was to be removed via surgery. Not only were my bowels in trouble but they told me I had the gallbladder of a 70-year-old woman. Now I realize that my addiction to French fries led to my early gallbladder problems. Thankfully, I was spared once again as my blockage miraculously disappeared on the colonoscopy screen right before they were to begin surgery.

My brother’s experience plants a seed
Shortly after my scheduled surgery was canceled, my older brother, Dan, was diagnosed with encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). His doctors theorized that the cause of the inflammation was from the water that we all had been swimming in. I now believe it was caused by a tetanus vaccine since he had received a Dt (diphtheria/tetanus) vaccine about five years earlier for stepping on a rusty nail. From my studies I have learned that encephalitis can show up years later after a tetanus shot.

Dan became paralyzed on the right side of his body. I remember being with him in his room at Bonner General Hospital as they injected an unknown substance into his arm. "It's burning!" he screamed. My Dad couldn’t take it any longer and said "that's enough." He scooped him up and we took him home. After many months in battle with the allopathic medical field, my parents realized Dan wasn't getting any better. In fact, he was getting worse. He even lost his ability to speak. Since they were desperate to help him, they took him to a Naturopathic Doctor. The hospital doctors said it would take at least a year of physical and speech therapy to get him walking and talking again. The Naturopathic Doctor had him doing both in less than a month.

Naturopathy was also my first experience with muscle testing [kinesiology]. I remember thinking how fascinating it was. After that, I was hooked on alternative medicine. I read articles from health magazines my Dad would bring home to me and save the graphs and interesting factoids from them. But, as I became a teenager, I moved away from all that and continued my carefree ways and bad eating habits. Little did I know I was in for the greatest blow of my life.

Three Souls
At the age of 18 I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Hypoglycemia. Soon after I realized I was pregnant. My overwhelming joy of upcoming motherhood went spiraling down around me when I went in for an ultrasound at the end of my first trimester. I was considered 13 weeks along, but my baby had actually died at 8 weeks 2 days. I saw it on the screen, his/her little fingers and toes starting to form, but there was not a heartbeat. My loss was the first real devastation I experienced in my life. I became depressed and obsessed with figuring out how to prevent this from happening to me again. Unfortunately, I looked in the wrong place. I searched infertility and pregnancy books and left with less hope than I had before I read them. I made slight changes to my diet, but continued on with most of my bad dietary habits. I didn't know they were as bad as they actually were for me at the time. Afterall, I went to public school and learned that the food guide pyramid was created for our health - right? (ha,ha) It didn't help that I was on the W.I.C program and consumed large amounts of free cheese, milk, sugar cereal, and processed foods completely devoid of nutrition. Altogether, I lost three precious souls in a four year time period. Each one I loved, and each one I grieved for. I had pretty much given up on the fact that I would ever be able to have children of my own.

A dream come true
One night in October 2001 I had a dream. In the dream I was able to ask God two questions I wanted answers to and I would receive the answer in a print out. I only remember asking one question. Why can't I carry a pregnancy to term? The piece of paper printed out only a list of seven or eight herbs and their actions. When I woke up I could not remember what the list had said. Less than two months later I took an herbal course at the Workforce Training Center, where I learned of Dr. Christopher and his female corrective formulas. His diet consisted of cleansing and nourishing the body and reproductive organs. His formula contained eight herbs.

The first month I began taking it I was completely free of my horrible PMS mood swings, debilitating cramps, and heavy flow that I had suffered with since the age of 12. I continued taking it faithfully every day for 8 months. Then I did the 3-day cleanse and continued with the mucusless diet, consisting of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. I felt better than I can remember feeling my entire life. I had tons of energy! I was sleeping less and working harder. My mind felt clear and I had no more bowel problems!

One month into the diet I became pregnant for the fourth time. By this time I had completely thrown modern medicine out the window. I had an awesome pregnancy, and a beautiful home birth, but most of all I had Serenity. My little girl who completely changed me for the better and still does. She was the desire of my heart and is now the love of my life. I became a true believer in natural medicine and have continued my studies into alternative therapies with passion.

Utilizing God’s gifts
I have seen many healings take place since then. When my mom broke her ankle, we placed comfrey poultices on it and administered it internally as well. One week after the break, her new x-ray revealed that it was completely healed. My brother Matthew had a flesh eating bacteria in his femur that left each side of the bone with only the thickness of a toothpick. He had surgery to remove the bacteria and was told he would have to have a metal rod placed in his leg. Comfrey brought back all of the bone, much to his surgeons disbelief. My Dad was healed from extreme dizzy spells and high blood pressure through dietary changes and nerve rebuilding formulas placed on his occipital bone and down along his neck. My husband saved himself from extensive problems by placing cayenne pepper on a hobo spider bite. It healed in less than 2 weeks and barely left a scar. Just weeks away from surgery, his aunt was cured from planters warts using Goldenseal. I honestly don't have enough room here to write all of the wonderful things I've witnessed the body heal as more people become informed of the body's innate ability to heal itself.

Just recently I was finally able to rid myself of the ongoing sinus infections. Though they were less often and I knew how to treat them naturally, they were still a nuisance. I did another three-day cleanse and was taking large amounts of glyconutritionals. A hard tube shaped exactly like my sinus cavity, complete with perfectly symmetrical rings imbedded into it, came out of my nose. It was hanging out of my nose and I tried to pull it out, but I could feel that it was stuck clear up under my right eye. The piece I was pulling on finally snapped off and the rest came out in 3 pieces the next day. Ahhh, sweet relief. No more sinus problems!

“Living” food – the key to life
The more I learn about this amazing being that we are contained in, the more I realize how simple true health actually is. What we put into our bodies is what we get out of it. If you fill it with dead, processed and devitalized products then that is what you can expect your quality of health to be; dead and devitalized. If you fill your body with whole, fresh, living food then that is also what you can expect for your health to be; fresh and whole. This includes what you put into your heart and mind, for they have an amazing amount of power over your body. This means forgiveness of self and others. The human body never makes a mistake! It only reacts to the environment which you, yes you, have created for it! I feel truly blessed that I am healthy today and able to share my story with you. My journey has had some bumps, but I learned something from each of them and can now see the good that came from all of my life’s lessons.

“…and the fruit therefore shall be for meat and the leaf thereof for medicine.” ~Ezekiel 47:12

Sara Landis is first and foremost a wife and mom. She is currently a Nutritional Herbologist and “very soon to be” a Master Herbalist and a Licensed Massage Therapist. Sara taught two classes locally on “Naturally healthy pregnancy and childcare.” She is also the director of the Idaho Chapter of Vaccination Liberation. She can be contacted through email at saralandis@mail.com.

I have an 8 month old baby girl and was in EXACTLY the same position as you. We did our first two rounds of vaccines (HIB and polio) and by the time it came time for the third in the series, I had read all this stuff about vaccines, was seeing first hand what vaccines were doing to one of my dogs and it just didn't feel right to continue vaxing. So I didn't. Stopping vaccination was the BEST decision I have ever made in my life - I only wish I had done it sooner and wish that I knew then what I know now. Not a day goes by that I don't kick myself for giving 2 shots of HIB and polio.

If vaxing doesn't feel right to you (and it didn't feel right to me) then don't do it. Once you give the vaccine you can't turn the clock back and undo things. My doctor was completely unsupportive of my concerns about vaccines. He's fairly holistic in his views but he completely pooh-poohed my questions. "Reactions are so rare.... vaccines are NOT linked to allergies.... it's all a bunch of hog wash... besides, don't you want your daughter to be protected against these terrible and deadly illnesses?" I vax'd XXXXXX out of fear. That's what it came down to. What I did not realize at the time was that in vaxing her I was 1) not guaranteeing her immunity against these "horrible illnesses" 2) that these illnesses are NOT all that common in the first place 3) I was putting my child at risk for chronic disease 4) mercury toxicity is VERY real and a serious threat to children under the age of 6 months 4) vaccines form a large part of a doctor's practice which puts him in a conflict of interest when presenting both sides of the story. My daughter didn't spike a fever during her vaccines and other than getting a little cranky she "did fine" as well. Now she's 8 months old, has never been ill a single day in her life but she's suffering from acne. Why? No idea. Not a clue. Allergy? Perhaps. Hypersensitivity due to the vaccines? Perhaps. But now I'll never know because I gave those damn vaccines. XXXXX is just going to start homeopathic care for the acne and I have not been able to trace the acne to a food allergy. I will not take her to the doctor for the problem because the last thing I want to do is suppress the symptoms. She's a happy child, very content and if she is "the one" who becomes autistic because of vaxing out of fear I could never forgive myself knowing what I know now. Once you understand the real dangers of vaccines, it's like opening up a door that can never be closed again. Once you "see" the dangers you can't go back into naivety. I only wish I had seen sooner. My best advice to you is this: follow your gut. I wish I had followed mine.

Actually your page was the first one I've seen that was much more clear. I sat my dh down and made him read it and we both decided not to vax :) Men usually don't take active roles into the kids medical care etc, you know how that is. So I think he needed to see it more than I did. My intuition was already telling me NOT to do this, his wasn't! I'm just sick over the fact that I've already vax'd my older two and partially vax'd my baby!

Thank you for putting together such a comprehensive view. I have a 3 week old daughter, our first, and I was deeply concerned about vaccinating her. I have read numerous medical, scientific and anecdotal articles and the more I read, the more concerned I become. You may have guessed what my decision will be. I now need to convey the information to my partner so that she shares the same viewpoint and doesn't blindly trust the stance of the Health Authorities in the UK.

Thank you once again. I was delighted to hear your son is far in the journey to recovery.

Thank you for the wonderful website full of wonderful information! Our son turned 2 in May and is not Vaxed -- We still research every day -- but I have yet to find anything that can modify my view on this -- So, he remains unvaxed. Thank you-- I will share your website with our friends...

Bless you -- I'm so happy your son is well.

I just wanted to add what approach worked for me, married to a civil engineer. ( you know they all seem to fit into a "type"! he is very logical, very linear in his thoughts, and very hard to argue with) When I first looked into the vaccination issue, our third child (our only boy) was nearing his 1sth birthday and I was uneasy about the whole autism issue. Once I started researching, I felt sick- I knew I couldn't give any of our kids anymore vaxs, but especially not our sweet boy who was red haired, and already allergic to several foods and the metal on his clothes. My husband, the civil engineer, had also been pre-med for about 3 years, and his brother is a Dr., I was up against so much! My approach: don't push hysterically, at firs I mentioned a few of the articles I had read; he would respond with, a "wow-how interesting" kind of comment and then, "ok, Jen, as long as he gets his shots..." so I toned down and didn't say much, but I collected some very well researched articles- if it had an M.D. in the title, the better! I left an article out for him every once in while to take with him to work or leaving it in the bathroom without mentioning it is even better! After he read a few articles, without me ever arguing with him, though I was thinking "over my dead body!" ( I never said that out loud!) I prayed a lot and then one day he said that we could delay the shots until our boy was 2 because I felt so strongly about it and because he knew I only wanted what was best for our kids, even though he didn't totally agree with me. I just continued in that way, giving an article every once in a while, pointing out the bias and questionable statements in pro-vaccine newspaper articles- it made him think, and the next thing I knew, he was on my side, and taking a us-against them stance when he saw biased articles in the paper. So, our boy is almost 3 now, no more vax's and our 4th child is completely unvaxed. one other thought, my husband was forced to get a MMR booster in college, and he was so sick from it and in so much pain, it helped to remind him of that and question the effectiveness of the vaccine when they have to keep adding boosters, and to remind him that the babies can't complain and let us know how awful they feel after the shot- he was able to verbalize it.
Jenny in Ca

Dear All!

My name is Tanya and I am happily married to Paul and we have two lovely babes - Tamara age 6 yrs and Alexander who is just over a year. We live in Cornwall which is a beautiful part of the UK. I do tend to waffle a bit so I'll get to the point and no doubt you'll get to know a bit more about us very soon!

I first had a peek inside 'Pandora's Box' when I became a CA to a vitalistic chiropractor and attended a weekend seminar hosted by Ted Koren in London back in 2000. Basically this seminar changed my life and for the past two years have gleaned as much info. as possible regarding vaxxes.

I wish I had been aware of all the issues back in 1996 when Tamara was fully vaxxed until the age of 13 months and I can only thank God that to date she is bright, well-balanced and healthy. Obviously she hasn't received anything since then and Alex is totally unvaxxed.

We're very lucky to live locally to two organic farms and the majority of our food is organic, especially the kids but we are human and think the odd pizza can be righted by overall good nutrition. We love chiropractic and all get adjusted monthly, Alex was just four days old when he was first adjusted and Tamara is responding beautifully from homeopathy for her so-called asthma as a GP once diagnosed, its fantastic that she doesn't have to traipse to school armed with inhalers and those big plastic bubble spacer thingies. I believe also that a good sense of humour and lots of laughs help with the old immune system and as a family try to be as positive and expressive as possible - love will save the day (and diseases) as they say!!!

Do tend to feel a bit isolated in my views though sometimes as an NHS nurse told me once that she would rather have an autistic child than a dead child when she found out about my vax opinions. I must admit I did contribute intelligently to the conversation but would rather have told her where to go, especially as a good friend of mine has an autistic child and thought this silly remark was both patronising and disrespectful to all that they have to go through. So this is why I am so glad I have discovered you all and a similar very good Brit group.

Anyway, think I must need a good holiday as I must have vax on the brain! I have been dreaming that the whole populations of the States and the UK are all going to receive Smallpox vax, that the doctor in 'Eastenders', a very popular UK soap opera has been pushing the flu vaccine, my daughter quizzically asking what are booster shots, as mentioned in the Rugrats and that we can now buy, along with our groceries at the checkout ...................................................the flu vaccine. I really do need a long lie down me thinks!

Take care!
Love from Tanya

My short story is this.....I have 2 beautiful boys, 4 and 2 in January. They are both totally unvaxxed and never will be. We do chiropractic, and both my babies were adjusted at birth. It's amazing that my children are the healthiest kids I know. Other kids have the asthma, the colds, and other assorted maladies, but not my babies! My husabnd is in the military and I worry about what vaxxes he'll be getting when and if they go overseas and what we can do to minimize the effects of those. I started an information resource group about 3 1/2 years ago when my oldest was about 1. I have continued, although since starting I have relocated to a new state. I start chiropractic school November 1st and am sssooooo excited about this. It has been a dream of mine since high school to be a healthcare provider, although I used to want to be an MD! Egaads!! Now the very thought of that makes me nauseous.

I am so glad this list is here to provide support and information for those parents that truly wish to be educated. I'm excited to be attending Dr Tim o'Shea's Sanctity of Human Blood seminar next month and I expect to get lots of good info from that.

Healthy wishes for all,

       I myself have a 2 1/2 month old named Tyler who just received his first set of vaccinations. The poor guy had to get five shots, two in one thigh, three in the other. Had I known that these vaccines really weren't necessary, I wouldn't have put him through the pain. I, like many other first time mothers was told the vaccines were needed when in fact they really are not, and you can go to the health department and get a waiver stating that your child doesn't have to have them. My cousins baby boy is six months old and went to have his vaccinations for that age, after coming home the baby started having seizures and they rushed him to the hospital. Upon arrival, tests were done and they said he was allergic to the Pertussis shot. However, after hearing what you had to say and reading your website it sounds like the doctors just said that to cover their own hides! I can assure you, my child will not be receiving any more vaccinations! I love my son too much to inject these poisons into him that could harm him! My son is my whole world and I would die if I knew that my ignorance was the cause of him dying or getting hurt in any way. Once again, thank you so much for your insight into this ongoing problem. Without your story and insight, I would never have thought to say no to the vaccines.

                                                                               Thanks Again,
                                                                               Audra and Tyler

Here is my story and here is Shalom.

6 months ago had appointment with the baby's pediatrician! In that appointment I was supposed to let the doctor to vaccinate my baby with 4 vaccinations; Hep B, IPV, DTP, HIB, but didn't go to the Dr's office!

8 months ago, when my baby was 2 months old, I was still naive about vaccinations... I thought that some are good and safe and important, while I rejected Hep B, or MMR, I thought about single jabs for MMR. As any good obedient mom, who wanted the best health care for her first son, went to the Dr's office for well being check up. When the dr. saw my baby, she said my baby is so healthy - perfect baby! Let's vaccinate! She wanted to give him 4 shots: Hep B, IPV, DTP, and HIB. I felt uneasy about it. I sensed something was wrong. When I WAS a baby age 2 months, I didn't get so many jabs - just IPV. I told the doctor; don't you think 2 months old is too early for so many shots? The Dr, thought for a minute, wanting to be nice told me, do u know what? Lets postpone these vaccinations till next appointment, when my baby will be 4 months old in March 25. I said ok. When I got home with my still unvaccinated baby I decided to educate myself about the vaccination issue.

I thought to myself, why the kids of nowadays are sicker than before? I was just fine with fewer vaccinations than the kids with today's vaccinations! It looked aggressive to me to jab the baby so many shots in such a young age... Also I remembered once as a child when I came to doctor's office, I chatted with the doctor, as any good chatterbox, I loved to chat with doctor while gave me vaccinations, I shared medical knowledge and loved to awe the doctor with the knowledge I had. So I chatted about getting chicken pox and being immunized to it for life. The doctor said, yes wow u know it in such a young age? One thing: if you get chicken pox under 1 year old, your immunization system isn't mature to have antibodies memory, so it doesn't count, and you have to get that disease AFTER age 1 year old to be immunized to it for life!

So I thought, so why do they vaccinate babies right after birth? and so many shots before age 1 year old? The immunization system isn't developed yet!!

When I surfed in the Internet, for HOURS all the information upset me so much that this night I couldn't sleep! The going to doctor in the same day played in my mind again and again. And I thought, what if the doctor was vaccinating MY beautiful healthy baby with these 4 shots loaded with poisons and MY baby could now be screaming or dead by now or having weaken immunization system, or developing allergies... ohh God what a narrow escape! I hugged my baby tight. He is so, so healthy and perfect! Thank God! I was so lucky not to have him poisoned. I imagined again and again about my baby opening his mouth in horror as the doctor jabbed a shot after shot, and having him screaming...having swollen feet, having fever, then having him 'not same like before' more quiet, or more sleepy, or stopping smiling, or even dead... it was a hard sleepless night. I was angry and upset.

Anyway... 2 months later - I just didn't show up in the doctor's office with my precious baby! Now he is 10 months robust happy baby. Thanks God He guided me to take a good care of him.

By the way, my son's school tried to force us to vaccinate him. The principal said he will expel my son if I don't vaccinate him in 2 weeks. I stick to my guns. my son was expelled from the school and we are home schooling him. I still try to get him back to the school just for that granny sweetheart teacher. (if not for her, we wouldn't care to fight) But if I don't find a liberal school we will homeschool next year.

Unfortunately the private schools are not obligated by the law to accept religious exemptions. The principal doesn't care that we might be vaccine damaged (my being deaf, and my brother being deaf AND autistic). we had heated email exchanges. The thing that most hurt me was his saying: your fears are unfounded anyway I am not going to risk my son's health just for the principal's hunger for power and his want things to be his way.

regards,
Sara

Here is Shalom and Tzippy and new baby Moshe all unvaxxed and in perfect health. Read about Sara's problems with school exemptions.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Our school's principal is trying to force us to vaccinate our son!!!

I am so upset with his attitude. What the hell! He doesn't care about us at all! He just wants the jabs for our son, even with me having a high probability of being deaf from a vaccine! Plus my brother is deaf AND autistic! Same vaccines!

here is our emails exchanges...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: about Shalom

Dear XXXX
Regards to your demanding a letter from a doctor about not needing vaccinations, you are requesting a medical waiver which isn't available. New Jersey state accepts religious waiver which I gave you before.

You shall write a statement in writing outlining your lawful reasons for refusal to accept him in school concerning about vaccinations..

Sincerely,
Sara
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent: 1/16/2007 10:43:00 AM
Subject: FW: Re: about Shalom
.Dear Rabbi,

Subject: FW: Re: about Shalom

Dear Mrs.
I feel the need to respond to your e-mail to Mrs. XXXXX. As the Head of School for YBH, I am also the Rabbinic leader as well and its Posek. Orthodox Judaism since Moshe Rabbinu has used physicians and medicine to heal and prevent illness. Our faith in Hashem is to use the best medical services available at any given time while trusting in Hashem that He is sending the doctor or medicine as His messenger. While the State of New Jersey recognizes religious exemptions for children attending public schools, we are not a public school and our religion in fact promotes sound medical care and advice. If you have a medical doctor who writes that immunization is dangerous for your children, I might consider it, but I will not allow your son to continue in our school as a potential danger to other children and staff, using non-Orthodox Judaism as a religious excuse. Please let me know what your decision is.
Rabbi

.
Subject: RE: FW: Re: about Shalom

Your statement that my son is a danger to the other children and the staff isn't valid because the based on your belief on vaccinations, the others are immunized, therefore they are protected so what is the danger? Talking about dangers, my son has to be the one to be in the danger and not the other way around. Isn't it?

As for us, the immunizations are dangerous for us because I am vaccine damaged. I am deaf. As well my brother is deaf AND autistic. resulting from the vaccinations. We were born normal babies. But around the time of the scheduled vaccinations we got sick and got damaged. Our hearing plummeted to almost zero, and my brother got into autism. He was crying and vomiting and having screaming spells. I remember these days, even I was almost a baby myself. It was an horrible experience seeing my mom helplessly holding the baby as he was waling and squirming in pain and arching his back for hours and hours days on and days off..

We will not put our son/children through this risk.

The doctors don't accept this theory that vaccinations damaged us. I hope you are having a Jewish heart and will not force us to vaccinate as the dangers of the vaccinations are real to us. Could you sign that vaccinations are completely safe and that you will take lifelong responsibility if G-d forbid anything will happen to my son resulting from the shots? And I believe that shots are against Judaism because some of the materials used in the vaccinations preparations include aborted fetuses serums. I am sure Moshe Rabeinu used natural medicine and not the Orthodox medicine using dangerous toxics damaging children's health causing the ADHD and allergy and autism epidemic of nowadays, and using inhuman methods like using serums from aborted fetuses!

Its unfair to threaten children to be expelled from school as some are damaged from the shots then they are unable attend any school!!

.Subject: RE: RE: FW: Re: about Shalom
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2007 11:45:35 -0500

Mrs. Kohn,
I certainly worry about the well being of your son but you and I do not agree that your son is in danger without getting proper immunizations against childhood diseases. The rest of our staff and parent body do agree with me and I am responsible for their safety. Even your physicians have told you that your fears are unfounded. I am sorry but this issue can not be compromised. It is your choice not to get your son immunized and therefore place him out of school. He is more than welcomed at YBH under our conditions. This my final answer. If over the winter break you see to it that he receives all of his vaccinations and immunizations, he will be allowed in school. Otherwise you will need to find him another arrangement.
Rabbi

.
Subject: RE: RE: FW: Re: about Shalom

Will you agree to sign to testify the immunizations are completely safe and that my fears are unfounded, and that if anything happens resulting from the shots you will take full responsibility?

Subject: RE: RE: RE: FW: Re: about Shalom
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:12:44 -0500

I don't negotiate with parents about such serious matters. My decision is final.
Rabbi

Subject: A few matters
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 10:59:44 -0
Mrs. Kohn,
It has come to my attention that you have sent your son to YBH without having him receive his proper immunizations. I have also found that your family have not completed any paperwork on your tuition obligation to our school. YBH is very generous and patient but you must do your part if you want your child in our school. I do not want to embarrass Shalom, but if he is in school on Monday, February 5, and nothing is done towards getting his needed inoculations or arrangements made with our business office in terms of your financial obligations to YBH, I will have no choice other than to send him home.
Rabbi

..and that's what I wrote back to him:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. XXXX
You have no respect to our situation. I am vaccine damaged, and is so my brother worst damaged. My brother's life is destroyed. he will never marry. and I will never hear what you take for granted: hearing the beauty of music, being able to speak on phone, getting jobs and not being discriminated because of my deafness. You don't care about us. Our son can be seriously damaged just because you want to exercise your controlling altitude. You want our son get the jabs not because you care about the safety of anyone, just because of your arrogance and your wanting to control everything to be your way.

What is the difference if you would decide that everyone in school must eat peanut butter sandwiches and you will force the children who have allergy to it to eat it along with everyone else? Then you will tell the parents that their fears of peanut butter are unfounded. Then if the child will be hurt or dead from the peanut butter sandwich you will tell them coldly that they have no proof its from the peanuts. That what we exactly feel by your altitude.

Well I don't want to have any fight with you, I want to live in peace with everyone. I just don't know what do you want from our life and what is the source of your phobia of unvaccinated children. You can go ahead to ask any medical doctor even the most pro vaccination ones, and ask them if all the vaccinated people are in danger in presence of the unvaccinated ones??

By the way - I see the altitude of schools wanting the medical records of the students as controlling and corrupt. Why shall parents share this private info with the schools? What schools have to do with the children's medical records?! Its nobody's damn business and parents have right to maintain their privacy (only need to share the relevant info like warning schools of their children's allergies or situations that can affect their children's relations with others)

If you will expel our son from school, he will be greatly heartbroken and remember it for life. He will remember you as the principal who rejected him. And we will not take the risk of vaccinations just to satisfy your wanting to make everything your way.

p.s as i said before: we are taking our son to a pediatrician who knows both sides of the picture of the vaccinations. he heard our story and finds it truly founded.

Sara

And another thing: That principal who takes it as a granted right to meddle with the kid's medical treatments i.e: vaccinate them, What will be the difference if I would meddle with his medical needs. He is greatly overweight having a large protruding belly. Suppose I will go to him and tell him: Your being overweight is very dangerous for your heart. Your cholesterol levels can be high. Then I will force him to go to a doctor for medical treatment for his weight problem. Then force him to do a diet. This isn't any of my $#%@# business, so my son's medical care isn't any of his business. That he is going to his school doesn't justify anything of it! We are the customers and he has to satisfy the customers, and not the other way around. We are not a bunch of dirty rabid dogs in a dog daycare center that the dog daycare center owner having anxiety attacks to have these dogs to be vaccinated to rabies!

(I'm so proud of Sara for loving her kids enough to do what it takes to keep them vaccine free.)

No-one in my family has been vaccinated at all for at least 6 generations. I'm not sure exactly who has had what in the way of diseases that we could have been vaccinated for but I do know that we've all had some of them, and that no-one had had any complications what-so-ever! Except for myself, no-one has had any illness that has required anything more than a day or twos bed rest as treatment if that! We put it down to diet and lifestyle - I run astray abit but everyone else is / was very careful about what they consume. My Gran remembers having Measles, and I can also remember my Great Gran and her sister telling me that they both had Measles and German Measles. My Mum remembers having German Measles too. I'm not sure about my Grandads side of the family - I get the impression that no- one ever caught anything that was worth making a fuss of, but I might ask him tomorrow to check. I had Measles we think - I had a rash and slight fever for less than a day, I had Mumps in the same fashion - swelling on one side which was gone by lunchtime, I had Chicken pox so mildly I barely noticed it. I had bacterial Menengitis which was awful for a day, I went to hospital! I had German Measles at age 19 which was no big deal - the rash was the only obvious thing about it. My son possibly had Measles when he was a baby but no-one knew for sure, again whatever it was that caused the rash was so mild he didn't seem bothered at all. He had Chicken Pox too which caused him no discomfort, and he had Whooping cough last year which sounded absolutely awful at times but he didn't acctually feel ill most of the time.

I have read that some of the complications from Measles can be avoided by giving children vitamin A - not sure of the doses though

Hello everyone, My name is XXXX, I'm 21, Married and have a 2yr old son XXXXX. He will be 2 on the 30th anyway. He is not Immunized, I am also expecting #2 in Feb. I grew up in a family that did not believe in Vaccinations, but I never knew what they were as a child. I just knew I never had shots, like other kids did. It wasn't really until I got pregnant with my son , that I realized it was a decision every parent had to make and that I should start looking into it. Well since my parents didn't Vaccinate they had alot of info for me, and I searched online a lot. Well what I found just shocked me! And i knew there was NO way i could do that to my child. This has been a very hard on going battle with my husband and his family. He has "given" in to me, but still doesn't completely agree. His family has pretty much flat out said that we are killing our child, so we stay away from them. I like getting new information , because it teaches me more and gives me a better argument, but not only that it gives me things to show my husband.

Hello everyone!
I'm xxxx, and I live in NC. I'm a married, SAHM to a 1 year old little girl. I was introduced to this group after speaking to another mother who belongs to it. I have just made the decision to not give the chicken pox shot, to seperate and delay the MMR (maybe), and to cease all over vaccinations until I learn more. My daughter's 1 year check up was this past Friday. She was due for Hep B, DTaP, and HIB. On top of all of that, they wanted to give her the chickenpox vax,and start the MMR. I had a new Ped. that day, a very ignorant one, who ignored my request to seperate the MMR, and told me all my non-vax information from online sites that are reputable is "junk." I refused all vaccinations on Friday, and left a very proud mama. My daughter was joyful all that night, and I think that was a message to me that I did a good thing. ;) The Ped. office threatened me, stating this was a form of child abuse, and they demanded to know when my daughter will be getting these shots because the state audits them. I did leave politely, paid my copay, and I hoped that I struck a chord in that new Ped. to listen to her patient's parents, who are their advocates. She stated that no child in that office is non-vax, not one. Before she gave me her speech, she remarked on how wonderfully happy my daughter is, and how attached she was to me. ;)She was impressed she said to hear I was a SAHM. She did turn my stomach though. Anyway, I am glad this group is here, because I plan to flood my brain with information and not persuasive dr. talk. I hope you can welcome me here. This decision has been a very rough one to make, and there are people out there making me shaky in my decisions. I am standing my ground. There are too many children in my close family being diagnosed with autism and ADD who were fully vaxed. I was once a victim of pharmaceutical medicines that changed me forever..that's a story in itself, but anyway everyone.... ;)

I have 2 gorgeous boys, XXXXX 3yrs (up to date on vax but will not be getting anymore) and XXXXX 4 weeks who will have no vax) www.babiesonline.com/babies/m/magic Just over a year ago I started researching vaccinations after I started seeing my homeopath as I had come to the conclusion GP's make too many mistakes and don't listen! They are the jack of all trades and master of none! I have read anything I can find on the subject and I am now determined my sons will not be subjected to the immunisation programme. I am very much into natural parenting, cloth nappies, organic food etc I also believe we are designed to give birth and obs should stop interfering in the process so much. I had to complain alot to get the choice of a waterbirth with my last son as my NHS trust (i am in the UK) would not allow births in their "labour" pool. In the end Dillon only took 90 minutes so I didn't have time for the pool anyway. I think breastfeeding is amazing and wish more women would do it. Where I live the only time I've seen/known a breastfeeding mum has been in the hospital. I very much feel the odd one out. I am even called a spoilsport for not letting my 3 yr old eat sweets and drink coke!! There are some odd views out there! Anyway back to the vax issue. The one thing that amazes me is that just based on the limited knowledge gained during my biology a-level I know that vaccines cause harm. It's common knowledge mercury is dangerous, when you're pregnant you're told to avoid certain fish due to mercury content yet the same people warning about this is quote happy to make you have it injected into a 2 month old baby! Madness! It the same with artificial sweeteners, I was actually taught by my biology teacher 6 years ago that artificial sweeteners are carcinogenic yet are still see good old phenylaline in robinson squash! It's hard to avoid that stuff! Next week I get to tell my GP that I will not be accepting the offer of vaccination (he wants to do me too!) so I am wondering what sort of reaction I'll get. My HV will be fine, she knows and hasn't tried to persuade me at all! Anyway, it's time to go now before I get carried away! I tend to go on when it's something I feel strongly about!

Hello, my name is XXXXX This is my first day on the Vaccinations Group. What a wealth of information! We're so blessed to have access to so much info to help make the most informed decisions about our children. I learned about this site through my friend who recently joined the group. I am the mother of a 15 month old son. I have researched vaccines extensively after agreeing to one Hep B in the hospital. I then went through 4 pediatricians until I found one who supported me in delaying them until after age 2 (which I have now decided not to do at all). My son has only had one other vaccine, 1 Hib (which I understand to be the least reactive) but that one HIB had him in the hospital with rectal bleeding, vomiting, fever of 105 and red throat which after researching seemed to be a reaction most likely to formaldehyde because he had no post nasal drip. I am more determined than ever to build my son's immune system through vitamins, herbs and proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. I feel certain in my heart that vaccinating him could have grave results. I realize that all children are different, and they all react differently, however for my son I feel strongly that I need to build his immune system and avoid vaccinations. I am interested in learning much more. Thanks,

PARENTS OF UNVACCINATED CHILDREN
- Tim O'Shea

After speaking with so many parents around the world who have not vaccinated their children, my standard question is always: How does the health of your child compare to that of the vaccinated children in your community? Almost one hundred percent of the time I would get the same response: my child is so much healthier, my child almost never gets sick, my child is bright, alert, has no allergies, no learning problems, etc. Over and over again, always the same response.

So it became obvious that a list might be helpful to see how common such a phenomenon might be. Of course this list does not attempt to masquerade itself as a controlled randomized study. It would fall more under the heading of empirical observation, or in the cases where the parents are doctors, clinical experience.

To be on this list, the undersigned are stating that they meet three criteria:

1. Parents of an unvaccinated child

2. The child's health has not only been exceptionally good, but that it has been far better than the apparent health of the child's vaccinated friends

3. The child rarely or never gets colds, has no chronic allergies, and has no use for drugs or those little pocket inhalators used today by so many children.

A number in parentheses indicates more than 1 unvaccinated child.

If you'd like to get on this list, kindly send in an E-mail. (O'Shea@thedoctorwithin.com)

A Normal Life
- Tim O'Shea

Here is what a normal life should be like:

You're born. You get no drugs and no vaccinations. During childhood you have the usual illnesses, but conservative treatment gets you through them without antibiotics or drugs, and you build your natural immune defenses. You don't eat white sugar, white flour, too much meat or cheese, or drink soft drinks or pasteurized milk. You concentrate on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and a clean, natural diet. You never learn to drink coffee or to smoke cigarettes. The only pills you take are natural antioxidants and enzymes and minerals, which are part of your daily intake. You drink at least 1 liter of water every day. Into adulthood, you never get sick: no colds, no flu, no headaches, no diabetes, no ADD, no "thyroid problems," no panic attacks, growing pains, fatigue, or digestive disorders, no high blood pressure. The only pains you experience come from accidental injury. Perhaps you do moderate exercise or sports activity to maintain mobility and general fitness. You look to the care of your spine. Your entire adulthood is spent in this disease-free mode. As you age, your mind gets sharper, your body gets stronger, your immune system tougher. You experience no arthritis, cancer, or osteoporosis, no Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. Finally one day after 90 or 100 years, you flicker like a candle and go out.

The above paragraph may be useful in choosing a doctor. Some doctors will say all this is impossible; which for them is true. So don't choose them. All this is possible; moreover, thousands and thousands of people are living it. So listen only to those who can help you achieve such a condition of living health. Because now we've arrived at the threshold of a time when good health and a powerful immune system are not only advisable; they are the very determinants of survival.

http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/index_fr.html
(Lots of good article at this site - check it out!!)

Taking sides in the vaccine war
25 November 2002
By GRANT FLEMING
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2121396a7144,00.html

Choosing not to immunise her two children is a decision that Catharina Fisher does not take lightly.

The Hutt Valley mother of two says that when faced with the question of whether to vaccinate or not, she and her husband decided to look further into the matter. "Once we got into it, there seemed to be a big discrepancy between government information and what our research was telling us." She says there was little information about possible adverse effects and the research that had been done was funded by the manufacturing drug companies and was very limited in its scope. However, their decision, says Ms Fisher, means taking greater responsibility for keeping her two children, Kieren, 4, and Annabel, 18 months, healthy. That involves breastfeeding for a long time - till Kieren was two, and still breastfeeding Annabel - not letting the kids get too run down, and providing them with a healthy diet. "We keep away from the high fat and sugar foods." The Fishers are not alone in their decision. The Health Ministry estimates that 2 to 4 per cent of New Zealand parents choose not to immunise their children for philosophical reasons, and as many as a further 10 per cent waver over the decision to give their children the jab.

In New Zealand, immunisation is offered to babies for hepatitis B, haemophilus influenzae, diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and measles, mumps and rubella. Ministry national immunisation manager Clair Mills says that reaching the wavering 10 per cent and another, smaller group who find it difficult to get to a doctor is a priority. She says research shows that if 95 per cent coverage can be achieved, diseases such as measles, which has the power to disable or, in extreme cases, kill, could be wiped out. The ministry estimates that between 85 and 88 per cent of two-year-olds are immunised. However, Dr Mills says, immunisation is not 100 per cent effective. A small proportion will get these diseases even after immunisation. This, and the fact that they outnumber non-immunised children by about nine to one, accounts for a high proportion of immunised children in disease statistics.

But she says it is the children who aren't immunised who often act as carriers, exposing those immunised children. She says that when looking at the effects of a disease outbreak on an entire population, the gains made from immunisation are huge. "If 100 per cent of people were immunised, the diseases would not exist ... next to clean water, this is the most successful health intervention we have." But Immunisation Awareness Society spokeswoman Sue Claridge says that in the information war the ministry has waged to convince undecided parents, disease risks have been exaggerated and the potential for long-term side-effects ignored.

Ms Claridge says that during the 50 years leading up to the 1940s, when vaccination programmes began, the incidence of communicable diseases had already dropped dramatically because of better sanitation, hygiene, water supplies, housing and nutrition. "Health authorities attribute the drop to vaccination, but in reality most of it was already happening."

She says that diseases such as scarlet fever have also declined hugely during the past 100 years, despite the absence of a vaccination programme. Ms Claridge says public health authorities have accepted vaccination on the assumption that it is safe. The common short-term side-effects - swelling, redness, fever and irritability - have been studied and are well known, she says, but there has been no study of long-term health effects. There is little surveillance of potential adverse effects, such as auto-immune disorders and even death from extreme reactions to immunisation. In many cases of possible adverse reactions, doctors are unwilling to accept immunisation as a causal factor, even if the medical event occurs during the 24 hours after vaccination.

"In many of these cases, it may not be linked to vaccination, but you will never know if there is a pattern if you don't investigate or report it in the first place. We believe that, at the moment, the risks are considerably underplayed by the medical establishment in their effort to reach their aim
of high vaccination rates. They are not providing parents with the information to weigh the risks against the benefits." But, she says, the society also advocates a holistic approach to health if people choose not to immunise. Measures such as long-term breastfeeding, which confers the mother's immunity to the child, and excellent nutrition are essential, she says. "Those things ensure that if a child does get sick, their body has the strength to fight that illness."

Auckland University immunisation researcher Nikki Turner agrees that the monitoring of adverse effects must improve. She says the current passive monitoring system needs to change to one that is more active in collecting data. "In European countries and the United States, doctors are putting a lot more money into surveillance and better linking of kids' medical records so cause and effect can be established if there is a possible adverse reaction." Common reactions to vaccines, those experienced by 1 to 10 per cent of people, such as red legs, fever, irritability and even post-vaccination fits, have been well quantified through big studies, she says. But rare adverse reactions, for example, a one-in-a- million probability, are almost impossible to identify because the catchment pool needed to pick up reliable data is too large. "They do large studies on 300,000 or 400,000 kids and they can show there does not appear to be a link, but if it was incredibly rare, if there was some poor individual out there who gets an unusual and rare reaction, you will not pick that up in a very large study . . . for certain issues, the studies have been done, but there are always things we have not considered."

She says that with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which some research has linked to autism, there have been big studies that show if there is a link, it is extremely rare. Dr Turner says there has also been much concern about an international increase in auto-immune conditions - in which the body attacks itself - such as autism and diabetes. But she says that though those conditions relate to the immune system, they are most probably linked to our affluent lifestyle and longer life expectancy.

"You have to look at it and do research case by case. Is there a link between vaccines and diabetes - no. Is there a link between vaccines and autism - it's been found to be extremely unlikely." Dr Turner is a firm advocate of immunisation. Though there is now a much lower incidence of disease than there was 50 years ago, she says that increased numbers of people travelling, babies being taken out of the home at a younger age and more contact at pre-schools puts children at risk. However, she says, some vaccines are of more benefit than others. There is a strong case for immunising against measles, which can be very severe. But the case for mumps is much weaker - in very rare cases, it can lead to deafness. And the case for polio is almost non-existent unless you are going to polio endemic areas. "With coverage, you don't need to get 100 per cent, so they don't have to be religious zealots, but you have to get above 90 per cent and close to 95, but the community can always handle conscientious objectors."

My name is Sara, I have two precious boys, Colin (3) and Jack (4 months). Colin was vaccinated up until he was supposed to have the MMR, then I freaked out after meeting a woman who's son was autistic, she said that he was developing normally until he had the MMR. I decided to put it off for awhile, then the more that I read the more it scared me, then I realized that I was more afraid of doing vaccines than I was of not doing them, so we stopped them all.

Jack is my "lucky baby", he has had the more educated mama. Jack was a beautiful and natural homebirth (even though he weighed tens pounds and came out with his arm over his head, I am woman, hear me roar!) and he hasn't had any vaccines or allopathic medicine, ever! With Colin, I was a scared first time mom and let a couple of doctors bully me into antibiotics for ear infections, I found wonderful naturopath who helped with the last one that he had, and that was the last one! The final straw for conventional doctors came when Colin had chicken pox, he had one in his eye and an urgent care doctor said that I had to let him give him a shot of antibiotics, oral antibiotics and antibiotic drops! I told him no way! Chicken pox is a virus and I knew that the antibiotics would make it worse!

We now have a wonderful DO who is really into alternative medicine and not only respects my decision not to vaccinate, but she supports it. She doesn't recommend them and has a big binder full of information against vaccines.

Sara
Mama to
Colin Patrick 12/7/99
Jack Michael 8/7/02

You're on the right track by educating yourself, whatever decision you do ultimately make.

Personally, I've never feared taking my unvaccinated daughter anywhere. Since birth she has been healthier than her older (vaccinated, but not at birth) sisters. She's been in a home daycare situation since she was a year old. She's had two colds in 5 years, both very minor. I believe that her immune system is strengthened, rather than weakened, by her unimmunized state.

Two children in the last month have contracted chicken pox. I jumped for joy, hoping she would get this mild childhood virus before she was old enough for serious complications, and I was getting concerned over not seeing any cases at all. However, both children that got chicken pox were vaccinated, and she hasn't shown any sign of contracting it.

I just wanted to let you know that from my experience there's no need for your daughter to be kept in a virtual bubble. I would like to minimize my daughter's exposure to kids that have been recently vaccinated, but I haven't been able to track that since parents don't report that to day care. However, we've had no ill effects.

I wish you all the best!

I just wanted to tell you that we are 99% certain our un-vaccinated 7 month old son has just had Measles. He was a little under the weather the week before the spots appeared, 1 day of being sick and a couple of days with fever but so mild that it took us a week to realise what it was! We didn't give him any drugs only huge doses of organic veg. and he is now absolutely fine. Thank heavens he hadn't just had the scheduled vacs or I think he would of been seriously ill, so a big thank you to this group for educating me, I now have a strong healthy child quite capable of fighting disease naturally.

I am mom to three unvaccinated children. I became interested in the vaccine issue when I was pregnant with my first child; my MIL, an OB nurse for over 20 years, sent me some articles, and warned me to look into the vaccine issue because they weren't safe. My husband, who was working in research in Pediatric Immunology at the time, encouraged me to hear her out. At the time, I thought she was a little out there, but I read the info she sent and was shocked by what I learned. This led me into further research and, 8 years later, I am still searching and learning about this issue. And I am still appalled by what I learn. I went through several stages of learning as I progressed: first, I discovered that vaccines were unsafe; then, I learned that the diseases they intended to prevent were either benign or rare, or both; then I learned that many diseases, such as chicken pox and measles, are beneficial to the development of the immune system; next, I learned that most doctors know very little about immunology and pharmacology; lastly, I discovered the huge conflict of interest between pharmaceutical companies and government.

It is the latter issue that I focus on most these days; I am horrified by the fact that we are becoming more and more a medical state. Government is not only pushing allopathic medicine (via Medicare and Medicaid), they are now enforcing it, by charging parents with medical neglect when they chose not to utilize allopathic treatments, as well as mandating vaccines for school attendance. I see a lot of parallels between medicine and religion; particularly as doctors see themselves as gods with the power of life and death, and the fact that we are expected to worship at the alter of allopathy (I am obviously a fan of Dr. Robert Mendelsohn). If there is to be a separation of church and state, then certainly there should be a separation of medicine and state. As the truth about vaccines becomes more and more widespread, I believe we will see an end to forced vaccination; and the credit for that will largely go to the parents of autistic children who refused to cower when the AMA and their ilk barked at them. To those parents, I offer a deeply felt “thank you”.

When I first made the decision to not vax, my husband and mom only halfheartedly agreed with my decision. Now that my daughter is 16 months, they completely support me because they see how healthy she is. They are even telling others about how bad vaccines are. My aunt was really against me not vaxing in the beginning but as time goes by, she is starting to think differently. She said the other day that she has never seen a healthier child and she is amazed that she has never even had diaper rash. She is starting to think I was on to something by not having her vaxed. I think that some people will start to come around over time after seeing for themselves how different a non-vaxed child can be physically, emotionally, and mentally. Some people will never get it no matter what so there is nothing that can be done to convince them.

Hello everyone. My name is Heather and I just wanted to introduce myself. I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and I am pregnant with my 2nd child who is due in September. I consider myself lucky. I grew up with parents who do not believe in vaccinations (my father is a chiropractor and we do everything as naturally as we can). I have never been vaccinated in my life, neither has my daughter and we do not intend on vaccinating our newborn child either. When my daughter was born, the pediatrician at the hospital told me that my "baby was going to die" if I didn't vaccinate her. Little did he know that I have done a *ton* of research on vaccinations and I'm not willing to take the risk of vaccinating my children. My only response to him was that I was still here, healthier than most people my age and I've never been vaccinated. Since that day, I've tried to find a pediatrician out there that will at least "accept" my decision not to vaccinate. I have yet to find this doctor so we have been without a medical doctor (not that we have needed one). I take my daughter to see my dad who gives her chiropractic adjustments and has since the day she's been born. My daughter has not had any illnesses since she's been born (no ear infections or anything). She is the healthiest 2 1/2 year old I know and I credit a lot of that to not vaccinating her and chiropractic. I am proud to be part of a group that feels the same way I do about this. I've been looking for a group like this for a long time and just heard about this one. It is nice to know that there are people that will support your decision not to vaccinate. Most people just criticize me for it! I am looking forward to being a part of this group.
Heather (living in Iowa)

I too come from a family of Chiropractors (Dad, Granddad, Uncle and Bro-in Law) and my sisters and I were never vaxed and neither was my dad or his siblings. I have the first grandchild in my family and was very scared to do the no vax thing, but luckily my husband left the decision up to me and I have been very happy that I have decided not to vax and actully have fun watching my ped squirm at each well-baby visit when I keep telling her I refuse to vax! I think she is about to refuse me as a patient! oh well. My son has also had adjustments since two days old and is so far- very healthy. All we can do is research, eat healthy and stick to our guns.

I used to feel the way you do as did many other mothers I know. I decided to learn as much as I could about optimum health, diet, the 'diseases' and alternative treatments. The more I learnt, the less fearful I became. I gave my son chicken pox, though I was publicly criticized at the time, funny though the amount of mums that came to me privately and said they did the same. I would have no hesitation letting my son play with someone that had measles. I have been preparing him for measles since I first learnt that the severity of a case of measles is linked to the amount of Vitamin A. Remember how our grandmothers used to go on and on about cod liver oil? Sometimes I think that my son may have had measles and I missed it because the only reason I noticed he had chicken pox was that I had been trying for him to get it for two weeks and was looking for it. He had three spots and a slightly elevated temperature for about three hours. So much for that life threatening disease.

Get rid of this fear thing and realise that you are in control. The more that you fear, the more negative energy you will attract. Celebrate your decision to not vaccinate and learn more about what a great gift you have given your child.
Joanna

I've come to the conclusion that taking a child to do doctor is what makes them sick in the first place. XXXX does go to a special doctor but he does a complete different approach. A holistic approach. And he is trying to repair the damage done to her from her previous doctors.

My sister had a special needs child who was very small. 2 lbs at birth, three months early. She already had two previous children who suffered reactions so she adamantly refused a lot of the care they said the child needed. They kept stating because she was a preemie she needed Synagis shots. My sister refused the doctor didn't like that. They said she was taking a risk. She refused. And that child being a preemie and completely unvaccinated is the healthiest of all her children. She got a lot of negative feedback for her decision. There was another child in the hospital that was also a preemie but weighed more and was 7 month term instead of 6 month term as my sister's child. She had a lot less problems in the beginning than my sister's child. What was done differently was that she had the Synagis shots, developed ear infections later, got all her shots, suffered failure to thrive and died at six months old.

My sister's child who did not go through all these "necessary" procedures that was kept being pushed on her. (My sister learned the hard way; An ADHD/LD daughter and PDD-NOS son) is strong and well, alert and bright, weight is good and is VERY (capitalized for emphasis) healthy. My sister got a really hard time and many times doubted her decision but stood firm. After all the aggravation she was very pleased with the decision she made. We have one healthy child to show for it. And a preemie at that!!! She visits a chiropractor once biweekly and nutritionist and that is all. When people ask why she doesn't her child to a doctor for follow ups and such, my sister replied she loved her daughter too much to take her to a doctor.

Also she had one ear infection. A garlic concocment was used. A little fever and she was fine. Had she gone to a doctor he would have prescribed antibiotics and she would have been there every month after as antibiotic use will really only mean your child will be back at the doctor's office in four to six weeks, where a chronic ear infection would result as well as yeast issues. So no doctor for XXXX. We rather avoid them as much as we can. Find a homeopath better to learn to be healthy than learn to be sick.

I'm Kate, SAHM to 4 children, aged 7, 5, 2-1/2 and 2 months. I started questioning vaccines when my daughter (the 5 year old) was 16 months old and developed epilepsy. She was nearly due for her 18 month booster, and I read somewhere that children with a personal or family history of seizures should not receive the pertussis vaccine. I asked around, got different answers everywhere, and realized I had better figure it out on my own. My daughter's MMR was the last vaccine any of my children received. Unfortunately, we think it was one too many, because we now look back and think it was the cause of my daughter's seizures. Thankfully, she has now been pretty much seizure free for 3 years and med free for 2, so we are very lucky. I'm now gearing up for the upcoming battle over my youngest not getting the shots.
Kate

A little knowledge sways vaccination
By Louise Pemble
12apr03

EDUCATED parents are more likely to disagree with immunising their children, according to new demographic data from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register. This contrasts with the widespread view that parents who are against immunisation are more influenced by conspiracy theories than hard science. Dr Glenda Lawrence, an epidemiologist from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance in Sydney, found that the 3 per cent of parents who were not immunising their children were more highly educated than the general population.

Most were basing their decisions on research, as people with tertiary educations are trained to do, she said. "They are more likely to seek information and to challenge information," she said. Her findings come from a telephone survey of a random sample of parents whose children were incompletely immunised. Parents were asked if they were aware their children's vaccinations were not up-to-date, and if they had a reason for not immunising. The survey found that 58 per cent of parents surveyed disagreed with or were concerned about immunisation, she said.

"Their primary concerns were related to concerns about side-effects and most vaccines have mild side-effects," she said. "These are parents who might have seen their child develop a mild fever or drowsiness after one vaccination, so they have stopped immunising." Based on Australia's yearly birthrate of 250,000, Dr Lawrence estimates that about 7500 children are not immunised each year due to parental concern. Dr Lawrence said that childhood diseases had much more serious complications than the mild ones generally associated with vaccines.

"It's a perception of risk versus benefit,"she said. "Because of a lack of knowledge about the disease, they focus more of the side-effects of the vaccine." The fact that many based their decision on research made it harder for doctors to convince them of the benefits of immunisation, Dr Lawrence said. "Anecdotally, a lot of GPs will tell you that the patients who bring in information from the internet are usually the more highly educated ones," she said.

However, Dr Lawrence pointed out that a lot of medical research published on the internet was "not peer-reviewed data" but more like a hypothesis unproven by clinical trials. But tertiary-educated Gold Coast mother Narelle Chenery used the skills she gained through studying for a Bachelor of Applied Science (Information Management) to reach her decision not to vaccinate her children. "I didn't get one single shot," she says of her three children aged four, six and eight.

She first came across the case against vaccination while visiting a birthing centre in Melbourne when expecting her first child. "I saw a health sheet that had a graph showing that the incidence of a lot of these deadly disease was 90 per cent in decline before (mass) vaccinations were ever instigated and I thought that was very interesting," she said. After that, she bought dozens of books and read widely on the topic. "Basically, I decided that the risks far outweigh the benefits," she said. She now believes that bringing up children on a healthy diet is the best way to boost their immune systems.

"They have had the measles and the chickenpox, but it was very mild and they got over it quickly," she said. "These childhood diseases are meant to be caught in childhood as a primer for the immune system for life." She says it was this view rather than fear of the side-effects that guided her decision. "It wasn't a fear-based decision; it was a knowledge-based one."

Hi, my name is Michelle Williams and I live in Northwest Arkansas with my husband Wade, and our two vaccine-free daughters, Lucy (almost 4 yrs) and Leslie (14 months). Here is a little about us: Our family practices attachment parenting. We cloth-diaper, co-sleep, long-term breastfeed, etc., and we are a Christian family. We have a homeopath locally that we use when necessary (we do yearly hair analysis also) and a chiropractor the girls see monthly for maintenance. Additionally, our local family doctor is a friend who we take the girls to see about once a year to be weighed and measured and just get comfortable with the doctor and her office in case there is ever a need to actually go to the doctor. She is pretty laid back about our not vaccinating. We try to eat organic and natural as much as we can. (Constantly working on that.) We attempt to follow the principles of Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist who did extensive studies on non-industrialized, non-commercialized peoples in the early part of the last century. He advocated "native nutrition" (see www.westonaprice.org). Both of our girls were conceived via in-vitro fertilization and after years of infertility treatment and some bad experience with doctors we learned to question, question, question, do lots of research and never assume that a medical professional knows everything. Because of this attitude when I finally got pregnant with our first child we researched everything involving birth and what might happen. When we got to the info about Hep-B shots for newborns we were both disgusted at the idea of injecting a newborn against a disease that is not a true risk for the majority of newborns. This led to more reading and research until we became educated enough to question all vaccines, and here we are now. My husband recently worked with a group to reinstate the religious exemption law in Arkansas (it was declared unconstitutional) and although the legislation passed wasn't perfect and there are some things we weren't thrilled with it does have language in it allowing philosophical exemptions which is great! Sometimes it feels like a lonely journey that our family is on when so many people are willing to blindly follow the crowd, but I know that we are doing what is right for our children. :-)
Michelle Williams
SAHM to Lucy (5.99)
and Leslie (2.02)
in NW Arkansas

The first thing Elijah Goode does when he gets to the playground one chill March day is look for the deepest puddles. Then, because he is 5, he jumps in and has to splash himself with muddy water everywhere not covered by his yellow rain boots and coat.

He is the kind of kid who can carry on his end of the conversation, even with someone he met just five minutes ago. He also can be curious, funny and thoughtful. In his young life, he has been protected from much of the outside world - fast food, excessive television watching and computer games. But something this robust, rosy-cheeked blur of yellow hair and rain gear has not been protected against is childhood diseases.

His parents, after much thought, decided not to get him standard childhood shots that immunize against once-common illnesses such as measles, polio and whooping cough. They're not part of any anti-vaccination movement or support group. It was just their personal belief that vaccines posed more risk than benefit. In this, they are part of a small minority of California parents who sign school waivers exempting their children from vaccinations. But in the Sierra foothills where they live, in rural Nevada County, they are closer to the mainstream.

Nevada County has the state's highest percentage of children in kindergarten who, for philosophical reasons, are not fully vaccinated - 11.39 percent in 2001 compared with about 1.2 percent statewide, which was a 20-year high. In some schools in Nevada County, particularly in a 30-mile swath of pine- and oak-covered hills known as The Ridge, the levels are even greater. At Yuba River Charter School, a public charter program Elijah attended last year, more than half of the kindergarten children this year don't have a complete set of vaccinations, according to the school.

Why would so many well-educated parents who can afford the vaccinations and live within a few hours of some of the nation's best-known medical research institutions decide against the shots? The reason lies partly in the mix of parents drawn to the Gold Country towns and foothills 60 miles northeast of Sacramento. Alongside the mining families who've lived there since the Gold Rush boom, the loggers and the retirees, there are now artists and writers, urban refugees and back-to-the-land folks who tend to seek holistic health and natural remedies. Driving around the foothills, one is just as likely to see signs for a yoga retreat or organic food co-op as markers for the local Rotary Club or an historic Gold Rush building.

"People who choose to be here are alternative people," says Yuba River Principal Terry Ann Paquette, who sometimes has to ask students to help her pronounce things like Ayurvedic medicine. "They are going to look into everything, particularly health care. Among the parents we have Reiki healers, massage therapists, homeopaths, naturopaths, people who use aromatherapy. They either are these [practitioners] or they go to them."

Kim Goode, Elijah's mother, does favor natural and homeopathic cures for common illnesses. But her reason not to vaccinate also lies in the paradox that has become a major public health debate. Vaccines have been so successful in eliminating once-common diseases that some parents now worry more about vaccine reactions than they do about those illnesses. The immunizations, in essence, are in jeopardy of being a victim of their own success. So worried is the medical community that the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics has posted an open letter to parents on the group's Web site reminding them of the severity of diseases like measles and imploring them to "be diligent about vaccinating."

"A lot of the things we vaccinate against, there aren't a lot of those diseases around," Goode says. "The only way to get polio is to come into contact with someone who's just had the shot. The risk of vaccinations seemed like it was greater than the likelihood of getting the disease."

No one doubts the decline in disease. Measles, which used to kill 3,000 children a year mostly through encephalitis and pneumonia, is so rare that many parents have never seen a case of it. They might have forgotten about the epidemic that swept the nation 12 years ago and infected 16,500 in California, killing 75. Those same parents missed polio entirely. They are too young to have seen the signs hung in public places reading, "Closed due to polio epidemic." And whooping cough, though it cycle