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It should be noted that Thimerosol hasn't been used in the US since 1999 anyway.

We vaccinate. I've seen the suffering from communicable diseases in third world countries, and I not only want to protect my own children from that fate, I want to contribute to global efforts to eradicate these diseases.

Plus, I don't disbelieve in "better living through chemistry." Sometimes what's natural isn't the best option.

matie, actually thimerosal IS still used in the united states. some of the combo vaccines (as well as some flu vaccines, i believe) use thimerosal as a preservative. check the product insert for further info on your vaccines - i.e., which preservatives are used. the drug companies websites will verify this info...

We vaccinated our son. My husband asked me to find out first if there was thimeroal in each one so I did.

I actually thought he was kind of crazy. Hello! You don't not vaccinate! But I'm starting to believe him more. What if we just held off the vaccinations until they are a little bit older?

If there is not a connection between autism and vaccinations I wonder what has caused it to increase so quickly and by so many children? I'd like to avoid that thing whatever it is.

I'm obviously on the fence about this issue.

We vax, but we spread them out. Even the CDC will admit that the reason they do so many vaxes so young is not because infants are actually at risk for catching, say Tetanus or Hepatitis B, but because they know parents bring in infants for well-baby checks more consistently than older kids.

We talked to our pediatrician to figure out which vaxes were most important at younger ages, such as DTaP, because Pertussis, or Whooping Cough, can be easily caught by infants and can be a problem for them. Others, like Hep B and Polio, we delayed past the "standard schedule" time for them. We're all caught up now at age 3 1/2 though.

"...the study did not examine autism — the developmental disorder that some critics blame on vaccines. A separate study due out in a year will look at that issue..."

I just read that from the article. Hmmmm, I assumed that's what was meant by "problems with brain function and behavior".

"The research was led by William Thompson, a CDC epidemiologist who once worked for vaccine maker Merck & Co. Four other researchers have received fees from drug companies and one has served as a consultant to a CDC committee on immunization."

Interesting.

NOTE TO SELF* first read articles and remember to find out who did the study. Everybody knows that studies are some times conducted by those with ulterior motives right? ($$, etc.)

Though I'm still on the fence about the whole thing.

We vax. We live in Los Angeles where we are constantly exposed to tourists from other countries with dubious medical care. Plus we travel, both as a family and my husband for business.

Look if you live in a oh say Boise and your kids never leave your neighborhood, never go to school with any other kids but your neighbors and you don't expect them to EVER LEAVE Boise...then don't vax. Otherwise you're taking a risk for your children.

That said, it's still a free country and I support your right to make that choice.

However, the more people that dont' vax the more adamant I am TO vax.

Yes, there was a pretty extreme conflict of interests with those who conducted this study.
We vaxxed on schedule to 6 months and are delaying now. I'd recommend Stephanie Cave's book. It's not just thimerosol, but all sorts of other stuff in the vaccines that cause concern.

we didn't stick to the schedule with the first child, just made it seem like we weren't organized to do things on schedule, when it was all about stretching it out. She's caught up now.

...here in Switzerland, they are pretty adamant about everything being on time (nation of watchmakers, so no surprise!), and that includes her shots. We get the distinct impression that we would be shut out by local pediatricians if we didn't vaccinate, and do so precisely according to their schedule...

...my husband is pretty adamant about vaccinating (since he works in 3rd world health issues), but we are both uncomfortable with the schedule, and of course, the preservatives and certain other things...

I wonder what parents who choose not to vaccinate, or delay vaccination, do about school? Even to get my son into daycare we had to have proof of up-to-date vaccinations. If you choose not to vaccinate does that mean you also home-school?

phillymama, it varies by state, but if you don't vax, you can get waivers for religious, medical, and in some cases, philosophical reasons.

This isn't really where I would choose to have this conversation. I would like to read about family-friendly design and aesthetics here.

One of my relatives runs a large research study on autism. People who claim there is a link between autism and vaccinations make him crazy; before they supposedly caused autism, they supposedly caused SIDS--some people just hate needles. He has some choice words about SIDS too. Anyway, the increase in autism is partly an improvement in diagnosis and partly something no one has figured out.

The original study that purported to show a link between MMR/thimerosal and autism (based on something like 10 kids, what a joke, and still the only even vaguely credible peer reviewed anti-vaccination article in this trumped up debate) was funded by a vaccine maker who sold non-thimerosal-containing vaccinations that they wanted to convince people to use. I work every day with medical researchers who won't take drug industry funding and they're all pro-vaccination.

So yeah, we vaccinate our son, and we also regularly update our own vaccinations, given most only work for ~10 years.

What does this have to do with design?

It also bears mentioning that the sprectum of autism has changed over the years. That is a direct correlation to the numbers of confirmed cases.