When Mia turned two months old, we came across the vaccination dilemma...and yes...it was a dilemma. There are so many scary stories out there about vaccinations causing autism, making babies have seizures, and in rare cases giving the kid the actual disease (and I actually know someone this happened to), so needless to say we were stressed to the max.
I decided to put all of these fears behind me though and go ahead with vaccinations on a regular schedule...and then I saw the regular schedule. The first vaccination up was BCG. What is BCG you may be asking...it is a tuberculosis vaccine given in Japan that is not on the recommended list in the US. It is a nine needle jab in the arm....it looks like this...
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Painful looking huh? ... and what's even better...it leave a permanent scar...talk about scary. Looking more into the Japanese schedule there are several other differences. Japan does not vaccinate for Hep B, Hib, PCV, or Rotavirus...which these are all standard vaccines for an infant in the US. Also, you know the MMR? They don't do that in Japan either. Instead they give an MR for measles and rubella. Where are mumps you might ask...well you catch that in childhood like a case of the chickenpox. Also, the US doesn't vaccinate against encephalitis but Japan does.
Now given those differences, I would venture to say that Japanese children are no more likely to catch some disease and die from it. So, why the big differences in the vaccines given? I'm still not sure about that, but I know that all of the differences made my head spin.
The next big worry for us was that a lot of these vaccines say DO NOT GIVE TO BABIES UNDER 6 WEEKS OLD. Now, we have been told to treat Mia as 6 weeks behind in everything....as she was born six weeks early...except for when it comes to vaccines. So, should I give a 2 month old baby (adjusted would be 2 weeks old) vaccines that aren't suitable for her age? Doctors say yes...my brain doesn't quite process that one.
So, in the end we had to make a decision...and the more we looked into it...I still believe there is no "right" decision to make. So, here is what we did/found out:
1. After much research, we learned that indeed vaccines do not have mercury in them as some people believe...so safe in that regard.
2. I've never been one to believe that vaccines cause autism...so say what you will about that one....but I wasn't too worried about it.
3. Thinking about endangering large populations of younger babies or catching one of the life threatening diseases really seems unacceptable even considering the risks (which are quite small) of vaccines.
4. We skipped the BCG vaccine. It looks really painful and unnecessary considering it isn't that effective anyway.
5. We decided to vaccinate her for everything on the US schedule except for Rotavirus...however, after to talking with the doctor...we went ahead with the Rotavirus as well...It was an oral vaccine...so not an extra needle. That being said...the doctor did say that this was actually an okay one to skip if you wanted to...Rotavirus usually just might put your baby in the hospital with an IV...and those chances are actually small. But for us, Mia spent the first 2 weeks of her life in the hospital, so we decided better safe than sorry.
5. We delayed the vaccines a bit. Not by like a hugely long amount of time, but just by a couple of weeks so that she could put a little bit more weight on.
Results: Everything has turned out fine. She did spike a fever of 101 but it came right down with some baby tylenol (will definitely give her some immediately after her next round of vaccines), and her legs were pretty sore for a day (see pic above). Other than that...as happy as can be.
So, I'm wondering...what do other people think about vaccinations these days?
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like this one hope you will make a goodbye to Japan blog on your last few days there, with Mia in it of course.
ReplyDeleteI think this day and age people worry about the effects after the vaccinations..they aren't thinking too much about what might happen if the infant doesnt get them. (which could be far worse) I agree with you on getting the vaccines. My child is getting his last two before we move and he won't have to get anymore until he goes to kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree!
DeleteWell since you asked. : ) Good topic by the way.
ReplyDeleteBranden was born in Honolulu, and spent his first year of life in Honolulu, since Noboru was working for the airline there, so I had him vaccinated on the US schedule since that’s how he started, meaning since he was born there. And then after we moved and no longer had US insurance anymore, after moving to Japan. What I’d do was every time I’d go home for 4 weeks here or there to stay with my family, I’d go to a low cost clinic, pay cash for all of Branden’s vaccines so he is done with his vaccinations and had them all according to US standards. And I’m happy with it.
When we did move to Japan, I saw the huge difference between our vaccine schedule and Japan's. Also the MMR that was now a MR??? @_@ So, yeah I was happy Branden was vaccinated in the US, all the way through. And that way if I had any questions I could ask in English and there was no language confusion. So just easier for me.
With Noah, he was born in Japan. But knowing that the schedules were very different and knowing I felt simply more comfortable the American way with regarding vaccines. Not knocking the Japanese way but I just felt more comfortable with the US way. So, every time I went to Guam, I went to a pediatrician there that did low cost vaccines and Noah has been vaccinated on the US system his whole life. He’s all up to date and it’s wasn’t all too pricy for me. $20 for this shot, $40 for that shot. Even if we spent $100 each visit to Guam for Noah’s vaccines, we knew at least he was all caught up, up to date. So it was just peace of mind for me.
Thanks for chiming in Gina. I think if we were to stay in Japan we still would have followed the US schedule. Great getting them all done for so cheaply! Our first round cost 70,000 yen!! Yikes. Glad we will be in the US for the rest of them.
DeleteI have those TB vaccine scars...always get stares here in the U.S. ....my mother said they were a mark that you were born in Japan, because the scars are supposed to resemble cherry blossoms.
ReplyDeleteHmmm cherry blossoms? I'm not too sure...hahaha. I think my husband's look like a small chipmunk took a bite out of his arm...hahaha. I'm so happy we decided not to get this vaccine for Mia though--even though she was born in Japan :).
DeleteThanks a million for this post. I'm almost 4 months pregnant now and this has been weighing heavily on my mind. My husband didn't get the BCG, he didn't need it, according to his mind. But when he went to college in the US, he had to get a round of various shots to catch him up to US standards. I want to follow the American system because I think MMR is important and chicken pox and such. I always see kids at school who get these random diseases, that I never did-cause I was vaccinated for them. Not sure how we will go around to doing it, but I will prolly find a clinic or such here and follow the US schedule. Or follow Gina's advice for going to Guam every so often. I've heard that Japanese health insurance will reimburse you if you use it overseas, but not sure how all that works. Anyways lucky you to be heading back and not having to worry about all of it!
ReplyDeleteAww..Congratulations!! You must be so excited. We went to the Tokyo Surgical and Medical Clinic to get the vaccines...but it is actually probably cheaper to fly to Guam and get them...hahaha. Also, Japanese insurance will not cover any of the vaccines! Also, they will not cover any side effects from the vaccines...crazy! Also, even the vaccines that are the same in the US and Japan are different...Japanese domestically made vaccines aren't compatible with vaccines given in Western countries...please don't listen to the doctors if they say otherwise...not true! What hospital are you going to for your pregnancy...really exciting! If you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to email me...it is ashley_brooks11@yahoo.com
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