That meme sums up my thoughts on vaccination, the needs of one does not get to overwhelm the needs if many. Call it herd mentality if you wish, but the ability to send your un vaccinated child out in the world, to infect others just irritates, rankles and otherwise pisses me off!!!
     As a parent of 2 teenage boys I played by the rules. Both of my boys had all of their vaccinations on schedule, recorded in both the little book given to me by their Dr.’s office and their Baby Book.
     When the vaccine came along for Chicken Pox, I did my research and then said “yup would you like a tiny arm or buttock to inject”. My thought process being…if you can prevent something, than why wouldn’t you? I had a terrible case of Chicken Pox at 5 years old, had the little buggars in places that no one should get the itchy little things, grrr.
     My oldest son will be the first one to tell you that I lost a good friend over this vaccination debate. She refused to vaccinate her daughter against Chicken Pox, claiming that it was not a proven vaccine and since her daughter was a premature birth she was not going to take the chance.
     The issue with her choosing not to vaccinate against Chicken Pox became an issue when her child contracted the virus, and then gave it to a group of teachers and para professionals that were never vaccinated. They were never vaccinated because the vaccine did not exist when they were children. These adults had somehow managed to escape childhood without contracting the itchiness. Their luck just ran out.
     As you age Chicken Pox becomes more dangerous, the itchy rash becomes the least of your worries.   The high fever, flowing into dehydration, and a headache that will make the itch seem a non issue.
    All of that could have been very easily avoided by a Chicken Pox Vaccination. Now I realize that Chicken Pox is not in and if itself deadly. Unlike its counterparts in Measles, Mumps, Polio, Smallpox, Rubella, Diptheria, Whooping Cough, the list goes on. But still, it is a preventable disease, unlike the Common Cold. We can’t prevent that, and we lose millions of work days to it. The Influenza Vaccine is a hot button, we lose millions of sick days to that, between work and school. Yet how many people do you know that would rather refuse to get the shot, or nasal spray vaccination?  Those are the same people that get the flu and then whine when they are sick.💊💉
     The flu vaccine in shot form is a dead virus, you will not get the flu!!!  Stop the madness and the conspiracy.
    
     This is the madness that I am talking about….

     I personally enjoy the Penn & Teller take on Vaccinations. .. (go to Youtube.com and search for Penn & Teller Vaccination Video). I can’t embed ut here, either WordPress won’t let me, or I just don’t know how. I don’t want to be the one on the side of the screen without the plexiglass. It doesn’t hurt that Penn is originally from Greenfield, Mass, very close to me.
     In short people, we all live in this world, conspiracy theories abound. Do your research from trustworthy places, and vaccinate your kids.  Because if we regulate peanut butter then we damn well need to regulate vaccinations, and I can control my kids health, but you need to control yours to make this work!!!