I’m not a big advocate on vaccinations. As a matter of fact, I limited what vaccines my baby would receive and she still has not received a flu shot. Ever. I’m very fortunate to have a pediatrician that is on board with my decisions, and has offered the option for delayed vaccines throughout the first two years. Now, my little girl is all caught up on her vaccines, and while she is doing great, I still wonder about the safety of some vaccines.
One vaccine that I think is important is the Meningococcal vaccine. I first heard about this vaccine as I was entering college and my pediatrician (yes, I still went to my pediatrician up until I was pregnant) suggested I received this vaccine. At the time the vaccine was still very new, and I didn’t think much of it. All I knew was that Meningitis was very dangerous and it was very common among college students.
Within the next few months, the CDC will be making the decision as to whether or not the Meningococcal vaccine should be required in the infant stages. While I am conservative about vaccines in general, I feel that this is an important vaccine. Babies are highly susceptible to catching this awful virus and 1 out of 16 will die as a result of the virus. Of those that survive, 1 in 6 will suffer limb amputations, paralysis, seizures, strokes, hearing loss, blindness, organ damage, brain damage, and more.
Meningitis Angels, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about meningitis and other vaccine-preventable diseases, is working to fight against meningococcaldisease. One step in this fight is “Protect Infants Now” (PIN), a campaign aimed at encouraging the government to recommend the current meningococcal meningitis vaccines be given to infants. Through the online PIN petition, Meningitis Angels wants to encourage the CDC to include meningitis vaccines in the recommended vaccination schedule for infants.
Can you help in getting this vaccine required as part of children’s schedule of vaccines? Please click this link and sign the Protect Infants Now petition.
Check out this informative video below:
Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central and Meningitis Angels. This campaign was made possible in part through support provided by Novartis Vaccines. A small donation to a charity of my choice was made in my name from Mom Central as a thank-you for participating. All opinions in this posting are 100% my own.
Stopping by from the Alexa Hop. Great site! I follow on Google +!