Ignorance cuts both directions. Most people get vaccines without even reading the insert to make sure they donât have a contraindication, and most nurses donât read them either nor advise. Having gone back and read them, Iâm shocked at certain times when my oldest kid was given a vaccine that was contraindicated. That should be malpractice, but doctors and manufacturers are protected from any lawsuits when it comes to any childhood vaccine by the 1986 National Vaccine Injury Act.
If people were making proper medical decision making, theyâd view each vaccine as a medical decision, weight the pros and cons, and decide what is best. You donât just get surgery because itâs available to you, you get it when the pros outweigh the cons. Some people are more prone to vaccine injuries and would rather deal with the disease than the vaccine injury. Depending on the disease and your particular risk factors, it might make sense to opt for the disease, not the vaccine.
Also, vaccines alter your immune system, and some can make you more likely to catch other diseases. Getting the flu vaccine increases your, or at least childrenâs, risk of catching other respiratory diseases. So if you want to be sick fewer days, donât get a flu vaccine. If you just donât want the flu, but youâre ok getting a bunch of other stuff, get the vaccine. Though itâs pretty ineffective most years though, and everyone knows it.
âAmong children there was an increase in the hazard of ARI caused by non-influenza respiratory pathogens post-influenza vaccination compared to unvaccinated children during the same period.â
âTIV recipients had an increased risk of virologically-confirmed non-influenza infections (relative risk: 4.40; 95% confidence interval: 1.31-14.8). Being protected against influenza, TIV recipients may lack temporary non-specific immunity that protected against other respiratory viruses.â