My son was one of those rare cases who had an adverse reaction to vaccinations. He had almost every symptom described on the information sheets they give you at the time of vaccination. I took him to our medical clinic and he was seen by a doctor other than his regular ped, who was not in at the time. Above my insistence, he diagnosed him as having strep and an ear infection and sent me home with amoxycillin. Thinking, well he IS a doctor, maybe I'm just overreacting, I laid him down for a nap and went to make dinner. An hour later, my husband came rushing into the kitchen with our son in his arms, screaming for help. He was having febrile seizures and was burning up. Then he went completely stiff and unconscious. As I began first aid, 911 was called. Luckily the ambulance company is less than a quarter of a mile away.
They strapped us both into the ambulance and immediately doused both of us with freezing water. He was stabilized at the ER and his temp began coming down. I told the ER dr that he had had vaccinations that morning and had gone in to see a dr who diagnosed ear and throat problems. The ER dr looked at his ears and throat and said there was no infection! I called the clinic the next day and told them what had happened. They asked me how I could prove it was an adverse reaction. I asked them why he didn't have an ear infection and strep the same day they had diagnosed it. As you can guess, I was quickly sent a letter saying they declined to have him as a patient anymore (duh, like I was ever going to take him back there).
Don't get me wrong, I have 3 other kids with full vaccinations, so I had nothing against them. And it's nigh impossible to tell if your kid is going to have an adverse reaction. Just be vigilant if you do get your child vaccinated and really pour over those info sheets they give you. And if your instinct is telling you something counter to what a medical professional tells you, trust your instinct. I learned that the hard way. He is 12 now and okay physically, but the schools are really cracking down on kids who don't have full immunizations. On his immunization card at school, I have to sign a section that says he's not fully vaccinated due to religious/moral beliefs. Not quite applicable but they have no section to sign saying he had an adverse reaction and I'm not going to take that chance again.
The information regarding the changes in vaccines nowadays as pointed out by our lovely waitress, is tempting me to want to try again, as I have learned that without full immunizations, my son cannot get a passport to travel, etc.
Good luck in your decision. I'm sure it's not the last important decision you'll have to make as a parent. I'm still not sure why I agreed to have my little guy strapped to a board and part of his weeder cut off.
Sorry, bad attempt at humor there.
