The Vaccine Debate and Dr. Sears

I prefer to concentrate on economic matters. Unfortunately, I spent the past month reading a great deal about vaccines because my son Justin is about to start his vaccine schedule and I want to do what is best for him. The hospital where he was born wanted to give him a Hepatitis B shot the day after he was born. I did some quick research and declined. Eventually I came across a good book - Dr. Robert W. Sears' The Vaccine Book. I wanted to share some of what I think are the most important points I learned while reading this book.

What is at stake? Currently, 1 in 88 children in America are diagnosed with autism. 1 in 52 boys are diagnosed with autism. In addition to autism there is ADD, learning disorders, neurological problems, allergic disorders, asthema, and autoimmune diseases. These have all increased substantially in the U.S. in the past 30 years.

The most important point is:

"Perhaps the single most important factor that creates uncertainty in the minds of concerned parents is that the right type of research has not yet been done. I'm talking about prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, large-scale research on vaccination and autism as a whole (not just on the MMR and mercury)..." (page 226)