Did anyone catch Private Practice last night? It was a heart-breaking episode. (And one of the best so far if you ask me) A mother with 3 young children, the oldest with autism, comes to the office worried about cold symptoms her younger son is showing. They had just gotten back from Switzerland, where the oldest son was receiving therapeutic treatment for his autism. The mother is adament that her son’s autism came from vaccinations. Trying protect her younger sons, she chose to forgo vaccinating them. It turns out the cold symptoms are not from a cold. It’s measles. The entire practice has to go into quarantine. Unfortunately, the sick boy dies. But you knew he was going to. The writers were trying to make a statement.
It was eye-opening to see just how quickly a problem can escalate and just how contagious these diseases we have been protected from really are. They showed the fear of the pregnant women in the practice. Their baby could be born with birth defects from a single instant. I’m personally pro-vaccination. I don’t believe there is enough scientific or conclusive evidence that vaccinations do in fact cause autism. MMR’s also do not contain thimerosal, the mercury based preservative that is suspected of causing autism. Since there are still so many questions about the cause of autism, I don’t think it’s fair for others to choose to expose society to death from preventable diseases. However, I do think parents should make an informed decision about anything that goes into your child’s body.
I know how touchy of a subject this is. I can’t imagine the pain a mother would feel for her child having such a trial in life.
Did you see the show? What did you think?
I didn’t see the show but it sounds like the were definatly making a point. I am pro vacination as well but I think parents should be educated and aware of what is going into their children. My sister in law did a lot of investigating when she was pregnant with her first child. She is vacinating him now but she found a doctor who would spread out the vacinations more instead of having so many right at the same time. I don’t know the details but I thought she mentioned that when we were children we would get say 10 shots within a year, now childrean are getting many many more and that might be the reason for all the issues. People just need to educate themselves and be aware of whats going on. There is a reason for vacinations.
I love Private Practice but haven’t watched it at all this season. I too am pro-vaccinations. Definitely agree…if you are educated about them it makes all the difference.