<p>Here’s the real deal: there is a small risk of side effects from vaccines. From a purely selfish point of view, it may make sense to avoid vaccines as long as everybody else gets vaccinated. That way you are protected by them while avoiding any risk yourself. But that’s wrong. If everybody did that, then those diseases would sweep through the population and kill a bunch of people like they used to. So, as a citizen and general good person, you have to get vaccinated, even though it poses a small risk to you.</p>
<p>I’m seriously getting tired of all this negativity towards everything. This gives you cancer, that gives you arthritis, this makes your feet fall off and that makes your skin turn blue! </p>
<p>Holy crap, just stop worrying. I’d rather die earlier than stress my whole life about every little thing that touches me/goes into my body. It’s like saying you won’t go out in public because you may be mugged, struck by a vehicle, attacked by a rabid dog, etc.</p>
<p>With all the research and testing done on vaccines these days, you are much more likely to die/be injured from something totally random than from a vaccine that is designed to <em>prevent</em> illness.</p>
<p>@babytitain: Just thought because you seem to really care about what goes into your body that you should check out this website if you haven’t already:</p>
<p>[Skin</a> Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews](<a href=“http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/]Skin”>http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/)</p>
<p>They rate the toxicity of all types of products from 0-10(0 being harmless, 10 being very harmful) and also rate the ingredients on this scale. They also specify if brands test on animals or not(or have not specified) and what area of your body certain ingredients will harm(such as cancer, allergy-causing, immunotoxicity, etc.). Hope you like it. :)</p>
<p>you have to realize you are going to effing die</p>
<p>all this paranoid protection may give you a few more years, but you have to face it eventually…</p>
<p>Why don’t you stop going outside in the sun, stop drinking tap water, NEVER eat anything with a little fat, or just never leave your house? Seriously, where does the list end?</p>
<p>If you really want to get technical, then leaving your house is going to affect your health negatively because of the trace amounts of carbon dioxide in the air (along with smog or sometimes slight amounts of car exhaust). Either go back to living in your little hole or stop with the germaphobia.</p>
<p>If you follow all your beliefs and they just happen to be true (and your health gets better because of that), then you will, at best, live an extra five years, but your entire life will be full of anxiety, paranoia, and nervousness. Why not forget your beliefs and enjoy life (even if you live a couple years less)? Life is meant to be enjoyed. And besides, there are many old people in countries that aren’t as developed as the U.S.</p>
<p>Do you actually have an understanding of how these immunizations work? They’re just antigens that train your immune system to defend against certain deadly diseases. In fact, within just a week after injection, all the antigens would have been gone. It’s like giving your white blood cells training for a marathon. You’d see the same stuff from actually contracting the disease anyways.</p>
<p>I say this as someone who philosophically avoids “impure” products also. All my personal care products are free of dyes / fragrances; even just “purely organic / natural” does not qualify if it has any natural color / fragrance. This includes soap, dish detergent, and laundry liquid. I go as far as not using shampoo because soap is all that’s really necessary. When it comes to drinks, it’s tap water.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, you seem to take the philosophy quite religiously. I don’t see why it would be a lie to say that it’s against your religion to take the shots.</p>
<p>However, I’ll say: without the shots, you are too high of a risk to be attending a public institution. If they can reject you for not being academically strong enough, they have even more reason to reject you for not being immunized.</p>
<p>Everyone seems to think I live like the Boy-in-the-Bubble! LOL. Actually, to be quite frank, I live a very active lifestyle. Just because I choose not to use a lot of synthetic products doesnt mean Im some scared, paranoid freak cowering away in the corner because Im too scared to decide whether or not the next thing will kill me, quite the contrary. I hike, eat berries from outside WITH DIRT :0 , kayak, mountain climb .</p>
<p>I feel quite liberated since Ive adjusted my lifestyle, and, its a lot cheaper too. I wash my cloths with vinegar and baking soda (waaay cheaper than detergent and bleach), use a crystal rock for deodorant (which will last me a year or more) and use vegetable based glycerin soap. </p>
<p>Ive read a narrative similar along the lines of: Well, there are a lot of elderly people who use these products and theyre fine or, what about elderly people in third world countries? Yeah, but what about their quality of life? I remember I used to work at a bank in a bad neighborhood and I would be shocked by some the people I would see who were between 50 and 60. Many of them looked like they were pushing 70 or, even 80, due in part to malnutrition, smoking, poor living conditions, alcohol, etc. I am not trying to outrun death; I am only trying to have a higher quality of life. There are many elderly people who are confined to rocking chairs, nursing homes, bingo halls and knitting. Then there are some 90-year-olds and even 100-year-olds who, go jogging several times a week, exercise and still have a high quality of life. And still have active and healthy sex lives. <em>gasp</em></p>
<p>All Im saying is this: making small lifestyle adjustments doesnt mean you have to be miserable. I have the occasional beer or wine here and there. And if I go out with friends I will eat at a greasy spoon; however, the amount of stuff I put in or on my body is disproportionately nontoxic/organic.</p>
<p>The only way to avoid them is to not enroll… if you dont get them they will not enroll you anyway, you will be dropped. Schools first decision is to always drop people. I missed one tax paper and i got dropped and took my a week and a half to get everything back</p>
<p>Sidenote, but still related: Jenny McCarthy, the woman who famously claimed that child immunizations cause autism and that without getting immunized autism can be cured, has completely retracted her statements. It’s now been determined that her kid never actually had autism in the first place. </p>
<p>You may believe you are doing what is healthiest for your body when you refuse immunizations, but in reality you’re merely endangering those around you. It’s selfish attitudes like this one that keep us from entirely eradicating ailments like Smallpox or measles.</p>
<p>There’s a big difference between washing your clothing with organic soap or staying fit… and refusing immunization. One is just for you; that’s fine. Do whatever you see fit to lead your own healthy lifestyle. But when you bring other people’s children, their lives, into danger because of your own paranoia, that’s where the line gets crossed.</p>
<p>You know, umich doesn’t require immunizations. I have all the regular ones you get when you’re a kid, including all the hep ones, but I think I am crazy overdue for a tetanus shot and I couldn’t afford to get the meningitis one so I haven’t yet, I hope to get it when I go to school. I wonder how rare it is for a public university to not require them.</p>
<p>I think babytitain sounds like a reasonable, non-paranoid person. </p>
<p>As for the shots: find out exactly what is required and what is “strongly encouraged.” Then find an experienced doctor that you trust and ask about the potential side-effects of the required vaccines. The doctor can let you know about any warning signs you should watch for. Ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable.</p>
<p>completelykate-
</p>
<p>I knew that there’s a huge chance that her kid doesn’t have autism, but I’ve never heard this statement before.
Can you share where you got this information? I have never once heard of her recanting her statements about vaccs & autism. While it would be nice if she had, something tells me she’s still a complete loon.</p>
<p>I google searched, and found nothing about her retracting her position.</p>
<p>From what I have read, she didn’t COMPLETLY take back everything she said but is no longer telling people not to get vaccinated, and she still considers herself “the voice of the disease,” which still kind of ****es me off.</p>
<p>Emaheevul is right, I should have worded that better. She’s basically fallen silent on her own war while still claiming that “even though my kid doesn’t actually have autism, I’ll still continue to speak out for curing autism on behalf of other people 'cause I’m hot.”</p>
<p>If you’re not going to get vaccinated then don’t go. It’s that simple. You are risking other people’s lives based on **your<a href=“an%2018%20year%20old’s” title=“well-founded researched philosophy”>/b</a> beliefs that may not have any basis at all. Thousands of brilliant scientists dedicate their lives to helping humanity and in your blind ignorance you’re just going to throw that out the window because YOU believe differently?</p>
<p>I don’t ever get angry on the internet but this is outrageous. You are harming other people. Get a damn shot and don’t be a fool.</p>
<p>I can understand wanting to do what’s best for your body, but this decision isn’t just about you. Colleges require immunizations for a reason. If you’re living on campus, you’ll be in close living quarters with hundreds of students, sharing cafeterias, bathrooms, etc. To not get vaccinated and endanger other people is extremely selfish and self-centered.</p>
<p>yeah, its not all about you ya know…</p>
<p>What does Titan owe to the others? What pitiful altruism…</p>
<p>She owes it to the general public to get herself vaccinated and not be a potential carrier of virulent diseases. The only thing that’s pitiful is your “I don’t owe anybody anything, it’s not my problem” attitude".</p>
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<p>Bingo. If everyone had that attitude toward vaccination we’d still have Polio running rampant.</p>
<p>If you decide that it’s not worth getting the shot, don’t go to a college where students have agreed to live in an environment devoid of viruses.</p>