Articles and information on childhood vaccination from the blog of GetzWell Pediatrics, a Holistic Pediatrician group in the Bay Area.

childhood vaccination

Articles and information on childhood vaccination from the blog of GetzWell Pediatrics, a Holistic Pediatrician group in the Bay Area.

Can vaccinations cause long lasting side effects?

It’s no secret that there is a great deal of controversy over whether to vaccinate children and if vaccines can, in fact, cause serious and/or long term health effects. At the heart of the matter are the genuine apprehensions of parents who want to make sound decisions on behalf of their children’s health and future. It is challenging, however, to discern where to draw the line between well-founded data and unsubstantiated fear.

Whooping Cough: Who’s At Risk?

California has officially declared the pertussis or whooping cough outbreak an epidemic.  In fact, the golden state is on track to break a 50 year record number of cases, and 5 infants have died this year in California alone.  At GetzWell, three of our own patients (all unvaccinated) have had it in the last few months!  Fortunately these were not babies and the kids are healthy again, but it was a miserable period of many weeks of uncontrollable coughing.  The most common scenario is a mild cold that lasts a few weeks before the coughing begins.  If your child has a protracted cold (lasting more than 10 days without improvement) or a cough following a  runny nose that’s lasted a couple weeks, call us for an appointment.

Dr. Getzelman’s mindful approach to vaccination

This is a 2 part video that highlights GetzWell’s thoughtful, 21st Century approach to childhood vaccination.  Dr. Getzelman was a panel member at the Bay Area Home Birth Collective’s annual vaccine talk at San Francisco’s Waldorf School this year and speaks about GetzWell’s unique approach to vaccination.

GetzWell Pediatrics is Vaccine Friendly

What does it mean to be a vaccine friendly pediatric practice? While we believe vaccines play a vital role in keeping our patients and communities healthy, we support parents in their right to adopt a vaccination schedule different from the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC). We recommend that all parents considering an alternative vaccination schedule read The Vaccine Book in addition to understanding the CDC (www.CDC.gov) and AAP (www.AAP.org) recommendations. We encourage an open discussion about vaccines and want to understand and address the concerns of our families. We strive to use and provide sound information as a basis for decision making regarding vaccines and children’s health in general.