FAST FACTS

Since 2003, nine CDC-backed studies have found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism, and no link between vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, and autism.

No increased risk for autism after MMR vaccination was found in a study of 657,461 Danish children published in April in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Immunization saves 2 million to 3 million lives each year worldwide, the World Health Organization estimates.

kindergarten through 12th grade, according to the state Department of Health. Children can receive waivers from vaccines for medical and religious reasons.

Dr. Franz says the chance for medical errors increases with the number of drugs someone takes.

“If you’re getting this many vaccines, you have a much higher risk of having an adverse event. It’s common sense,” she says.

In her early years in practice, Dr. Franz says she didn’t know what was in vaccines until someone asked her and she started researching. She says vaccine ingredients such as aluminum, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, monosodium glutamate, and polysorbate can cause health problems.

“I’ve been in practice a really long time (since 1985) and I have seen a lot of children who had very severe reactions to vaccines and had some permanent disabilities,” she says, noting fainting, seizures, and hyperpathia reactions, a clinical symptom of certain neurological disorders.

Adverse reactions can be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting

Most Unwanted List

Vaccines are available for these dangerous diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Chickenpox, diptheria, flu, hepatitis A and B, Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b), HPV (human papillomavirus), measles, meningococcal, mumps, pneumococcal, polio, rotavirus, rubella (German measles), shingles, tetanus, and whooping cough (pertussis).

Do Your Homework

These websites provide immunization information:

• American Academy of Pediatrics: aap.org/immunizations

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/vaccines

• Florida Health: thepowertoprotect.org

• Immunization Action Coalition: immunize.org

• Shot at Life: shotatlife.org

System, a government website; however, VAERS is not an investigative service that determines cause and effect.

For parents who claim vaccines have harmed their children, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) is a no-fault alternative to civil litigation. The VICP reports that since 1988, more than 6,600 petitioners have received awards totaling about $4.1 billion.

However, about 70 percent of the awards come from negotiated settlements in which the Health and

Human Services Department did not conclude that a vaccine caused the alleged injury, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

Outbreaks of illnesses also demonstrate the ineffectiveness of vaccines, Dr. Franz says. For example, outbreaks of whooping cough, or pertussis, were reported during 2012-13 in Wisconsin, Vermont, Washington state and elsewhere. The CDC indicated that a majority of cases involved vaccinated children—only about seven of 10 kids are fully protected five years after getting their last dose of DTaP (diptheriatetanus-acellular pertussis) vaccine. That’s why Tdap, with reduced doses of the diphtheria and pertussis vaccines, is used as a booster shot for adolescents starting at age 11.

Dr. Franz encourages parents to do their own research. Judy Michaux, of Clermont, says she’s a faithful researcher who stopped immunizing her children after finding Dr. Franz.

“She said, ‘Listen, all you have to do is a blood test. If they already have the immunities, you don’t need to keep immunizing,’” Judy says. “It doesn’t make any sense to inject them with all the extra stuff if they already have the immunities.”

Together, Dr. Franz and parents discuss research and choose a course of action. Some parents still want to vaccinate, and her practice supports parental choice and offers a slower vaccine schedule.

“Most people are not opposed or antivaccine, it’s like, if they’re going to do it, make them safe, because at this point, the evidence shows they’re not safe,” Dr. Franz says.

DR.FRANZ’SQUESTIONSFORPARENTSTOASKDOCTORS:

• Can I vaccinate on a slower schedule?

PARENTS’ VIEWS

Heather Gingrasso and her husband, Chris, generally get all the recommended vaccinations for their children, Kaitlyn, 18, Nathan, 12, and Micah, 6, along with a foster baby girl. But they don’t get voluntary vaccinations, including flu shots, and Heather supports other parents’ views.

• Do you know what’s in the vaccine and what the ingredients do?

provides information about safeness and side effects.

Brylee has never had a reaction or complication from vaccines, and Athena, a sergeant with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, doesn’t fear for her safety. But she says she understands that vaccines may not be as safe for

• Can I get blood tests to indicate immunity levels?

“As we continued to research, we felt that the effects of vaccinations were more harmful for our child than helpful,” Robin says.

As a toddler, their son was hyperactive and had difficulty making eye contact, but he grew out of those traits, she says.

“However, I do believe that he would be a very different person if we had continued his vaccinations,” she says. “Because of our journey with our oldest child, we did not have our other three children vaccinated.”

Those three children are healthy. The parents stay aware of possible threats from disease and treat their kids accordingly.

“My husband and I honestly aren’t against vaccinations,” Robin says, “but we are against so many vaccinations at a young age and vaccines that seem unnecessary.”

— Heather Gingrasso

“I think vaccinations are important to help protect our children from diseases that could be a life-or-death situation,” says Heather, of Clermont. “However, I think every parent should have a free choice to vaccinate or not.”

Heather prefers to spread out vaccinations—her doctor allows her children to get one injection per visit— because she has fears about side effects.

“I have only experienced fever, rash, and irritability with my children,” she says, “but it makes me wonder what is going on inside of them if this is what is manifesting outside of them.”

Athena Ross and her husband, Michael, have a daughter, Brylee, who is in preschool and turns 5 in September. They always get the vaccines recommended by their pediatrician, who other children who have serious medical conditions or allergies.

“Now I am not saying that it is easy to make her get the multiple shots, because it is hard to watch her get a shot in every appendage—last visit she had a shot in both arms and legs, which was awful because she cried,” Athena says. “But if it keeps her from getting a disease that could have been prevented, (getting a disease) would be even worse, in my opinion.”

Robin Miller, of Clermont, and her husband had their first child in 2000 and planned to keep his immunizations up to date. But during his first year, he had reactions to shots that included labored breathing, agitation, trouble sleeping, fever, and a seizure, she says. So, they stopped the shots.

Judy Michaux saw differences between vaccinating her first two children and not vaccinating her next two kids with her second husband, Kurtis, a Clermont chiropractor.

Brittny, 31, and Tyler, 24, received vaccinations for chickenpox but then got extreme cases of the disease. She stopped vaccinating Tyler at age 10 and instead used blood tests to check his immunities. Emma, 14, and Kai, 11, have not been vaccinated and have not suffered any serious illnesses.

Though Judy fears there is an autism link, she’s not completely against vaccines and she does her homework on the subject. She believes breast-feeding helped immunize her two youngest children and she also credits a healthy lifestyle and diet after marrying Kurtis.

“There are better ways to give your children the natural immunities that they’re supposed to have,” Judy says.