My cousin has a 10 years old son with diagnosed autism.

He's here but he isn't. The boy look beautiful but his look is empty. It's not easy to write these words for me, especially because I like that boy and his family very much and more, I am a father now and as much I am happy, I am also worried and I can't just chase away some thoughts from my mind. We all know that the boy was completely normal and advanced child until he had 13 months. Then, he was just gone. Last week his parents took him to my place to see the baby. It was so unusual to see that he reacted on baby so positively, he even smiled!

My cousin states that the cause of the autism of his son is the vaccination.

And people all around me talk about bad vaccination.

One of my neighbors refused to vaccinate his two sons because of those things so he had to pay the penalty and his kids are not allowed to go to nursery. But the same neighbor of mine collects can food and digs deep basement because conspiracy theories drove him mad.

I see many normal, healthy, smart and lively kids wherever I look. I worked in high school and I was substitute in elementary school. Many of my friends have little children, all of them had vaccination and everything seems great with them. But if so many people talk about bad vaccination, there must be something in it!

That vaccination is probably a trigger for something that the kid already has predispositions for.

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In first year, or in first 13 months, every child in my county gets 5 vaccinations.

1. First vaccination an infant gets after the birth and it is protection against hepatitis B. The most people doesn't consider this vaccination dangerous.
2. Second vaccination the baby gets when it is two months old. Then the baby gets second dose of protecton against hepatitis B, but also first doses of protection against rotavirus, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, pneumococcal disease and polio. Also not considered as dangerous.
3. Third vaccination is given to child at the age of four months and it contains the same protections as the second vaccine but without the third dose of protection against hepatitis B. Also not considered as dangerous.
4. Fourth vaccine (child 6 months old) contains all protections as the second one (third dose of protecion against hepatitis B included) and, if is the season of flu, child gets yearly vaccination also for influenza. Most people don't consider this vaccine dangerous.
5. Fifth vaccine (for 12-13 months old child) is the subject of suspicion of worried parents. This is the dangerous vaccine that everybody talks about. It contains the booster dose of protection from Haemophilus influenzae type b, dose against pneumococcal disease and doses of protection against measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox and Hepatitis A.

Children get sixth vaccine when they are 18 months old and next when they have between 4 and 6 years.

So what is the problem with fifth vaccine (12-13 months)?

Vaccinations protect babies from many diseases.

They improve immune system of children by developing antibodies to fight and prevent diseases that were dangerous for life in our history. The mortality of children was much larger before World War II. Also many grown ups were dying because of diseases for which today's babies get vaccinations to prevent them. I'm not from US but I found this nice image for you to see how vaccinations of children helped to fight those diseases.

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You can find many different opinions and information if you search the media about this topic.

You will find those who claim that parents who refuse to vaccinate their children are mad because they expose their children to great danger. But you can find a lot about how mentioned vaccination causes autism and that 1 of 500 vaccinations is "the bad one". I found out about Dr. Jeff Bradstreet who claimed that fifth vaccination causes autism and he was found killed in the river? So what to believe?

My daughter will be two months old in five days so it is not time for me think about those things and I should take this all as #whysoserious for now and enjoy our baby... but the time doesn't stop here, vaccination days are approaching so, I guess, it's normal to be worried. I still don't know all about it, but vaccination is the obligation in my county and children are not allowed to go to nursery and schools if they are not vaccinated.

So when I count all pluses and minuses, I am left only with positive thoughts! Thank you!