Pertussis

[WDWBarb]

Anyone else live in an area where there are reported cases of Pertussis?

It's apparently going around again.

 

[JoiseyMom]

Of course it's going around again. Parents are not getting their children vaccinated.

 

[java]

Of course it's going around again. Parents are not getting their children vaccinated.

My daughter actually is not vaccinated because she stopped breathing the first time she got the pertusis shot at 3 months as part of the DTP. She was labeled HIGHLY allergic so as a result not permitted to get the shot. She got the DT from then on without the P.
And since she would have died had I not seen her stop breathing we went with that.
The FDA called me and took a report - the batch that dd had resulted in several reactions and 2 deaths.
They have since changed the formulation of the shot(I can't remember if it used to be a live and now is not or the other way around) but anyway my other 3 children are vaccinated.

But don't assume that because someone isn't vaccinated is because they have an anti vaccine mother.

 

[WDWBarb]

Same here, Java - my DD had a very severe reaction to the Pertussis vaccine. There was no choice but to discontinue the series.

I would love it if she were protected.

 

[java]

Same here, Java - my DD had a very severe reaction to the Pertussis vaccine. There was no choice but to discontinue the series.

I would love it if she were protected.

Is she 11 by any chance?
I feel the same way. I wish she were able to get the shot.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My 17yodd is also allergic. I wanted to get her the shot last go round with her tetnaus because surprise it is included there so make sure you mention that!

However they look at you like you have 10 heads.

 

[JoiseyMom]

My daughter actually is not vaccinated because she stopped breathing the first time she got the pertusis shot at 3 months as part of the DTP. She was labeled HIGHLY allergic so as a result not permitted to get the shot. She got the DT from then on without the P.
And since she would have died had I not seen her stop breathing we went with that.
The FDA called me and took a report - the batch that dd had resulted in several reactions and 2 deaths.
They have since changed the formulation of the shot(I can't remember if it used to be a live and now is not or the other way around) but anyway my other 3 children are vaccinated.

But don't assume that because someone isn't vaccinated is because they have an anti vaccine mother.

I think you are doing the assumptions. I didn't realize I had to put a section into my comment that of course allergic children are exempt .

My statement still stands. This is happening because children are NOT being vaccinated.

 

[Nancy]

I agree, there are many anti vax folks around. Now if your child has shown an allergic reaction then of course you can't give the vaccine.

 

[Nascia]

All of the boys are fully vaccinated. When I had DD back in September I was also vaccinated before leaving the hospital. I haven't heard of any cases in our area though.

 

[Geoff_M]

Yep, we had it making the rounds here in SW Michigan in November. A player on my son's hockey team and the team-mate's sister caught it. Most of the team was put on preventative antibiotics as a result. Whooping Cough is definitely "back".

 

[Erin1700]

My friends 3 kids all had it in October and they were vaccinated. Our ped put both my kids on antibiotic just in case and both my kids have been vaccinated.
I heard a letter just came home in our Kindergarten and 1st grade building that someone has it there.

 

[bumbershoot]

Actually, no vaccine is 100%. So it really doesn't matter. Friend of mine has been vaccinated umpteen times, and has yet to show an immunity to the things in the shots.

Pertussis is pretty easy to take care of. Anyone who wants good info can go to the mothering dot com discussion boards and look under the Health section for simple ways to help people through it.

 

[Robindianne]

Anyone else live in an area where there are reported cases of Pertussis?

It's apparently going around again.

No but my son (now 25) was allergic to that part of the dpt shot. I was young and stupid, Drs. even stupider because they should know better. They just cut the dose in half and injected him twice as often. Until I got a report from school that he was missing half a dose of dpt. Went to our new dr who could NOT believe previous dr had ever given more pertussis shot once allergy was confirmed and she gave him dt w/out the p shot. Sometimes the good of the whole is not more important than the educated good of the individual. I (my son) was lucky nothing happened. Others are not so lucky.

Just sayin' . . .

 

[BelleBoo&AmisMum]

Is she 11 by any chance?
I feel the same way. I wish she were able to get the shot.

My DS just turned 12 and had a reaction to DTP, we reported it but I never heard from anyone about it.

 

[npmommie]

Of course it's going around again. Parents are not getting their children vaccinated.

Actually that is not true.
pertussis vaccine like any vaccine is not 100% and it also does not provide lifelong immunity. it only lasts for 5-10 yrs. so it is entirely possible for school age children to not be covered any longer by the vaccine if they even did develop immunity at all.

 

[themarquis]

Actually that is not true.
pertussis vaccine like any vaccine is not 100% and it also does not provide lifelong immunity. it only lasts for 5-10 yrs. so it is entirely possible for school age children to not be covered any longer by the vaccine if they even did develop immunity at all.

The reason it is SPREADING at the HIGH rate that it is is that vaccination rates have plummeted.

You're right that no vaccine is 100 percent. There are also always people who cannot get vaccinated due to allergic reactions or who have waning immunity. That is why pertussis cases pop up from time to time even when the population is relatively well vaccinated. This is a given for all vaccines.

But, when the vaccination rates drop by a certain amount, we start to see much higher rates of pertussis across the population. It starts spreading faster. Instead of isolated cases and a few transmissions here and there, we see an epidemic.

Vaccines don't completely eradicate diseases -- that's the dream, but there are so many factors that it is quite difficult. They keep them at a very very low, non-epidemic rate.

 

[bumbershoot]

I've just been reading what I recommended others to read.

From the vaccine's own inserts, from the CDC...from actually looking at what the vaccine actually does...ALL the vaccine does is keep the "whoop" from happening. It contains a toxoid that reduces the toxin that is released by the bacteria. The toxin is what causes the "whoop".

The vaccine does NOT prevent the actual disease. It doesn't prevent the disease and it doesn't stop transmission. And in fact, if you think you're immune, you might think "oh I have a cold and go off and do whatever", all the while you could be spreading pertussis.

No thank you! I'll take people who get sick and KNOW they are sick and STAY HOME over people who think they are immune and run around doing everything.

I have one Typhoid Mary friend (she's on immunosuppresive drugs and doesn't react to much of anything but spreads EVERYTHING) and that is enough for me!




If you go and look at the actual graphs of diseases, you see that epidemics were already naturally crashing down before a vaccine for it was given. The vaccine comes at the very end of the disease. It's really interesting to see.

And of course with polio, not the topic of this thread but interesting all the same, they changed the definition of polio after the vaccine was created. Raised the fever threshold, lengthened the amount of time for the higher fever, and so on, for it to be diagnosed as polio. No wonder it dropped MORE after the vaccine, since by definition it got harder to diagnose.


And there ends my contribution to this conversation. Toodles!

 

[720L]

The "whoop" part is whats so dangerous though. I just got over the cough from H@##--coughing literally every 2 minutes, sometimes gagging from coughing so hard. I wonder if I had it without the whoop???

 

[lsyorke]

Actually that is not true.
pertussis vaccine like any vaccine is not 100% and it also does not provide lifelong immunity. it only lasts for 5-10 yrs. so it is entirely possible for school age children to not be covered any longer by the vaccine if they even did develop immunity at all.

Exactly! DS was fully vaccinated and had pertussis when he was 14.

 

[rie'smom]

Of course it's going around again. Parents are not getting their children vaccinated.

My friend had pertussis and had been vaccinated. The vaccine does provide immunity for a limited number of years. IMO, people should have to have proof of having the vaccine to enter the country or to travel to other countries where it is a problem.