They are disinfecting the schools.

[S. C.]

A high school student has pertussis and has younger siblings in middle and elementary schools.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

That is a little scary. I wonder if the child was immunized .... (I hope so.)

 

[woodkins]

There was a student in our elementary school with Pertussis last year. It did not spread further than that one child.

 

[wdwiala]

That is a little scary. I wonder if the child was immunized .... (I hope so.)

The thing with Whooping cough is that the immunization wears off by the time that the kids hit late elementary/jr. high. The kids are supposed to have a second booster but rarely due. As a parent, I had no idea.

This went around our school last year. I think that I watched every cleared throat, sniffle, etc for a month. We came out ok but some friends did get it. If the kids had ANY symptom, they could not return to school for a week. They asked all of the kids to take meds (antibiotics?) for a few days to cut off the passing of germs.

I hope that it passes quickly for you. Sounds like your school is on top of prevention.

 

[bumbershoot]

That is a little scary. I wonder if the child was immunized .... (I hope so.)

So you hope they got all the nasty stuff in the shot, but none of the immunity? Interesting perspective.



OP if you guys get it, the basic thing to do for the sick ones is to give/take enormous amounts of ascorbic acid. Lots of info on the forums on mothering.com about it...but basically you take it to tolerance (just under the amount that causes diarrhea).



Remember, the vaccine, if/when it works, ONLY keeps the toxoid that causes the cough from being made. So you still HAVE it, you are still carrying around and spreading the disease particles, but you're not *obvious* about it b/c you're not coughing, and you don't know to sequester yourself. You're still sharing it with others... Me, personally, I'd rather KNOW when people have it! And if I ever got it, I'd like to know it so I could keep my own self home!

 

[sharlon]

We have an "outbreak" here. Something like 15 or 20 cases in the last month. My daughter was exposed at gymnastics. The child who was sick had been vaccinated. The health department called and my DD had to go on preventative antibiotics, even though she had just had her 11 year booster. Our pediatrician's office said that the vaccine is nnot 100% effective, so if you are exposed, they treat you as if you haven't been vaccinated.

 

[cassiez76]

that's scary! hope nobody else gets it.

i'm 34 and had the booster in high school but was told by my obgyn to get one after my son was born. NOBODY has that booster here. i'm pretty ticked about that. dr's won't order it because nobody else has asked for it.

 

[acejka]

My bff had it a few years ago, I was sleeping i nthe same bed as her for awhile before they figured out what it was at the doctors office. Thank goodness I never caught it, and she is fine now, well except we all still call her whoop.

 

[Lintasare]

I recently had my annual physical and got a brand new DTaP shot. Mostly because I could not remember the last time I had a tetanus shot. However my doctor was telling me that because the vaccine we get as kids wears off over time whooping cough has been cropping up more in people my age.

Boy my arm was sore after that.

 

[npmommie]

So you hope they got all the nasty stuff in the shot, but none of the immunity? Interesting perspective.



OP if you guys get it, the basic thing to do for the sick ones is to give/take enormous amounts of ascorbic acid. Lots of info on the forums on mothering.com about it...but basically you take it to tolerance (just under the amount that causes diarrhea).



Remember, the vaccine, if/when it works, ONLY keeps the toxoid that causes the cough from being made. So you still HAVE it, you are still carrying around and spreading the disease particles, but you're not *obvious* about it b/c you're not coughing, and you don't know to sequester yourself. You're still sharing it with others... Me, personally, I'd rather KNOW when people have it! And if I ever got it, I'd like to know it so I could keep my own self home!

I will start with just asking your source please?

 

[luvthatdisney]

The middle school I work at went through this last fall/winter along with the flu. We do not know where it started, but we found most of the early cases had younger siblings at the elementary school in the area.

It did spread to many of the teachers who had not been immunized against Pertussis. Many got very sick and were hospitalized, none of the kids got that bad. We also found that many of the kids that got it were immigrants from other countries and had not received the immunization or were 8th graders that were not required to get the Tdap (prior to that law going into effect). It appears a Pertussis booster is needed.

All rising 6th graders have to obtain the Tdap shot by the end of September. If it has not been received, the child will be suspended until they get it. We have maybe 2 that cannot get the shot due to other medical problems.

I hope we do not go through this again this year. Pertussis plus the flu, it was a horrible year last year

 

[sunnyday123]

So you hope they got all the nasty stuff in the shot, but none of the immunity? Interesting perspective.



OP if you guys get it, the basic thing to do for the sick ones is to give/take enormous amounts of ascorbic acid. Lots of info on the forums on mothering.com about it...but basically you take it to tolerance (just under the amount that causes diarrhea).



Remember, the vaccine, if/when it works, ONLY keeps the toxoid that causes the cough from being made. So you still HAVE it, you are still carrying around and spreading the disease particles, but you're not *obvious* about it b/c you're not coughing, and you don't know to sequester yourself. You're still sharing it with others... Me, personally, I'd rather KNOW when people have it! And if I ever got it, I'd like to know it so I could keep my own self home!

You are not a Dr,you should really think before giving medical advice. Vaccines are not bad. Would you rather know you have polio? According to you, if you have the vaccine, you're spreading the disease you were vaccinated against? Don't you think just maybe diseases would become more increased, instead of decreased??

And I wouldn't trust *anything* I read on mothering.com.

 

[Lintasare]

I will start with just asking your source please?

Don't bother...she never comes back with sources. And very rarely defends herself when called out on the stuff she posts.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Wasn't there a huge event that happened in the NYC area last year where Pertussis spread like wildfire throughout a Jewish community because large numbers of the community were not immunized? I think the kids spread it though camp or something?

I just did a little reading and it seems this new outbreak is a continuation of the one I remember from last year. Check out the article on the LA Times titled, "East Coast mumps outbreak may be spreading to L.A." from back in May.

If I remember correctly, a high number of the kids from the original outbreak were not immunized which is what allowed the disease to get a foothold, but that isn't mentioned in the above article. They talk about high rates of immunization in the community in general but do not cite the immunization rate of those who have actually gotten sick. That would actually be a useful bit of info, wonder why it was left out?

FYI, the un-immunized kids scare me a bit so my DH and I have both had or titers checked and gotten re immunized for whatever was lacking about 10 years ago. I guess it's time to ask for a new set of labs to be done, the last thing I want is to end up in a hospital from some old world disease. I really think the CDC should address the unimmunized population as a separate threat and consider how the rest of us can better protect ourselves from the increased risk they present to the general population. I don't really care if some people choose to not get the shots but the popularity of the decision to abstain, and the effect it has on the larger population, must statistically alter traditional beliefs about disease risk ect. and that shouldn't be ignored. I think all the permutations need to be re-evaluated.... it's time for some new math.

 

[mamacatnv]

Don't bother...she never comes back with sources. And very rarely defends herself when called out on the stuff she posts.

And likes to be a bit antagonistic

 

[phillmolly]

please, please, please, everyone needs to get a booster Dtap shot!

My son, who is now almost two, spent almost a week in the hospital when he was only three weeks old because of pertussis! He actually went into the hospital on due date, he was born at 36 weeks and 6 days. I was given a Dtap booster in the hospital after he was born but it is my belief that I was already sick, I am 99.9999% sure that my MIL was our typhoid mary. She had been sick for months before DS was born. When DS was about ten days old I went to urgent care because I was coughing nonstop, they took a chest xray and told my I had pneumanion (sp???) again, becasue of that I was super paranoid about my son, I had him at the Dr.s every other day! The day before I took him to the ER I had him at the Dr.'s and they said it was just a small cold and just to keep an eye on him. The next day every time he coughed his lips turned blue, I went back and forth over what to do, I called everyone, my mom, my sister, my brother my friends and everyone kept telling my something different. I wanted to take him to the ER but I also didn't want to be one of those moms that takes her kid to ER for every little thing. Anyways I finally had enough and decided to take him to ER by our house, maybe three minutes away. As soon as we got there and I told them what was going on, they took him straight back to the exam room, two minutes later he had a coughing spell and turned blue, not just his lips but his whole body...it was so bad that it even scared the nurse! Right away they told me that they were going to transport us by ambulance to Childrens Hospital in Detroit, they knew he was sick. As soon as we got the Childrens they started treating him for pertussis and put us in a isolation room. The first few days there were so scary, every time he would cough he would turn blue and his oxgyen levels would drop into 50's and 60's. My brother, who is a Dr., wanted to know why they weren't putting in a breathing tube, but the Pedi Dr.s told him they treat newborns, differently than adults (he had much more medical explation, but that was the basic meaning). I am a very strong beliver in the Dtap shot, if my MIL had had a booster, or who ever she got it from, I never would have had to watch my little newborn baby turn blue! While I don't think all shot are nessceary, this is one I think everyone should have. And even if you don't belive in shots for kids, all adults should have a booster.

I am so blessed that my son was fine, he is a very healthy almost two year old, except for a few ear infections.

 

[EMom]

Herd immunity, folks. We have allowed our herd immunity to become compromised due to decreasing immunization compliance. We are now paying the price. For herd immunity to be effective, the percentage of compliance must be VERY high. It's not rocket science.

 

[JennaTX]

How do these kids go to public schools without being immunized? I have to show my kids shot records every year or so?

 

[kimblebee]

I've never had to show my daughters shot record. It is up to date but have never been asked. I don't think we do that up here.

I had whooping cough when I was in grade 8. It was awful. I don't know if I came down with it first or caught it from a sibling but my mom ended up having 4 sick kids in ages from 14-4. I don't remember it very well but I do remember not being able to do anything strenuous at all. Going up a flight of stairs would make me cough so hard I would end up throwing up. We were all sick for about 5 weeks and it was over Christmas break too

We had all had the vaccine and was told by our doctor that it does wear off. I hope no one here has to deal with it because it is nasty.

 

[pipersmom]

How do these kids go to public schools without being immunized? I have to show my kids shot records every year or so?

Most public schools have exemptions for religious or medical reasons. I know here if you object to immunizations on a religious basis, all you have to do is send in a letter stating that. I won't go into what I think of it.