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speaking of vaccinations
There have been a lot of kids in my town who are sick lately. I mean - a LOT. And apparently they all have whooping cough. When I first heard this, I was like WTF? I thought whooping cough was one of those old timey, Little House on the Prairie things that people never got anymore unless they lived in the remote Ozarks or something. It's also pretty widespread throughout my state - it's gone from a couple hundred cases a year to thousands.
It seems that this sudden, massive outbreak is because a lot of parents aren't getting their children vaccinated (I'm guessing the whole questionable vaccination-autism thing). Out of all the potential side effects of kids not getting vaccinated, somehow I never pictured that freaking whooping cough would suddenly be on the rise, but there you go.
Has anyone seen anything like this in the USA? It's so weird!
Re: speaking of vaccinations
I don't know exactly how bad it is but yes there is a problem w/whooping cough being on the rise here in the U.S. b/c parents are no longer vaccinating for it.
there was a nestie on my local board who was so distraught that her child had it and while I felt bad for the kid I had little sympathy for the mom b/c I am fairly certain she opted not to get him vaccinated for it.
Jaime & Brent
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My general practitioner has recommended that both J and I get the vax for Pertussis (aka Whooping Cough) as soon as Libby is born. We're asking my mom to get it too, since she lives with us. I'd rather get the vax than have to give it to Libby when she's first born (I don't think they even give it to babies that young)...
And I am scheduled for my H1N1 in 2 weeks (was offered it today, but since I am fighting a cold, I declined until I feel better)...again, I'd rather be protected and keep her protected than not. Several kids in Tulsa have died in recent weeks from it. Scary stuff.
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If the project on allergies I did in uni was at all correct (and I'm not claiming it was) - the tendency towards allergies are inherited, but WHAT one is allergic to isn't passed down genetically.
There was a really interesting thing on CBC radio yesterday talking about the fact that one of the reasons people are scared about vaccinations is because we don't see WHY we've needed them. They haven't gone through things like whooping cough, mumps, small pox, etc. But, as more people don't get their children vaccinated, the more these diseases are reasserting themselves.
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kaesha, that makes sense about the tendency being inherited, but not the specific allergies, thanks. This also makes a lot of sense to me:
I think this is really true! I do know someone who decided not to get her child vaccinated, and one of her reasons was that she "didn't think it was necessary in the modern world." I haven't talked to her in a long time - I wonder if she still has the same point of view now that these old school diseases are re-emerging?
I'm a bit worried about mumps coming up again - for some reason my mumps vaccines never took very well (my blood tests always showed a very low level of resistance), so now I'm really neurotic about accidentally running across someone with mumps while I'm pregnant. Weird, I know.
re: whooping cough. Yes, it is a problem in the US. Before I had my daughter, I remember someone saying that her son had it. Like you, I thought it was an illness that no one got anymore. That must have been 10 years ago. My daughter was born in 2001. She was vaccinated. It must be an increasing problem, b/c they have TV commercials/PSAs discussing it currently. They even play a recording of what a child sounds like with the cough.
I don't know about the likelihood of your child having a reaction based on you having a reaction. Could they check for IgE? True allergies show that... but, people can have reactions that are not allergic, but exhibit the same symptoms. You could ask the dr if there is any test that they could do.
re: mumps I remember that they recommended getting another MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine as an adult, b/c those we had as a kid may not have provided lifelone protection. I have had a second one as an adult. However, I don't remember which of the M M or R was the one they needed to cover.
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I agree that vaccinations don't just protect your child, but they also help prevent outbreaks and the spread of preventable diseases. Our parents are of the we-don't-need-it generation, but we are encouraging them to get their flu and H1N1 shots if they plan to be around our baby once he/she is born. Same logic applies to kids and childhood vaccines, IMO.
Also, I've been reading a book about vaccines and it mentions that thimerasol, the mercury-containing preservative blamed for autism and other neurological disorders in children, has been removed from childhood vaccines delivered to babies under 6 months of age since about 2003. The seasonal flu vaccine and some other ones for older children and adults (e.g., tetanus) still contain trace amounts, which are not proven to be harmful because the doses are so small and fairly quickly expelled from the body.
That being said, I still err on the side of caution when I can. I feel like the media freaked me out about vaccination "dangers," so I requested and received the thimerasol-free flu vaccine this year and am considering an alterante vaccine schedule for our LO. I def plan to have him/her vaccinated, though -- for his/her own safety and to avoid contributing to any unnecessary outbreaks of preventable diseases.
This is such a hot topic and can be so overwhelming. Just one of the many tough decisions we'll have to make for our kids!
I think this really sums up how I feel on the issue. I'm a firm believer in vaccinations (I think that a more gradual schedule of them is fine if that's what you're more comfortable with), and I won't lie about that. I also don't have a problem with parents making decisions about how they want to raise their children (as long as it's not abusive, of course) - however, in this instance, it goes beyond their own families and affects people around them.
This is only kind of related, but I was talking to a coworker today about the H1N1 shot. She's not in a high risk category and told me she wasn't planning on getting it until she realized that although she might be OK if she got it, she could easily transfer it to someone who WOULDN'T be OK - a baby or an elderly person, for example. So she decided to get the shot, not so much for herself as to try to help others - I hadn't looked at it that way before, and I thought it was a nice perspective.
I agree! I feel like, for the most part, our generation has lived a very sheltered life as far as diseases go. Other than chicken pox, we've never had to worry about the illnesses that gripped our parents and grandparents, and often had fatalities. I think when people start to see what things like mumps and whooping cough really look like, they may feel differently about vaccines. For example, I can tell you that after dealing with cervical cancer scares year after year, bad paps, and LEEPs, I would have loved the option of the HPV vaccine when I was younger.
This is so interesting! I did not know this!