Calif. whooping cough: 9 dead, infections on rise

They are offering new borns vaccinations before leaving the hospital and suggesting parents and adults who work with children get vaccinated.
 
They are offering new borns vaccinations before leaving the hospital and suggesting parents and adults who work with children get vaccinated.

So this means we'll all need a booster? I understand that it's to protect the babies who aren't full vaccinated, but all us old heads that got every vaccination under the sun are at risk?

DPT. That just rolled off our tongues when we had babies. Honestly I had to ask what the initials stood for way back when my DD was an infant. I just thought pertusis was no huge deal until I saw a film of kids with it. man, I would not want to see anyone go through that.
 
Our wonderful pediatrician tells us she has had teenage patients with whooping cough who have broken their ribs from the coughing.

Get all kids vaccinated!!

ETA: Teens now get whooping cough boosters. All 3 of my teens did. IIRC, it was coupled with the meningitis vaccine they receive about the time they start middle school.
 
I've seen commercials recently for Whooping cough and the adults/children should be given a vaccination for Pertussis...I wasn't aware there was an outbreak!


What are the symptoms of pertussis?

Pertussis begins as a mild upper respiratory infection. Initially, symptoms resemble those of a common cold, including sneezing, runny nose, low-grade fever and a mild cough. Within two weeks, the cough becomes more severe and is characterized by episodes of many rapid coughs followed by a crowing or high pitched whoop. Thick, clear mucus may be discharged. These episodes may recur for one to two months, and are more frequent at night.

Young children who have not been immunized have the most severe symptoms. Infants less than six months of age, adolescents and adults often do not have the characteristic whoop. Therefore, a person with a cough that lasts more than a week without improvement should see a health care provider to ensure the cough is not due to pertussis.

Young infants are at highest risk for complications. Complications include pneumonia, ear infection, loss of appetite, brain disorders, and death. Adolescents and adults may also experience complications such as pneumonia, trouble sleeping, urine leakage, and broken ribs.
http://www.doh.wa.gov/EHSPHL/factsheet/pertussis.htm
 
County Infant With Whooping Cough Dies
Posted: 6:07 pm PDT August 25, 2010
Updated: 6:46 pm PDT August 25, 2010

GRANT COUNTY, Wash. -- A Grant County infant with Whooping Cough died Tuesday night at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital, according to Grant County public health officials.

Two confirmed cases of Whooping Cough (Pertussis) in Grant County are being investigated. The child in the second case is home recovering.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of this baby," said Dr. Alexander Brzezny, Grant County Health Officer. "Our hearts go out to the family during this very difficult time."

Grant County Health District officials say they are working closely with health care providers and anyone exposed to the infected children.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8,000 to 25,000 cases of Pertussis are reported each year.

more at the link:
http://www.kirotv.com/news/24764490/detail.html
 
Our wonderful pediatrician tells us she has had teenage patients with whooping cough who have broken their ribs from the coughing.

Get all kids vaccinated!!

Amen, Sister.

Hoppy I don't know anything about Autism. I can't speak about what I don't know, but a friend of mine who is a Pediatrician said we're going to be seeing things that basically were eradicated. Is that the word? Horrible things that we for generations knew nothing about.

Also, I know it just doesn't have to do with autism. I understand there are people from different cultures that don't trust the goverment or our medicine. I get that, but what happened to having to show you have all your up to date shots for school?

Scary stuff.


LLL, I know when my DD was a baby my grandmom was telling me how fortunate we are to have modern medicine. She remembered people getting pertussis. Awful. Awful. Awful. Diptheria? Can you imagine? Tetnus? I don't even know how to spell it. It all sounded so not threatening before. I think that's "lock jaw". They always ask about that one if you get cut or stuck.

Those poor people. That poor baby. Now they have to be vaccinated before they even leave the hospital.

TB as well. I don't like to think about it. All different strains. I hear some kids in stores coughing and I think "Dear Lord that kid has something really bad". At least croup or croop isn't life threatening. Pertussis. Yes sir.
 
Amen, Sister.

Hoppy I don't know anything about Autism. I can't speak about what I don't know, but a friend of mine who is a Pediatrician said we're going to be seeing things that basically were eradicated. Is that the word? Horrible things that we for generations knew nothing about.

Also, I know it just doesn't have to do with autism. I understand there are people from different cultures that don't trust the goverment or our medicine. I get that, but what happened to having to show you have all your up to date shots for school?

Scary stuff.


LLL, I know when my DD was a baby my grandmom was telling me how fortunate we are to have modern medicine. She remembered people getting pertussis. Awful. Awful. Awful. Diptheria? Can you imagine? Tetnus? I don't even know how to spell it. It all sounded so not threatening before. I think that's "lock jaw". They always ask about that one if you get cut or stuck.

Those poor people. That poor baby. Now they have to be vaccinated before they even leave the hospital.


TB as well. I don't like to think about it. All different strains. I hear some kids in stores coughing and I think "Dear Lord that kid has something really bad". At least croup or croop isn't life threatening. Pertussis. Yes sir.

I thought all infants were given vaccinations for pertussis and given a tetnus vaccine before they left the hospital. I wonder if this has to do with the influx of immigrants migrating to the USofA??? Since other countries might not vaccinate as the US does...IDK! I always thought those diseases were a thing of the past, I guess I was wrong! JMHO
 
IMO, too many parents in the US don't get their kids vaccinated. If only they could witness how parents in Third World countries will do almost anything to get their kids vaccinated, and witness the devastating effects of these preventable diseases, it would be a real eye opener.

ETA: Kids can be exempted from vaccines for medical reasons, which I totally understand, and religious reasons, which I don't like but do understand. They can also be exempted for "philosophical reasons." That's a BIG loophole which IMO needs to be eliminated.
 
We had amazing "herd immunity" for a long time, due to the vaccination programs that were in place. What has happened is that we've eradicated the diseases from our population, and some folks don't see a need to get vax'd now, because the disease "doesn't exist" anymore.

Except it does. And like was said upthread, we are seeing a comeback of things which people thought were gone.

People don't always understand that while we've been able to really almost do away with some diseases in humans, those diseases still exist in the world...it's just we have been given protection from them because of the vaxs.

Add to that the issue(s) of superbugs...and we've got some serious issues looming.

How to address this? Education, education, education. Healthcare personnel need to educate whomever asks - patient in our care or not - about vaxs, and about the illnesses they prevent.

It is not mandatory to have this or that vax given. Here in the US, we have the freedom to say "no", and that freedom extends to those infants/children in our care. Increasingly, we see parents saying "no" to the usual childhood vaxs, for various reasons. But we can't mandate that they get vaxs...because we have the right to choose what goes happens to our bodies.

Right or wrong, it's the way it is. It's an important right, too...not something I'd ever want to see go away. What society has done, however, is interesting. Most schools won't allow an unvax'd child into it, unless there are specific reasons like those stated by Hoppy above. Employers can mandate it, too (with the same exclusions).

Personal note: I had an instructor during my pediatric rotation that had the "scare book." It was a book of pictures of children dying of illnesses that we have vax's for...pertussis/diptheria, polio, mumps/measles/rubella, hepatitis, tetanus, et cetera. She'd give us the book, and have us sit down with the new parent(s), and discuss vax's, illnesses, and disease prevention with the new family, and try to get them educated about the risks and realities of these illnesses.

What this did for me as a nurse was give me a way to demonstrate the importance of vax's; for the new parents, it gave them something to see, and a way to understand the repercussions of not vax-ing.

Vax's are not given to newborns; but we were laying the foundation for the parents at a later time to get the vax's, and understand that this is an important thing to do, not simply for the child, but for the family, and for society.

The Scare Book worked more often then not; but there were still some parents who said they were not interested, or who looked at the book and still said they were not going to vax their child.

And I can't tell you how many very ill adults I see in my ward who do not get the annual flu vax, or the pneumonia vax. They decline a free shot, which may help keep them alive through the next flu season. And that, as a healthcare worker, irritates me. But I can't make them take it, either...I can just offer and give it, or note that it was offered and declined, and let it go.

As flu season approaches, please, people...go get the vax (unless you're allergic to eggs or latex). Do what you can to stay healthy, and that includes getting a vax. And please urge those seniors around you to get it, too...

(off soap box now...sorry...)

Best-
Herding Cats
 
We went through pertussis two years ago. My youngest was only 7 mo old. All six kids had it. Only our oldest is vaccinated, and he had it as bad as any of them. The truth is, the pertussis vaccine has been known to be ineffective for years. There is an epidemic in my state every two years. I knew my kids had it, took them to be diagnosed, and the clinic refused to diagnose it, even though they said, "That sounds exactly like pertussis." But they said it wasn't because my baby wasn't "exhausted" enough. Seriously!! My kids each coughed for over 8 weeks straight. My littlest was the only one who whooped. It has to do with the size of the bronchioles, so older children rarely whoop.

In all honesty, it wasn't that big a deal during the day. They literally would only cough a few times a day, but when an episode hit, whew boy! The youngest was my main concern because she was so little. She would turn blue during an episode. I promptly turned her upside down, every time, and whacked her back like you do when you Heimlich an infant. She slept with us because night times are the worst and I had to be there when she coughed. The other kids, no big deal. They went to school, because they weren't diagnosed (by the time I figured out what they had they'd been in school 3 weeks anyway).

The danger of pertussis is that the mucus is inhaled into the lungs on inspiration after a cough and then pneumonia develops. I made sure that wouldn't happen with the baby by making sure she drained before turning her over again, monitored her carefully and kept my infant stethoscope handy so I'd be able to get her seen at first sign of pneumonia. It's not that hard to hear pneumonia in the lungs, even if you are completely inexperienced. A healthy lung whispers upon inhalation/exhalation. Pneumonia crackles like crinkling wax paper or plastic.

Here are a couple interesting articles:
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/07/whooping-cough-vaccine-working/ -- notice the one doctor who doesn't believe the statistics are accurate because there is "probably more protection from the vaccine then these numbers bear out..." ??

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article684270.ece -- This is an older article from England, but discusses the problem with lack of diagnosis. This isn't only a concern with pertussis, but with all illnesses which have corresponding vaccines. Doctors become reluctant to diagnose, due to the requisite paperwork, effect on statistics or plain lack of experience diagnosing these illnesses.
 
The Scare Book worked more often then not; but there were still some parents who said they were not interested, or who looked at the book and still said they were not going to vax their child.

Do you show them a corresponding book with the images of vaccine injured or killed children? This sort of fear-mongering is not good medical practice, it is blatant manipulation. Parental decisions should be made on the basis of information and research, not because heart-strings have been pulled and the love of parents for their children preyed upon.

Some parents feel it is more loving to risk injury from vaccine rather than disease and some feel they would rather risk injury from disease rather than vaccine. Both choices should be respected.
 
Last week I had to go in for the annual physical & flu shot. Then I was advised that I would also be getting the Tetanus/Whooping Cough Vaccine. I'm in Texas, a nice suburb of DFW and the nurse said they have had reports here of Whooping Cough here. Has everyone seen the commercial with the mother & baby and the baby can't stop coughing. That is the most heartbreaking commercial aired in a long time. jmo
 
I definitely will vaccinate my children. In my family, in the days before vaccines, the majority of children died before age 11 due to diseases that are preventable with a vaccine. Parents who don't vax are being irresponsible, IMO, because they are putting not only their own children at risk, but others' children as well. Bad reactions to vaccines are much more rare than the number of children who can die from these diseases and it's well worth the risk.
 
IMO, too many parents in the US don't get their kids vaccinated. If only they could witness how parents in Third World countries will do almost anything to get their kids vaccinated, and witness the devastating effects of these preventable diseases, it would be a real eye opener.

ETA: Kids can be exempted from vaccines for medical reasons, which I totally understand, and religious reasons, which I don't like but do understand. They can also be exempted for "philosophical reasons." That's a BIG loophole which IMO needs to be eliminated.

I have friends who do not believe in vaccinating their children. They did do a few of the vaccinations, but on a significantly delayed schedule. Anyway, the information they provided to the public school was that it was for "religious reasons" and the school could not question it. Problem is: they aren't religious in any, way, shape or form. In fact the dad is an athiest. They don't like vaccinations because they don't like putting "poison" into their children (their words, not mine!). They also don't approve of fluoride, antibiotics, etc. As far as the vaccinations, though, they used the "religious reasons" excuse because the "philosophical reasons" wouldn't have been acceptable to the school. For the ones they were on the delayed schedule for, they had to provide titers to prove that the children were at a certain level.
 
your friends scare me beachy. If they were planning to home school (as many parents who fear the vaccines choose to do) it would feel less like my business, but the fact that your friends' kids are lying about it to the public school is kindof shady.
 
As you can see in my signature I have a child with Autsim. I whole heartedly believe the vaccination's played a role.

My 3 year old daughter has only had 3 vaccine's since she has been on this earth. She will get her shots in due time, on my schedule, and there may be some she won't get.

I will not subject her to what happened to my son if I can help it and it is my choice, does that make someone a bad parent ? I think not. Until you have lived with Autism, or any other disability, no one can say that the vaccinations outweigh what might happen. Please walk in my shoes for one week and I will ask you again then if your mind has changed.

Whooping cough vaccination is not 100 % and neither are the rest, the studies they would like you to believe that there is no link to vaccinations and Autism are not throughly done. Vaccinations is a 7 billion dollar industry a year to tie something like Autism to that would crush them. Also the people who manufacture vac. need not worry about being sued for anything because our goverment has set up the vac. injury comp fund.

And if there is no tie can someone please tell me why the courts sealed the documents to the case where the court found that the Vac. caused the little girls Autism and settled out of court for 1.5 million dollars in July 2010 ? Oh yeah I think they called it something besides Autism, because if you call it Autism you have no case because " there is no link ":

SNIP...........................
CBS surprised me though...
In fact, CBS News has found nearly 1,300 cases in which vaccine-related brain damage has been compensated in court over the past 20 years. (From: Vaccines, Autism and Brain Damage, What's in a Name?)
Many have very recently pointed out that mitochondrial disease was proven the predisposing factor to exhibition of full blown features that resembled the clinical definition of autism in one child. That child's family accepted 1.5 million dollars, in July 2010, in order to settle their claim that vaccines caused regression - vaccines damaged their child. Reports show acceptance in the merits of the case with the claim being scientifically supported, according to our own government (link). This case, which was settled out of court proves the child's predisposition to damage from vaccines from mitochondrial disease.


Snip...............

Furthermore, the autism label is becoming the smoke screen that those in the medical community use in too general a fashion in order to deny the known risk of injury from vaccination.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/autism-a-smoke-screen-for-vaccination-court-denials

How is it that people who choose not to vaccinate put others at risk ? If you choose to be vaccinated then you should not have to worry about catching something from those who are not, right :waitasec: isn't that why you get vaccinated.
 
How is it that people who choose not to vaccinate put others at risk ?

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/howvpd.htm

Immunizing individual children also helps to protect the health of our community, especially those people who are not immunized. People who are not immunized include those who are too young to be vaccinated (e.g., children less than a year old cannot receive the measles vaccine but can be infected by the measles virus), those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons (e.g., children with leukemia), and those who cannot make an adequate response to vaccination. Also protected, therefore, are people who received a vaccine, but who have not developed immunity. In addition, people who are sick will be less likely to be exposed to disease germs that can be passed around by unvaccinated children. Immunization also slows down or stops disease outbreaks.
 
My 65 year old cousin lives in Eastern Washington and is just getting over Whooping Cough. No clue how she got it but she was forbidden to see any of her granchildren until she got clearance from her doctor.

Seems there is probably more of it spreading around the country than reported, or thought to be.
 
I thought all infants were given vaccinations for pertussis and given a tetnus vaccine before they left the hospital. I wonder if this has to do with the influx of immigrants migrating to the USofA??? Since other countries might not vaccinate as the US does...IDK! I always thought those diseases were a thing of the past, I guess I was wrong! JMHO

LLL, well as you can see it's a resounding no that infants aren't given vaccines before they leave the hospital.

The Hep B vaccine back in the early 90's they gave out I believe without even telling some people. Now you have a choice when to start that. I'm pretty sure it's mandatory in a bunch of States.

Before you leave a hospital with a newborn they get eye drops. I asked about that one. They also get a PKU test. That's when they do a heel stick and the infant screams and the baby has to have phenylalanine in it's diet first. That's an important test. They used to get a Vitamin K shot as well. Again, I'm not up on the present stuff.

It shocks me how many people don't ask about what people are doing to their newborn in the hospital. Then again if you never had a child who'd know? I just read alot. maybe too much?


I just wanted to say that 4,000 infections of pertussis they are saying is the most they have seen in half a century. So they say.

Obviously you have to keep your child home if they are diagnosed. That's my one and only problem. Not even about vaccinating. People parading their sick kids all over town. I don't mean you have to run to the drug store and have nobody to watch your child. I mean taking a child with chicken pox into a hotel swimming pool. I saw that with my own two eyes. Poor lethargic kid. Still contagious.

People think chicken pox are no big deal. Yes, they have a vaccine for that now as well. My SIL never had them. She was pregnant and got them from my nephew. It was BAD!!!!!!! She was hospitalized and the baby did suffer some problems. Then it's the whole shingles thing blah blah.

Again, my child is grown. I'm not up on all this. I do fear though if I have my mom out and people are running around with pertussis she so will get it. I give you guys with young kids a ton of credit. I didn't have to make all these decicions.
 

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