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I wish they would push more adults to get boosters. I'm not saying that is the problem here, but it would help, considering there are adults out there that would be willing to do so but don't really think about it b/c its thought of by a lot of people as a "childhood" immunization.
Mine are immunized against it.
I have my 40yr old "big" physical coming up and I think I am going to ask about it. I know they are telling parents of young children to get it now, and since I have 3 in school, and my fourth is turning 3 and will be around more and more children, I think I am better off boosting my immunity to it for sure, since they love to share with me every microbe they manage to bring home.
But it would help; it would help termendously & that is one of the concerns about pertussis. Infants take time to be immunized against this; in some cases won't be completely immunized until 12 months. An infant w/ pertussis is about as close to life threatening as we can get right now.
And it helps the adults as we are getting all the fun stuff they bring home.
Again, such serious things as pertussis are a far cry from the head cold that goes through the whole family in a weekend.
Another one is shingles but I am not sure about the age on that one. I believe that is 65 & older & most of us on here have some time
I'm all for vaccinating my children as well. I did modify the schedule slightly, (like for the Hep B) but overall all vaccines will be given before my child starts kindergarten.
But for the pertussis one, isn't the first vaccine given around 12-15 months? Or am I wrong? It seems a little late with the warranted worry that's spreading.
But for the pertussis one, isn't the first vaccine given around 12-15 months? Or am I wrong? It seems a little late with the warranted worry that's spreading.
Yeah, I think the schedule was three times in the first year and then DTaP #4 sometime before age 4, but I can't remember now. I think the only one that did not start til 12-15 mos was the MMR and varicella.
And here's a history of the schedules I put together, also keep in mind, I was born in 1945 and the only vaccines being given then were DPT and smallpox. The polio vaccine didn't come in until 1955 (dead vaccine) and the oral vaccine was tested in 1957 and then licensed in 1962.
In 1983, we gave children from birth to 6 a total of 10 vaccines. Smallpox was actually eliminated as a routine vaccination in the US.
In 2007, we gave children from birth to 6 a total of 36 vaccines.
While I agree that children need to be immunized, I think things have gotten out of hand. Why to babies need Hep B, for example? If the mother has HEP B (and testing the mothers should be done), then she can transmit it to her baby, but otherwise, most babies are *not* at risk. This one should be delayed (perhaps until school age).
I would not want my child to get Gardasil yet. It is too new and I am very skeptical of the claims to protect against cervical cancer.
I see no reason why a delayed schedule with one shot at a time is not preferable to this huge experiment with our kids. At least if they have a single shot, you can pinpoint the problem if they have a reaction.
Unfortunately, the pertussis component of the DTaP vaccine is the most unreliable. Researchers estimate that the pertussis component is only 70-80% effective at preventing disease, because it is an inactivated vaccine.
Add to that, you can carry subclinical pertussis and unknowingly pass it on to an unprotected child/infant and you have problems with communicability. Pertussis is one of those diseases that will probably be circulating for a long time to come.
Here's an interesting tidbit straight from the CDC:
The increase in reported pertussis cases has occurred despite pertussis vaccination coverage levels that are higher than at any time in the past. The proportion of children aged 19-35 months who had received three or more doses of whole-cell DTP or diphtheria and tetanus toxoids vaccine (DT) reached 93% in 1994 (11). (Of those vaccinated, less than 2% are estimated to have received DT {CDC, unpublished data}.) Possible explanations of this increase in disease include a) decreased vaccine efficacy, b) waning immunity among adolescents and adults vaccinated during childhood, c) increased diagnosis and reporting of pertussis because of greater awareness among physicians about the disease, and d) enhanced surveillance and more complete reporting in some states (12,13).
It's not just about vaccination - although that would be helpful. This wouldn't be a problem if people wouldn't send their sick kids into school and/or daycare when they're ill. But everyone's so concerned about getting a "perfect attendance" award...
Whenever the subject of "perfect attendance" comes up in RL, I make it plain that the ONLY children with perfect attendance are those with parents who don't care about them enough to spend 5 minutes with them in the morning before foisting them off onto the world. I'm not talking about throwing them in a high chair and putting a piece of toast in front of them while talking on the cell phone or yelling from another room for them to get up while running out the door... I mean actually having a few minutes of FACE TIME with their child in the morning.
The child who sat behind my daughter in 1st grade once threw up on her within a few minutes of the start of the school day. She had a fever of 105. It took her parents over an hour to get to the school to pick her up. Her mom's excuse for sending a sick kid to school? Well, she and her dh leave for work early and their 9 year old son walked her 6 year old daughter to school everyday. The two "parents" couldn't handle the responsibility of getting their kids to school each morning, but they expected their NINE year old to be able to do so.
Good God I hate perfect attendance awards. Our school suspended them this year b/c they wanted to encourage parents to keep kids that were starting to get sick home b/c of the H1N1 scare.
Um, shouldn't we encourage parents to keep sick kids home anyway?
Being fortunate enough to not get the gastrointestinal virus of the season is award enough.
Another one is shingles but I am not sure about the age on that one. I believe that is 65 & older & most of us on here have some time
Don't count on that. While it's most common in those over sixty, stress or immune insufficiency can also trigger outbreaks. The good news is that most people never have more than one episode.
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