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Whooping cough is returning b/c people don't immunize. Period. You still get antibodies, which are proof of immunity, when you immunize. It's not caused by a virus, BTW
Katiana, are people in their 40s protected from whooping cough?
I have no idea what immunizations I had as a child. All I know is that I caught the mumps, measles and chickenpox before my first birthday.
Since I have asthma and a weaker immune system due to a B-12 deficiency, I worry about catching severe respiratory illnesses.
It bothers me that I don't know my immunization history or at least what immunizations were typically given in the 60s and 70s.
Do any of you think that there is a possibility that a lot of the diseases are starting to get immune to our vaccinations? And since we over vaccinate and over sanitize that we aren't even allowing our bodies to build immunities against viruses and disease?
I am not talking specifically about whopping cough (although just maybe whopping cough could be returning because the vaccination no longer works as well as it did against the virus)
Just something to think about....
There is evidence that this is happening in Australia and the Netherlands.
In the Netherlands, as in many other western countries, pertussis vaccines have been used extensively for more than 40 years. Therefore, it is conceivable that vaccine-induced immunity has affected the evolution of Bordetella pertussis.
Consistent with this notion, pertussis has reemerged in the Netherlands, despite high vaccination coverage. Further, a notable change in the population structure of B. pertussis was observed in the Netherlands subsequent to the introduction
of vaccination in the 1950s. Finally, we observed antigenic divergence between clinical isolates and vaccine strains, in particular with respect to the surfaceassociated proteins pertactin and pertussis toxin. Adaptation may have allowed
B. pertussis to remain endemic despite widespread vaccination and may have contributed to the reemergence of pertussis in the Netherlands.
That article is 9 years old and suggested more study. I work in this field and I have never heard that hypothesis. Perhaps the further study did not show this to be true.
It bothers me that I don't know my immunization history or at least what immunizations were typically given in the 60s and 70s.
I barely do either. I don't think it was as stringent back then as far as official record-keeping by the parent for the school.
I'm getting ready to volunteer at our hospital and I had to get my shots and records up to date. I had a MMR titer yesterday because I had a measles shot in 1992 when I went to college but my mom "thought" I had mumps as a baby and for whatever reason they did not do the rubella shot for me then. I am really curious to see what the titer shows. When I went to high school I remember my mom filled out the shot record on the registration card by hand and just jotted down the dates of the illness or shot. Nothing really seemed official.
Now it has to be VERY official! On my daughter's fourth birthday I was working and got a call from the daycare to pick her up IMMEDIATELY and not bring her back without evidence of her having had her immunizations required of 4 yr olds. They would have gotten in trouble had their records been audited and she had not had her "shots".
That article is 9 years old and suggested more study. I work in this field and I have never heard that hypothesis. Perhaps the further study did not show this to be true.
Katiana, are people in their 40s protected from whooping cough?
I have no idea what immunizations I had as a child. All I know is that I caught the mumps, measles and chickenpox before my first birthday.
Since I have asthma and a weaker immune system due to a B-12 deficiency, I worry about catching severe respiratory illnesses.
It bothers me that I don't know my immunization history or at least what immunizations were typically given in the 60s and 70s.
To answer your question, people in their 40s are not well protected even if they were immunized. That is why the TdaP vaccine is recommended for adults.
In the 60s and 70s, kids were generally immunized against pertussis with the old DTP vaccine; also polio with the live oral polio vaccine. Measles vaccine was first licensed in 1964, with the current vaccine licensed in the early 70s. The rubella vaccine was tested on my class of nursing students at Pitt! It and mumps vaccine were licensed in the early 70s as well. Chickenpox vaccine was licensed in the US in 1995, though it was used in Japan for about 10 years prior to that. If you've had measles, mumps and chickenpox, you probably have lifetime immunity, though since you got them at a young age, maybe not. There are blood tests to check for this; you probably were checked for immunity to rubella when you got pregnant.
I barely do either. I don't think it was as stringent back then as far as official record-keeping by the parent for the school.
There were good records kept by the schools where we lived. I know this for a fact. YEARS AGO, I needed my immunization history for employment at a school. Since my pediatrican's office was closed decades ago, I was instructed to call the school district where I attended to find my vaccination history. I did get my vaccination history back then----approximately 16 years ago. I didn't think to keep a copy for myself because I didn't have health issues at the time. I guess I could contact the school district again and see if they still have my vaccination history. I need to look into that again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lisdol
I'm getting ready to volunteer at our hospital and I had to get my shots and records up to date. I had a MMR titer yesterday...
Hmmmmmm......I guess we could get revaccinated if we're not sure about our vaccination history and our health situation warrants it.
You can have a blood test to check what vaccines you aren't current on. I had to do this for my green card medical. But I know that a lot of them have 10 year boosters so if you haven't had any in the last 10 you could probably get some. Doctors usually only give them if they are warranted though - ie because of travelling to a 3rd world country or something.
To answer your question, people in their 40s are not well protected even if they were immunized. That is why the TdaP vaccine is recommended for adults.
In the 60s and 70s, kids were generally immunized against pertussis with the old DTP vaccine; also polio with the live oral polio vaccine. Measles vaccine was first licensed in 1964, with the current vaccine licensed in the early 70s. The rubella vaccine was tested on my class of nursing students at Pitt! It and mumps vaccine were licensed in the early 70s as well. Chickenpox vaccine was licensed in the US in 1995, though it was used in Japan for about 10 years prior to that. If you've had measles, mumps and chickenpox, you probably have lifetime immunity, though since you got them at a young age, maybe not. There are blood tests to check for this; you probably were checked for immunity to rubella when you got pregnant.
Thanks, Katiana! You were even able to give me the Pittsburgh perspective too!
I'll make sure I get the TdaP and I'll ask my doctor to test my immunity for the other things too!
Here are some news articles about it from 2010.
Whooping Cough Bacteria Has Mutated, Vaccines No Longer Effective | Strollerderby | Babble Australia (http://www.babble.com.au/2010/02/11/whooping-cough-bacteria-has-mutated-vaccines-no-longer-effective/ - broken link)
This does not seem to be a scientific journal or even a news journal and in fact seems to be an anti-immunization article. It is certainly not true that the vaccine is no longer effective, according to the other two articles.
They found while the vaccine now in use was effective against some of the strains circulating in Australia it may no longer protect against two strains, known as MT27 and MT70.
Dr Lan said more research was needed to confirm the results but health authorities may need to modify the vaccine to broaden the protection it offered.
Dr Lan said more research was needed to confirm the results but health authorities may need to modify the vaccine to broaden the protection it offered.
"... or over time it could lose effectiveness as the organism evolves," he said.
Australia apparently (from reading the articles) also has a large number of non-vaccinators. In any event, this does not seem to be a problem in the US.
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