So the U.S. is currently facing its worst whooping cough epidemic in over 50 years, and while I'm disturbed, I'm not particularly surprised. Whooping cough was the reason why I made the decision to get my daughter vaccinated 11 years ago. The vaccination debate was just hitting red-hot status back then, and I wasn't sure what to do when Charlotte was born.
On the one hand, as someone with more faith in natural and alternative approaches to health than traditional medicine, I was inclined to think maybe there was some truth to the autism/vaccine connection. On the other hand, as a new mom in a big city (Manhattan) who never wanted her baby to get sick, ever, I was inclined to innoculate against everything possible.
So I asked my pediatrician at the time (Dr. Marie Sanford, she was amazing!) to level with me: Which was the riskier choice?
I will never forget what she told me.
"Look, I'm not discounting the research about vaccines or saying there are absolutely no side effects, but I've never seen any child develop problems firsthand," she said.
"What I DO see, every year, are kids coming into the emergency room with whooping cough. And it's not pretty. In the U.S., we think of whooping cough as a disease that's been largely eradicated. But that's not true in other parts of the world, so ... especially in an international city like this ... it's conceivable that your baby could be exposed."
That was all I needed to hear. And now, over a decade later, Dr. Sanford's words seem almost prophetic. I'm not pointing fingers at specific parents or saying the anti-vax movement directly caused the whooping cough epidemic but there is definitely (obviously) a connection. The effectiveness of the whooping cough vaccine relies on what's called “herd immunity," meaning that "If enough people are immune to the bacteria, then even if someone gets sick, the disease cannot easily spread through the community. This is especially true for very young infants, who are too young to be vaccinated and whose immune systems are not yet strong enough to defeat the bacteria on their own."
I guess personal choices can affect public health after all.
What do you think is behind the whooping cough epidemic?
Image via edenpictures/Flickr
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Comments 119
My doctor was honest with me. She admitted that vaccinated children are just as at risk as unvaccinated children to develop Pertussis. This is why she encourages new parents to keep their kids away from schools, playgrounds, etc until they are 6 months old. That way, whether they are vaxed or NOT, they are less likely to have a serious/deadly stint with Pertussis, which is, by the way...not that bad when you are not a newborn child. Yeah...it's a cough. It lasts a looong time. But it's a cough. Not liquid death. So, we followed her delayed vax schedule (my kids have had reactions, so delayed is good for us!), treated our family with effective homeopathic's (again, our doctor rocks!) and we watched 200 people in our community get Pertussis...and we didn't. What worked for us may not work for you...but, I'm not going to put hate out for those who choose alternative or mainstream routes. I know what works for my family, and THAT is what I'll keep doing.
Doralynn Whited - Or - flip side - perhaps allowing massive amounts of people in to our country from 3rd world nations without really checking them out first is to blame for an increase in the resurgance of MANY - once 'cured' illness'.
OOO! What a very interesting thought. That had never crossed my mind before.
I can say this much - there is a huge uptick in untreatable TB as well as bed bugs and the beginning of that particular uptick can be traced right back across our country to the south west and the border with Mexico. And no - I am not bashing Hispanics - I'm married to one. Fact is fact. Side not - I was not vaccinated as a child and did have measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox..... I now am naturally immune and have passed that immunity to my children. I also have never rec'd a flu vaccine and have never had the flu. My daughter did get the swine flu when it was going around and recovered - her body did what it was created to do and she is now immune. fact is - the flu vaccine you get this year was designed to fight the flu from last year..... it isn't any good anymore. People who do not receive flu vaccines are less likely to get the flu. Perhaps the same is true of other vaccinations. Food for thought,
@ Stacey, it would be EXTREEMLY unlikely for a person who is vaccinated against a virus to pass that virus to another [unvaccinated] person. The vaccinated person's body will destroy the virus before the virus has a chance to grow and reach a high enough viral load to where they can transmit the virus.
@mustbe GRACE, I sure hope you are *ucking kidding me and that you are not that ignorant.
you should really do a little more research...