Health Check
Blaming the Whooping Cough Epidemic on Anti-Vax Parents Seems Legit to Me
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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Momma2Imo
Floridamom96
Excellent point, Momma2. If the vaccinations work then your vaccinated kids cannot get whooping cough from my unvaccinated children. And if they don't work then why would we put it in our baby's bodies?
jagamama0710
Oh good! Another vaccine post. It's been, what, a couple weeks since one of these on TheStir? You're right. It's time. Enjoy, ladies.
zizzler
billsfan1104
Stacey.
I am all for vaccinations after me not getting my MMR when i was young and getting severe measles. BUT I have to say, vaccinated kids are more likely to get unvaccinated kids sick. Think about it, if a vaccinated kid comes in contact with an illness, and doesnt know it because they are vaccinated and their body easily fights it off, then they can unknowlingly pass it on to unvacc children by not being careful. Also, lots of people dont get their vaccinations updated in their adulthood which is necessary because strains mutate and vaccines dont last forever.
Foleygirl24
from what i've read, the problem seems to be that the vaccine wears off faster than the medical industry previously thought, and since most of the vax-ed kids who have gotten it are in the 11-13 year range this seems to make sense to me. and most of the adults who have gotten it were either not vax-ed or haven't had a booster and thus their immunity has worn off. that doesn't mean that vaccines don't work, it just means that they aren't perfect and you have to keep up with your vaccinations. most adults don't get any these days. i had to beg and badger my in-laws to get the Tdap shot when my son was born and they gave me a really hard time about it. i know someone who actually got whooping cough when i was in college. since they were an adult it wasn't a huge deal, but he did have a new grandbaby he frequently had contact with who could have been at risk if he hadn't been diagnosed before he visited him..
jharris109
As far as I've been told, the vaccine is good for 10 years after the last dose. Most often people who die from illnesses are babies and elderly which is why they say to get vaccinated again. Vaccines are not forever protection they just protect those with week immune systems. The biggest issue when vaccinating a child is that you don't do it when they have a fever. The vaccines can cause a fever and if they already have one it can cause it to go even higher which can be damaging, that's the part most people don't understand. I'm not saying it's the only issue but it is a big one, as well as how many they give at a time. My daughter only got two at a time, then we would wait a month and go back and get another 2 until she had them all.
SissiB
Forget herd immunity, there is a herd mentality when it comes to vaccinations. Years ago a doctor who has now been thoroughly discredited and had his license taken away said vaccinations were linked to autism, and there are a lot of people still out there that take his word as gospel. My god, do you realize how many deadly diseases have been wiped out or almost wiped out thanks to vaccinations? You take for granted that your child will grow to old age. That's a pretty recent belief.
mustbeGRACE
NOT TAKING YOUR KID TO THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE AND DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO PLUNGE THEM INTO AUTISM SOUNDS LEGIT TO ME !
ARE YOU *UCKIN KIDDING ME?????????
A-R-E Y-O-U *U-C-K-I-N K-I-D-D-I-N-G M-E !!!!!!!!!!!
You choose between potential autism and measles !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!