Measles, cough outbreaks blamed on vaccine fear

[essnce629]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060803/us_nm/vaccines_dc

***Latia
Birth and Postpartum Doula

Conner 8/19/03 (homebirthed water baby)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aug2003angel
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbo...pphire_24m.gif Self-weaned at 24 months!

[cmdunn1972]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting the link. :)

DS recently had an interesting scenario regarding his vaccinations. Less than two weeks following a vaccination for MMR, he had a bad breakout of hives due to an allergic reaction to peanuts. I had to give him OraPred (a steroid) and antihistamines to control the hives. Because we were essentially using the drugs to suppress his immune system, our ped said the mumps part of the MMR vaccine may not have taken, so he may have to get revaxed for mumps. (They're going to do a test to find out for sure.)

[newmomto3kids]

Hey, thanks for posting. I have never heard that and Lily takes OraPred regularly. I am going to have to ask my ped about that. Yikes!!
Thanks for the info!!

[overcome]

I'm just curious...did you post this article to indicate children should get immunized on schedule?

I'm asking this in the nicest possible way...I'm not trying to stir up trouble, really!! Just curious.

[dr mom]

Interestingly, in the case of the measles outbreak, it sounds like some of the individuals affected were adults who refused vaccination because they were concerned about side effects. The article describes a "45-year-old man...a 6-year-old girl...and a hospital worker."

I think the medical issue here is not whether or not children should get immunized on schedule vs delaying vaccination until they are older (a matter of preference) - but whether or not people should get vaccinated at all (a matter of public health).

Without casting judgement on anyone's beliefs, a review of public health records for the past few decades demonstrates a clear correlation between vaccination rates overall, and outbreaks of previously "eradicated" diseases. Fewer people vaccinated means loss of population-level "herd immunity" and greater likelihood of disease spreading between unvaccinated hosts.

And, finally, fewer people vaccinated overall means that children on delayed vaccination schedules are at greater risk for contracting a communicable disease. Whereas if everyone was fully vaccinated by the age of 18, unvaccinated children would be much less likely to be exposed to an outbreak. Just something to consider.

[jesseandgrace]

Cindy - I think that was really well put. Thank you for your insight!

[brittone2]

There has been recent info in the news about the need to increase the number of boosters as there are kids that are fully vaxed on schedule not developing immunity.

The recent recommendations to do a later dose (what is it now pre-teen I think?) of DTaP are a result of the fact that vax immunity to that vax wanes after a few years. The fully vaxed as children preteen/teen crowd has been one of the biggest carriers/spreaders of pertussis...it will take time I'm sure to see if the new dose makes a significant difference.

There is a significant percentage of women (something like 20 percent in some studies) that never develop immunity to rubella no matter how many vax doses they receive. Natural immunity to rubella acquired in childhood works differently.

Teens and adults are also IMO unlikely to be diagnosed with whooping cough (pertussis) unless they are unvaxed. It often presents as a runny nose and persistant cough, but in adults is often not earth-shattering. I've been around quite a few people in my life that I think may very likely have had pertussis, but were not diagnosed with anything more than a common cold. THere is an increased awareness about pertussis in recent years, and I think it is being diagnosed more often, but my hunch is that it is still diagnosed more often in unvaxed individuals and named something else in those who are vaxed, if that makes sense.

There will always be breakthrough cases even in the fully vaxed population. No vax is 100 percent effective, and because some people may genetically be predisposed to not developing antibodies to a particular disease (like Rubella), I don't think it is always accurate to blame those who don't vax (although I don't think anyone was blaming in this thread) for outbreaks. ETA: Also, there are going to be diseases that circulate among kids before they can get vaxed as well.

ETA: Also, I think it is important to note that new strains of viruses emerge all of the time, and can mean the vax a child received for a particular disease isn't necessarily effective against the new strain(s). THis has been brought up numerous times with regard to Pertussis, for example.

Also with varicella/chicken pox, several recent outbreaks have occurred in schools, and I know in one case 100 percent of the kids diagnosed had been fully vaxed for CP. The efficacy of that vax drops after a year I believe, and several studies put it at only about 75-80 percent effective, some even lower. There have been quite a few moms here with children that contracted chicken pox even after being fully vaxed.

[cmdunn1972]

You're welcome, Cara! I didn't know that either until DS's ped mentioned it. FWIW, DS was taking 4 mL of OraPred daily at 5 day stretches for the hives.

[essnce629]

>I'm just curious...did you post this article to indicate children should get immunized on schedule?

No, I'm just posting it because someone posted it on another board I frequent and I often times post stuff over here that I've come across. And since someone else brought up vaccinations on another thread at the same time I figured it was relevant. My son is NOT immunized on schedule-- at first my plan was to do a delayed and alternate schedule, but I've since changed my mind and I'm not vaccinating further right now. I'm not pro- or anti-vax in general, just all about informed consent-- which means knowing the risks, benefits, and alternatives of everything before making a decision. This was obviousely a more pro-vaccine article.

***Latia
Birth and Postpartum Doula

Conner 8/19/03 (homebirthed water baby)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aug2003angel
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbo...pphire_24m.gif Self-weaned at 24 months!

[cmdunn1972]

Latia, I'm not necessarily pro- or anti-vax, but I would be interested to know what research you've done and what your thinking is that is moving you to first delay, then not further vax your son.

I'm just trying to get a balanced perspective, not challenge yours or other's opinions on this matter. (Of course, every family makes their own decisions based on what's best for them.) That is, if you don't mind sharing...

TIA!