Here is an update on my post about California's whooping cough epidemic.
A ninth baby has died in California from whooping cough, health officials said Thursday.
All nine infants were under three months of age.
As of Tuesday, the state has recorded more illnesses due to whooping cough (4,017) than in any year since 1955. CNN
What is safest for newborns? Getting vaccinated or not getting vaccinated?
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This is so sad. I think the babies should be vaccinated, but I think part of the problem may be adults not getting booster shots. I had trouble remembering to get mine, and my doctor told me to get it every ten years on my birthday, preferably on the decade like so: 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 etc.
I'm all down with scheduled shots and such, but when I roll over to 40 I sure ain't punctuating the exact day with a doctor's visit. Maybe I should do it every decade on Jonas Salk's birthday instead.
Hahaha, whatever works! I'll have to remember to draw a big polio virus on your cake.
You jest, but picking someone else's birthday for an annual exam date is a great idea. (Of course, I would think so, because that's what I do.)
The issue is that the youngest infants -- those at the highest risk from pertussis -- can't be vaccinated. They depend entirely on herd immunity. And the reservoir for the pertussis bug, as Shana says, is actually adults, not kids. So yes, vaccinate. For sure. But vaccination isn't just for the under-10 crowd; adults need boosters, too!
In Australia the mortality rate for whooping cough declined steadily from 1910,(Pop. 4.4m) 476 deaths, to 1970,(Pop.12m.) no deaths. Immunization was introduced about 1955(Pop.9m.) when the deaths were around 20 or so. This showed there was already a huge drop in whooping cough deaths!
It would be interesting to know how accurate the reporting was in those earlier days, given the vastness, isolation, low communication, limited transport, limited opportunities to see a doctor, poverty. I'm sure the earlier figures would have been a little higher.
I have references to the earlier figures above, if needed.
So we may need to rethink the vaccine effectiveness v vaccine damage issue. The latter is not properly known, due to insufficient studies/reporting and disclosure of some conflicting studies that have been done .
My tip would be to - let go of the hype, and fear mongering you regularly see in the media.
Cheers.
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