Convo with mom leads to a question...

[AFWife]

Ever since I decided not to vax my mom has told me that if she knew some of the stuff she knows now that we wouldn't have been vaxed. But, she was a new mom and went with the "doctor knows best" mentality...

I asked her the other day if my brother and I screamed after getting the DTaP...

Mom: You used to start screaming the minute we pulled into the parking lot...
Me: No, it's a specific scream afterwards. It's more like a high pitched wailing noise.
Mom: Yeah, I believe you did.
Me: *sits for a second* Yeah...that's caused by inflammation in the brain...encephalitis basically
Mom: *makes horrified face* Well, that's GREAT.

It kind of upset me...I had a negative vax reaction! Does family history set up my children for bad reactions too? Is that sort of thing genetic? I'd love to be able to use this as another reason for not vaxing!

[alegna]

I don't know about in *general* but my grandmother was allergic/reactive to the tetanus vaccine and I was as well.

-Angela

[taterbug1999]

I am not as sure about mother to child, but I do know that a reaction in one child to a particular shot can mean subsequent siblings can have even more severe reactions to the same shot. For instance, my dd had the encephalitic cry. When we finally found our wonderful FP and were telling him our plans for vaccination for ds, I told him of her complications. He said,"Well, if you do ever decide to do any, I would recommend skipping the Dtap, because the reaction could be even worse for him". He is very accepting of non/selective/delayed vaxers, but is still pretty mainstream. He said this on our very first visit with him....I was surprised and impressed to say the least. HTH.

[naupakamama]

I never got my third DTP shot as a baby because I reacted so badly to the second. And my mom and doctor had the smarts to not do any more and did not give this shot to my younger sister either - yay! Of course, I am the one in the family with the horrid allergies.

This is part of what led me to a non-vax frame of mind. Considering my reaction, there was no way I was going to take any chances with my own DD.

[mamakah]

I'm not sure of the answer but I feel that yes, there is a higher risk. My husband had a sister die of SIDS. After reading about the possible link between SIDS and the DTaP, I have just added that to my list of reasons not to vax.

[Peony]

DD1 had the encephalitic scream after her first and only DTaP. Later the IL's said that DH's brother "changed" after some of his vaxs. I do believe that a family history of vax reactions does increase the chance of vax reactions.

[ishyfishie]

Though it's not our primary reason for not vaxing, this topic does play a part in our choice. My older brother had the DTP scream (old vax in the 80s) and when I was little, my mom insisted they give me only a partial dose (1/4 or something) and she thinks I did have a reaction to that and never finished the series. Many of my cousins have had reactions to different vaccines so I certainly feel that there can be some kind of hereditary factor.