dd had her titers checked

[IamPink]

DD had all of the recommended shots until she was 16 months old (you know the drill & I was totally uneducated).
And the great news is that she is immune to CP (she only had 3 little blisters after ds was fully broken out, so yay!!), Rubella, Measles, Diptheria, and Tetanus.
The bad news is that she is not immune to Pertussis.
The really sh*tty news is that we are in WV and she starts pre-k in 19 days. (yes she is going, homeschooling is not one of the options on the table, but my ds3 will be homeschooled & still no vaxes for him!)
Now I'm stuck with seeking and finding pertussis, or giving the shot.
My questions are...
What in the heck is pertussis?
And give me your opinions?

[onlyboys]

I personally would never seek out pertussis. It's also called whooping cough; if you google it you should find a wealth of info about it. I also don't think you can get pertussis separate from diptheria and tetanus.

What about the option of getting a medical exemption? Is that a possibility?

[Juvysen]

Lots of kids who get the pertussis vaccine aren't actually immune. Tons of them get it anyway. Not to mention that having negative titers doesn't necessarily mean you're NOT immune, either. It's pretty imprecise, as far as I've read.

I don't think there's a pertussis only vaccine, either. I wonder ifyou can argue against DTaP since she's immune to two of them?

Are you planning on ever doing vaccinations again? If not, you can just file a religious exemption...

[IamPink]

This is the last thing that she "needs" and I can't file a religious exemption because we are in WV.

I didn't realize that it is whooping cough!!! She was in the hospital 4 different times and that was the diagnosis each time when it was really that she stopped breathing from reactions to vaxes. But they wouldn't accept that as an answer from me for her symptoms.

Holy moly.. can't I just show that she "had" it and that be that? Would that give me grounds for a medical exemption? (of course then I'll have to go through this every single year for school)

[FernG]

you could try to get a doctor to write that she had it and see if they will accept that. MS will except medical records for rash viruses. It's worth a try to see if you can get through the system. Or keep looked for a medical exemption. Sorry, mama.

[miriam]

The reason your dd does not have titres to pertussis despite being vaccinated for it is because the aP portion of the DPT shot is not very effective.

Last time I checked, the aP shot was not recommended for anyone over seven years old; however the great medical expert Jennifer Lopez is recommending that all parents get vaccinated against pertussis. So who knows?

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/...is/default.htm

Pertussis is also known as whooping cough. It is often misdiagnosed as chronic bronchitis in adults. It is dangerous in little babies who can crack a rib from the cough. The cough has a "whoop" sound at the end of a series of coughs.

[amnesiac]

Have you verified that your state law permits serologic evidence of immunity for tetanus & diphtheria? A lot of states don't accept it for those. And there isn't really an accepted lab test to establish immunity to pertussis:

No level of antibody, presence of specific antibodies, or antibody profile has been accepted universally as a quantifiable serologic measure of protection

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5704a1.htm

I'd just hate for things to get messed up for you at the last minute if they won't accept the labs you have.