I hear that Dtap is not effective..true?

[zachattack]

our 3 month old is not vaxed...i know that dtap is a more reactive vax but is it really not effective?

[AuntNi]

It's widely known that the Pertussis component, even with all boosters, is only about 80% effective. There was a recent pertussis outbreak at my DD's school, and several vaxed kids got it. My DD, who I stopped vaxing at 24 mos, didn't get it, despite sitting face-to-face with a contagious kid. But it wasn't a big deal. I think that boy was out of school for maybe 5 days.

[rabrog]

Not very effective compared to what? I've heard even worse stats on pertussis than the previous poster. DD's never been vax'd for anything and been directly exposed to pertussis at least twice that I know of and has never gotten it.

Jenn

[mamakah]

I don't have any stats, just personal experience.
I have known two children with pertussis. One was 2 when she got it, the other 1. Both were fully vaxed.

[MountainMamaGC]

I had a bad case of pertussis when I was about 7 years old and I was fully vaxed. Pertussis is the only thing that really scares me but the vax isnt effective enough for me to get it for my DD.

[LisaSedai]

I think the official word is that if you get the disease you are vaxed for you are supposed to have a less severe case.

[roxyrox]

I would say not true. It may not prevent your child getting pertussis (cause pertussis is endemic in most populations) but, it will probably result in them having a milder case. It's one of the few vax that works that way. I think a tetanus vaccine is worth having as well, and it gives good immunity to that. Personally, I think the benefits outweigh the risks for DTaP.

[SAmama]

It has been years since I did the research and I am not going to dig it up now, but I would seriously look into problems with the DTaP before putting that into my child. We are dealing with vax injuries and it is not pretty. And of course we never thought it would happen to us. Now we don't vax and we live in rural China. If anyone would weigh the benefits against the risks, it should be us. There is actually a lot of info available about pertussis and dealing with it.

[Marnica]

Yes it is ineffective.....virtually all (except 1) children I know who have had pertussis (about 14 in all) have all been fully vaxed and tthe severity of their illness ranged significantly to mild to very very bad, so getting the vax and having the belief that if your child does get WC, it will be mild is a gamble. The unaxed child who had it had a pretty mild case.
Personally I wouldn't touch this vax with a 10 foot pole. An aquanitances baby dies of "sids" 14 hrs after this vaccine. This was what made me start researching to begin with. This is one of the 2 vaxes that scare me the most reaction wise.

[Evergreen]

I had an opposite experience. I think that for the first year or two of the vax (or after the disease) it is pretty effective (80 percent I would consider pretty good, actually). After that it is pretty worthless.

My dd had it at almost two. Her entire playgroup of unvaccinated kids (6 in all) also got it. None of the ten vaccinated children in her day care got it though. She was the only kid not vaxed for it and the only one who got anything that could be even considered a 'bad cough.' After experiencing the disease though I would still not give the vaccine to a child younger than two or two and a half.

[susienjay]

Originally Posted by Evergreen

I had an opposite experience. I think that for the first year or two of the vax (or after the disease) it is pretty effective (80 percent I would consider pretty good, actually). After that it is pretty worthless.

I agree. We had whooping cough here 2.5 years ago and this was what happened

9 yo (fully vaxed- got WC)
7 yo (had DTP vax- did not get WC)
3 yo boy (had DTP vax- did not get WC)
3 yo girl (had DTP vax- did not get WC)
4 month old girl(1 DTP vax a month before exposure- got WC)

So for our family it seemed like it did work except for the 9 year old who had probably lost her immunity.

I don't know if having that one DTP lessened the symptoms for my dd or not. DTP is a vax I really go back and forth on. She didn't have WC very bad all things considered. She was 11 weeks premature and contracted WC less than 2 months after her due date so she was one of those that could have easily wound up in the hospital with it. I'm not sure what the exact source is that shows Pertussis is more mild if you've had the vax but I wonder if it did help dd at all.

My 1.5 year old son hasn't had any vaxes yet including DTP. If we do it with him at this point I'd only do DT especially since the Pertussis protection wears off anyway.

[DocsNemesis]

My 9 year old DS has had pertussis twice. He is fully vaxed. The first time was at 2 and the second time was at 4. His vaccines weren't even a year old at that point....

My delayed/selective vaxed dd and my unvaxed younger 2 have never had it (or any other VPD's).