on the fence about Dtap now

[tatsu15]

My 15 month old received only one dose of dtap when she was 5 months old. Now after reading the news about outbreaks of whooping cough, I am wondering if I should get her a second dose at 15 months. My oldest who is now 28 months received 3 shots, but I don't want her getting anymore than three. Any opinions?

[dakotablue]

Had she had any reactions to any vaccines to date? Why did you stop? If the answer to the first is no then I would consider it. I questioned on here how concerned I should be about Pertussis, because it does worry me, but DS did not do well with the two shots received and DH did poorly with a Tetanus shot, so for us the risk wasn't enough to justify doing the shots.

If however I had already done a shot and there was the possibility one more would make pertussis less harsh...I would seriously consider it.

[Emmeline II]

Multiple doses are a "catch-all"; your dd may already be "caught" .

Pertussis isn't necessarily "harsh" and is often misdiagnosed as asthma or bronchitis because the "whoop" isn't present. My son had Pertussis at 2yo (fully vaxed with DTaP at that point) and bacterial pink eye with respiratory symptoms at 5yo--the pink eye was worse.

Sodium Ascorbate can also result in Pertussis being "less harsh" and doesn't require an injection.

[TanyaS]

Pertussis peaks in the summer and would explain the news reports.

[tatsu15]

Thank you ladies for your input... my daughters did not have any bad reactions, but my 15 month old has eczema around her ankle area that hasn't cleared up since birth. I'm worried she may be more sensitive, which is why I held off the 2nd vaccination for so long. But I read that the Dtap contains aluminum and I'm not comfortable with that either.

[Fyrestorm]

I think the outbreak has more to do with the fact that they are trying to sell the adult vaccine than any actual rise in numbers of infections.

Generally, if you've been vaccinated and show up with a bad cough, they diagnose you with atypical bronchitis. Now that they are pushing the adult vaccines, they are actually testing or correctly diagnosing Pertussis.

Pertussis is endemic and it always has been.

http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2008/02/14/pertussis-yo-yo-stats/

[Lauren31]

Originally Posted by tatsu15

Thank you ladies for your input... my daughters did not have any bad reactions, but my 15 month old has eczema around her ankle area that hasn't cleared up since birth. I'm worried she may be more sensitive, which is why I held off the 2nd vaccination for so long. But I read that the Dtap contains aluminum and I'm not comfortable with that either.

which DTAP can you get? Different manufacturers have different amounts. A lot of vaccines have aluminum though, not just DtAP. From what I understand the shot helps prevent the pertussis from being as symptomatic as it might be without the shot, ie the large whoop, etc.