Which vaccines do you consider essential/important? - Page 2

[emmy526]

Originally Posted by calapitters 

IMHO, Tetanus is one of the most useful at every age.  Tetanus is contracted by having a deep wound become infected: step on a nail, hunting accident, etc.  Its is ALWAYS fatal.  Even adults need a booster every 10 years. Anyone can get it at any time.  

tetanus spores are not lurking out there to attack anyone at any time...you actually have to come in contact with an object with the spores in it to contract tetanus, and then you have to let the spores infect the wound.  Can you provide the link to the info you read  where it says its always fatal,  and anyone can get it at any time? 

[EchoSoul]

We don't vaccinate. But if we did, I'd selectively vax against diseases that were the most detrimental, but ONLY if the vaccine ingredients weren't just as deadly, and definitely not on schedule.

I'd vax against MMR and Tetanus, but later in life, and Tetanus only if my children were around a lot of farms, since horse feces is the most common carrier of Tetanus.

[calapitters]

Originally Posted by emmy526 

tetanus spores are not lurking out there to attack anyone at any time...you actually have to come in contact with an object with the spores in it to contract tetanus, and then you have to let the spores infect the wound.  Can you provide the link to the info you read  where it says its always fatal,  and anyone can get it at any time? 

Let me clarify myself by saying that really, anyone can get tetanus, because anyone can come in contact with the spores through some sort of a wound. True, it is not common, thank goodness, but it is there.  I was referring to Devaya's comment about if this would be a worry for a child over the age of two...which it certainly is.  But thanks for clarifying that tetanus is less fatal than I had realized. Scroll down to the "Epidemiology" section in this CDC Surveillance Summary, and you will see that, while the greatest number of tetanus cases is in adults over the age of 20, there are still some cases reported in people under the age of 20, including 1 neonate.  One of these cases contracted tetanus through a spider bite, others through ulcers, gangrene, abscesses, but most contracted it through some sort of acute trauma. 

[campbellsoup]

Thanks so much for all the input, mamas!  This discussion has been so very helpful.  Haven't had much to say but I have definitely been taking it all in.  I checked out The Vaccine Book from my LLL library and hope to get it read soon...... thanks for all the recommendations.  I love Dr. Sear's other books but for some reason, I hadn't given this one a thought.