Whooping cough in WA - Page 2

[SweetSilver]

That's crazy if her findings turn out to apply to cases outside of her county as well.  Why aren't officials then asking the tougher questions about this epidemic, and questioning whether their response is appropriate?   I suppose I could understand if they were saying "Well, it wouldn't hurt if we could have an immunization campaign" but they are not-- they are placing the origin of this epidemic on older children and adults whose immunity has worn off.  If they are both right, then the vaccine is not working.  Why aren't they asking these questions?  Will the epidemic just reach a peak and recede for a while, and then they'll say "Gee--it worked!"  

I'm feeling a bit irritated by all this.

[nukuspot]

I think it's not that it "doesn't work" from their standpoint...It just isn't very effective.  It wears off after 3-5 years instead of 5-10 like the D and T they combine it with, and it is not 100% effective in the first place.  I still think for consenting adults who are going to be around newborns to be getting a booster makes sense, because then they might get another slightly ineffective vaccine that lasts another 3 years, enough to protect a new baby THIS time.  But in a long term scheme of things it seems ludicrous, since pertussis peaks every 5 years.  In 5 years they will have to be doing this all again perhaps.  So I think that either of these two outcomes might be likely if officials care enough to make changes after these last few years of outbreaks with the majority of those effected being vaccinated:  1,  They add ANOTHER booster to the vaccine schedule with ANOTHER dose of Tdap for school age kids (probably right before high school).  This would not be ideal in my mind.  OR they 2.  Finally come to their senses and seperate the P from the D and T so people can get a Pertussis booster more often without having to double up on D and T which they frankly don't need as often.  That would be more ideal to me.  But honestly, maybe I'm cynical but I can see them more likely not changing...anything.

[nukuspot]

OR 3.  Create a more effective pertussis vaccine without the risks of the old whole cell pertussis vaccine which was more effective than the new acellular one but full of side effects.  At least no-one doubts that!

[member234098]

Edited by member234098 - 5/25/12 at 4:54pm

[Taximom5]

The exclusion lists or the trial is fascinating. No wonder they only had 5 enrolled in the study. With so many young adults with autoimmune disorders, there's ardly anyone left.

Why would a child whose mother requested saving the cord blood at birth be ineligible for the safety trial?

[member234098]

Good question. I do not have an answer.

[Taximom5]

I wonder if it's because, with saved cord blood, one might be able to prove that vaccines cause mitochondrial disorders.

I've seen a post on another forum from a mom who, having heard about Hannah Poling, had her child tested for mitochondrial disorder before starting on a vaccine catch-up schedule. The test was negative, the mother breathed a sigh of relief, and they started with the vaccines.

Her child developed autism, was retested, and lo and behold, tested POSITIVE for mito.

The mother insists the vaccines caused it.

The doctors insist that the first test must have somehow been wrong.

Here http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2012/04/hepatitis-b-vaccine-causes.html we have a study out of China, concluding that the hepatitis B vaccine causes loss of mitochondrial integrity.

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by Taximom5 

I wonder if it's because, with saved cord blood, one might be able to prove that vaccines cause mitochondrial disorders.
 

OK, that would be seriously unsettling...... straight from serial TV mystery..... I even can visualize the scenes in my head.  Creepy, if true.

[member234098]

Looks like you may be on to something, Taximom.

[BeckyBird]

Whoah Taximom, this is one of the most interesting ideas of the year! Every concerned parent should want to see research into this area.

I just thought of something, as I am typing.....IF there is a difference between the child's cord blood and a sample taken after a disorder had been discovered, how would they determine what caused the disorder?

My idea....what if blood were taken after each vaccine (a day? a week? I don't know), and compared to the cord blood. What could that teach us? Hmmm, just thought of a new research project to do, since nobody likes my animal study ideas lol.

Comparing the original blood to the blood once vaccinated would be a great idea. Take a small sample after every vaccine.  That seems like a lot of little blood "pricks" for the child, so would a small drop of blood work for this? To make it easier on the child?

[sara125]

...back to Pertussis for a sec...

A friend of mine had a baby last August, they were all (mother, father and baby) vaccinated with DTaP and at 4 months the baby got Pertussis. It was definitely challenging, but they got through it. Needless to say, the vaccine will not protect you.

[mamahart]

This is a curious thread as my extended family is dealing with pertussis.  Our pediatrician actually refused to test for pertussis and said that all extended coughs were being diagnosed as pertussis in unvax'd kids.  So I am wondering about how accurate the numbers of actual pertussis cases are here in WA state.
 

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by mamahart 

This is a curious thread as my extended family is dealing with pertussis.  Our pediatrician actually refused to test for pertussis and said that all extended coughs were being diagnosed as pertussis in unvax'd kids.  So I am wondering about how accurate the numbers of actual pertussis cases are here in WA state.

 

Well, there are quite a few reasons, partly financial and partly political, for refusing laboratory confirmation. As a doctor said in the article linked in the OP, few stakeholders consider routine lab testing to be financially savvy; it costs more to do that than to get everyone vaccinated with a vaccine that may or may not work.

Politically, refusing lab confirmation for unvaxxed or undervaxxed people helps manipulate the numbers in an ideologically pleasing manner; it can help hide or at least minimize the fact that most of the cases in this outbreak are occurring in vaxxed individuals. It also helps inflate the overall number of pertussis cases, thereby helping the state get federal funding.

Either way, it involves replacing facts with anecdotes.. You LOOK like you MIGHT have pertussis, so let's go ahead and dx you that way....

[nukuspot]

I have a totally unvaccinated child and when she got a respiratory virus 2 weeks ago the FIRST thing her ped did was send her for a PCR nasal swab. So I imagine it differs with each doctor. She did try to get us to give her a Z pack but I told her we would rather wait until the culture came back as I don't take antibiotics lightly. I told her we would remain quarantined until the results (which were negative) came back 5 days later.