3rd not vaxed, now has pneumonia....

[vwmama]

I am reading on pneumonia since my other 2 have never had it. I am sad to read that vaxed kids get it less. My 16 mo old unvaxed ds has been sick with a bad cough from colds for almost a month. We have taken him in 2x in that time frame. the 2nd time, yesterday we had an xray taken and was told he has pneumonia so we are to start zithromax. I don't want to unless I have to. BUt his oxygen level is low due to the fluid on the lungs. I also don't want him to get worse. Today his oxygen level is slightly better and I am almost ready to start the antibiotics but really don't want to!!!! I am wondering if there is any truth to the statement that pneumonia occurs less in vaxed kids?

[shelbean91]

I was fully vax'd for my time (born 73) and had pneumonia every year at least once until I was 12 or 14 and was hospitalized for it twice- a week each time.

[greyskye]

i dont know about the vax no vax issue. here is what my herbal prescriptions book says about pneum:
antibiotics may be prescribed for bronchitis and pneumonia. however, these drugs may not be effecrtive and there is evidence that taking antibiotics does more harm than good. the person thaking the drug gains no resistance against the virus, but loses the beneficial intestinal bacteria that aid digestion.
The natural approach to treating bronchitis and pneum avoids creating new disease problems. it involves two goals: stimulating the normal process that expel mucus and stimulating the immune stystem to deal with viral infection. expectorant herbs increase the dluididty and volume of phlegm and stimulate couchg. they are not cough suppresants since c.s. traps phlem in the brochi and lungs. use herbal threatments afterer recieving a definitive diagnosis especially if there is preexisting condion...

[greyskye]

most cases are not helped by antibiotics because its a viral infection. change in phlem color does not necessarily mean a bacterial infection.

avoid dairy products,processd foods, sugar, sweet fruits, and white flour all of which can lead to the production of more mucus. eat a variety of vegatables. use tiger balm on the chest to increase blood cirulation. blow up a ballon a few times daily to aid in recovery. this helps to reduce the breathless feeling. do not swallow mucus. eucualpytus throat drops by ricola help open up air passsages. do not use cough suppres.

they have lots of other suggesitons. with a young child all herbal remedies have to be cut into a fourth. not sure if sucking on lozenges would be doable. maybe doing an infusion with steam and a blanket to breath in vapors.they recommend a steam inhaltion of german chamo, elderberry flowers, and lemon balm to soothe irritaiotn and relieve pain.

hth. need more info? just ask

[polka123]

I respectfully disagree. My fully vaxed DD had pneumonia & bronchitis as a kid.
I feel every person has their "prone sick areas"
mine is ear, nose & throat, etc.
I'm not sure there ia a correlation, other non-vaxers want to comment?
hope your babe feels better soon

[~Quse~]

One of my sisters used to get pneumonia relatively often. My other sister and I never got it. All of us were fully vaxed. My dh has also had trouble with it and he's vaxed as well. Not sure if that helps. I don't really know many unvaxed people.

[~~sam~~]

My son was admitted with that last night,he is fully vaxed.

I hope your baby gets better soon

[Gitti]

Originally Posted by vwmama

I am wondering if there is any truth to the statement that pneumonia occurs less in vaxed kids?

Do vaccinated kids have less risk of peumonia?

Well obviously I don't think so or I would strongly suggest that my grandchildren be vaccinated.
But the vaccine manufacturers certainly make that claim. So it depends on what you want to believe. If you want more than mere believes, you have to do research. Then you can make an informed decision.



If I were in your situation though, right now I would be reading everything I could about pneumonia and how to treat it naturally without giving my child antibiotics.

And then, once I have all the information to deal with the problem at hand, I would go back and review the vaccine to make sure I had in fact made the right decision.


Pneumococcal Vaccine

The vaccine trial had no placebo group, rather it had a control group of children who were given an experimental menigococcus C vaccine. Prevnar administered children had 4 times more seizures and they had 4 times more gastritis than the control group. Significantly, more children who received Prevnar developed asthma.

Vaccination Against Colonizing Bacteria

A recent report from The Gambia showed that a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine reduced carriage of serotypes included in the vaccine but increased carriage of other pneumococcal serotypes

Prevnar Vaccine

Cantekin discussed the new Prevnar vaccine for pneumococcal, as endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. "The alleged benefits for this new vaccine are greatly exaggerated and the risks are significant," said Cantekin.

Does Prevnar Prevent...

[Katana]

I'm sorry your baby is sick. Pnuemonia can be scary to deal with.

My ds, unvaxed, was diagnosed with atypical pnuemonia when he was 4.

I don't know if it was true pneumonia, because his chest x-rays went from showing something that looked like pnuemonia to not showing anything at all in a week and a half, which is usually considered a miracle. So the pediatrician called it extremely mild, contact derived, atypical pnuemonia, and said it was a miracle, the way he recovered.

He was off the antibiotics by day 10, and that was that. He wasn't on 'pnuemonia' antibiotics, just more of a general one, supposedly to keep him from getting worse.

I don't think my ds's vaccination status had much to do with him getting pnuemonia, other than maybe he would have gotten it worse, had he been vaxed. But that's just my opinion, formed on how well he recovered from it.

He was run down, not sleeping well, and not eating well at the time. I think that had more to do with him coming down with his sickness. He was already run down, and vulnerable to whatever was out there.

He also takes after both dh and my younger brother as far as healthwise, and dh had it when he was two and my brother had it twice before he was a year. There was no pnuemonia vax in '77, which is the year they both had it, ironically. It was just a 'bad' year. The one doctor in the office told me that she hadn't seen so many kids sick with pnuemonia (this was 2003) since the late '70's.

I think there's a genetic disposition to certain diseases, whether you're vaxed or not. All the males in my family, and dh's struggle with the lungs and the throat when they get sick. Ds is no different, other than I try to supplement him with things to help his lungs and throat stay healthy.

Again, I hope your ds gets well soon.

[Mylie]

Well I am no expert but...

my son was fully vaxed and the year between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 half in the winter months he had pnemonia 11 times...He also had asthma...But the winter before he had it 7 times and he gets it fairly often now and he is 15...I stopped vaxing at age 8(they wanted him to get the flu shot in 2 seperate doses each winter to prevent pnemonia)as the shots were not preventing the pnemonia from setting in anyways...

They were having a health fair at the YMCA last week and wanted my son to get the flu shot (it was free)when they heard he had asthma....I politley declined....They argued with me for 10 minutes and the whole time I just kept saying no thankyou and wouldn't argue with them...They finally just stopped asking and I guess chalked me up to being a loose goose of a mama.. :LOL


From my exsperience I would say no but again I am no expert and am only going on my exsperience with my own son...Love Mylie xx

[LilithX]

I do not really think your child's illness is due to not being vaxed. Was it caused by a vaccine preventable illness?
Neither of mine (unvaxed) have ever had it, and I have known a few were were vaxed and had it.

In fact, mine have always been far healthier than their vaxed peers, with hardly a cold or other illness to report over the years.

I'm sorry your child is ill, but I really don't think it is linked tro vax status. JMHO.

Lilith
Mom to John, 12
Sage, 5

[CluckyInAZ]

I got pneumonia shortly after being born. My mother thinks the nurses let me asperiate spit up or something. I was fully vaxed but I got pneumonia once a year for several years, then it turned into twice a year until I was in middle school when I stopped getting sick with it. I don't think it has anything to do with vax.

[amnesiac]

I'm sure Wyeth would LOVE for everyone to believe kids who get Prevnar don't get pneumonia. Most pneumonias aren't bacterial though. And even if a child has viral pneumonia they are frequently given antibiotics to prevent secondary bacterial infection. There are some other things that can contribute to pneumonia susceptibility too.

http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/3-nut/411-zinc.htm
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/Y...-bacterial.htm

[vwmama]

Thank you for ALL of your replies. I am so grateful to have people who knock some sense into my head. I have been researching and agree that a person's vax status doesn't really make a difference in getting pneumonia.

So because of your posts, I held true to my instincts and didn't start antibiotics on the Fri nite we were given them.. and by Monday a different Dr said ds was sounding great and "wasn't I so glad the antibiotics were working". I had told her I hadn't used them but she didn't think I meant it I suppose???

Needless to say, if ds had seemed much sicker or his temperature had been higher I'm afraid I might have been tempted to use the meds. I just felt like they were being too quick to judge this one and you all helped me see that. Another suspicious thing was the comment by the Dr.that they had seen a lot of people coming in with pneumonia. That tells me there could be a virus going around! The part that had me worried was ds's low oxygen level Fri, and by Sat it had only gone up by 1 point. Sun I was going to drive to an open clinic and have it remeasured but ds was looking better and by Mon it was up 5 points from Fri and I knew I had made the right decision.

I do question my natural health and healing beliefs, especially when my babies are so sick. Because I myself have autoimmune disease and allergies run in our family I often wonder if I am doing the right thing by not vaxing the 3rd. (Yes it is because of the allergies I have made the decision to not vax the 3rd). I just wonder in a illness crisis will I be able to handle whatever is it my children get. We do not supplement much and I know I have to but it is so confusing keeping all of this info straight.

Anyhow I just wanted to say that when I needed support and reassurance, I got it from you all, so........

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!

[DesireeH]

I am glad that he is sounding better! I hope he is all the way better soon!

[Zuri's Papa]

"Because I myself have autoimmune disease..."

This alone should give you pause about vaccinating the your children.

[Katana]

I'm glad to hear he's doing better.

I'm glad you didn't have to use the antibiotics. It's such a tricky call with those sometimes, and being afraid makes it worse. I'm not against antibiotics, completely, but I'm always happy to hear that someone can recover without them.