DTP and my 4 year old

[sadie_sabot]

I am planning to give my as yet unvaxed 4 year old the dtp...it began with an agreement with my partner that yes, we would get the tetanus, but you can't get it without the diptheria...and then my doc scared me about pertussis, appreently immuity wears off in adulthood and as a result whooping cough is on the rise....she's seen it in her practice and last year a baby in her practice died from whooping cough.

So, I'm planning to do it but have been waiting because my dp is most into it, and s I want HIM to be the one to take ehr in....but he's a full time teacher so it's newar impossible to find a time.

So. the past few nights dd has been coughing like crazy at night, and some during the day, today she coughed and coughed in themorning and only after being awake for nearly an hour did her coughing slow down. She also is congested. so, of course, I'm worried about pertussis....but also, if it's just a cough and a runnynose, is it ok for her to get the vax now, as in, today???

thoughts?

[mangosink0]

I wouldn't give any unwell child a vax.

[CrazyCatLady]

Are you thinking that giving her the vax will "beat" the pertussis if that's what she's got? If that's why you feel rushed, then don't bother since getting the vax won't help her have a better case of pertussis or anything like that. Even doctors used to agree that giving sick kids vaxes was a no no. Just recently they changed their minds and said it doesn't matter. If it mattered then, I think it should matter now. Especially since the only reason they changed the rule is because they're worried about how many parents aren't being totally compliant about vaccines. So to sum this all up. No, I wouldn't do the vax while your child is even a tad ill.

[JBaxter]

I would wait until she kicks what ever she has.

[sadie_sabot]

I suppose it refelcts well on the nurse at our ped's office (who is the one always pushing for us to vax) that she said, no, it doesn't sound like she has pertussis, but why don't you wait until she's over whatever it is before vaxing.

so...we wait!

I'm basically just paranoid about pertussis right now because the idea of a three month long illness....ugh.

[runes]

there are a few threads in the vaccination forum about how to deal with pertussis effectively with vitamin c. very detailed information. i'll try to dig them up.

remember...the vaccination does NOT confer 100% immunity so even though your dd might get the shot, doesn't guarantee that she won't get pertussis.

[sadie_sabot]

ah, thank you. I'm still paranoid... spending 5 am to 6:30 listening to her cough this mornging, I'm still worried about pertussis. I suspected that there are alternatives tto the 3 months...if she in fact does get it I would probably start with the homeopath, but it's good to know there's some resources here, too.

[mamakay]

Just as an FYI...WC is not on the rise. It just never went away to begin with, and now it's being properly diagnosed again. But it's true that immunity to pertussis fades really fast (about 5-10 years even for natural infection). The vax is only somewhere between 33-66% effective at preventing "clinical whooping cough" and it doesn't prevent transmission at all (and natural immunity probably doesn't at all, either) so don't beat yourself up if it is pertussis.

Definitely start giving her lots and lots of sodium ascorbate. It's the endotoxins that the bacteria excrete that makes you sick just as much as the actual bacteria, and sodium ascorbate neutralizes those toxins. I think Vit.C is good for your immune system in some general kind of way, as well, although that's sort of controversial.

[sadie_sabot]

cool, thanks for the info. We're doing a vitamin c flush around here today, anyhow....1000mg for me on the hour, 500 for her every two hours...

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by sadie_sabot

last year a baby in her practice died from whooping cough.

What a coincidence that your practice would have one of the dozen pertussis deaths in the entire country. My first thought would be to call your state/county DOH office (or visit their website) and see if that's actually true. You'd be surprised what peds say in order to get parents to comply.

Regardless, the key word here is "baby." It's highly unlikely a child over the age of six months would die of pertussis.

As far as tetanus --- it's even more unlikely for an unvaxed child to actually contract tetanus, let alone contract and die from tetanus.

[sadie_sabot]

My ped has not ever really pressured me much...anyhow, when I called in, they were pretty clear that my 4 year old wasn't in danger of dying...just a miserable few months.

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by sadie_sabot

My ped has not ever really pressured me much...anyhow, when I called in, they were pretty clear that my 4 year old wasn't in danger of dying...just a miserable few months.

She didn't need to tell you your kid was going to die.

While you may feel she has "not ever really" pressured you - that is precisely what she did by using an irrelevant scenerio (an infant) and misleading information regaring the non-existent return of pertussis . . . and she obviously did a good job because you stated in your first post: "and then my doc scared me about pertussis . . . " and because of this "pressure," you are now complying.

My point - they know exactly what they're doing . . . and parents don't even realize how easily manipulated they are.

Keep in mind that in order to be "protected" from pertussis, you'll have to get your child five doses of DTaP and then Tdap boosters every five years. That should tell you something about the vaccine's efficacy.

[mamakay]

Another thought is that you could, when she wakes up early coughing, go ahead and get up for the morning, and run her a warm, steamy bath that might help her expel any gunk she might be trying to cough up?

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by mamakay

JusBut it's true that immunity to pertussis fades really fast (about 5-10 years even for natural infection).

Somewhere on the CDC site, it says that the vaccine's immunity begins to decline even as early as three years.

[sadie_sabot]

well, our whole household has this cough so we're all coughing and none of us have eprtussis.

Thanks to those of you who talked to me about this without condescending to me.

[mamakay]

Hope you all feel better soon.