Tetanus Problem!

[carriepurkhiser]

Hi! I need some help!

My daughter was 1 yesterday. I have not vaxed her at all. I also have a 7, 3, and 2 year old. We followed the vax schedule exactly with our 7 year old - we were stupid and thought we legally had to. We weren't going to with our second and third child but the pediatrician we had was very rude - and made think we had too, and told us our children couldn't attend school without them - blah-blah blah! We discontinued all vaxes when our 3rd child was 5 months and had a bad reaction. We switched doctors.

Our new doctor is very understanding and dosen't make us feel pressured to do anything. He actually attended the birth of our last child at our home. He feels that you shouldn't give antibiotics unless absolutely necessary and the body heals itself most of the time.

My daughter goes in for her 1 year checkup today. My problem is that I cannot find a tetanus only vaccine for her. My doctor has never heard of one for children besides the DTaP or DT combo. Our children play around cows, sheep, rabbits, geese, ducks, everything you can imagine to the norm - cats, dogs, hamsters, lizards, hermit crabs.

I think they are at risk for the tetanus more than the normal child but I am still back and forth on them getting the vax. Anyone have input on this. My children are always going to be working and playing around animals like this. I am still split on whether to get the vax even if they have the tetanus only vax.

Has anyone heard of the single tetanus for children around 1 of age?
Anyone have any helpful info to help me?

Please help!

Carrie

[alegna]

Tetanus only is not approved for use under 7 yrs old.

BUT tetanus is not a risk for children. Never has been. Children have good circulation. Circulation brings O2. O2 kills tetanus.

-Angela

[carriepurkhiser]

Thanks! Do you have any references where I could check this out in more detail?

Also, my husband and I just had a conversation about vaxes. He was so "go to the hospital for birth, bottle feed, give all vaxes". But he seems to have came around over the past 5 years.

All of children were born at home, our third with only the two of us attending. I have exclusively breastfed all my children and cloth diaper for the most part. I stay home with them.

My husband just said the if we get the kids the vaxes, and they have a reaction, then it was meant to be. If we don't get them the vaxes and they get the disease it was meant to be. He says that the con-vax side will say the risk is higher of a reaction to a vax, but the pro side will say the risk is higher from contracting the disease.

The vax thing is left up to me to decide, alone.

One thing I am worried about is, what if one of our children get a "vaccine-preventable disease". Will the welfare be after us, and try to take our other children away. Lord forbid they would die from it, but then what? We aren't bad parents, are there laws to protect parents whom don't believe in vaxes?

Thanks!

Carrie

[Attached Mama]

I don't vax - don't know much about tetanus, but i do know that it only lasts so long w/o boosters and many people dont' get the boosters past school age - and I have never heard of anyone getting tetanus. I wouldn't worry about it.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Fully vaxed children get vpd's all the time. So vaxed or not if they get it there is no reason to think that cps would come after you. Legally not vaxing is not against the law nor is it considered abusive.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by carriepurkhiser

My husband just said the if we get the kids the vaxes, and they have a reaction, then it was meant to be. If we don't get them the vaxes and they get the disease it was meant to be. He says that the con-vax side will say the risk is higher of a reaction to a vax, but the pro side will say the risk is higher from contracting the disease.

The vax thing is left up to me to decide, alone.

One thing I am worried about is, what if one of our children get a "vaccine-preventable disease". Will the welfare be after us, and try to take our other children away. Lord forbid they would die from it, but then what? We aren't bad parents, are there laws to protect parents whom don't believe in vaxes?

Thanks!

Carrie

Sounds like dh is pretty level headed. Interestingly enough, even the CDC admits that the chance of having a vaccine reaction is higher than the chance of even CATCHING *any* of the diseases we vaccinate for. Interesting, eh?

No, no one will come after you if your children get a disease.

-Angela

[krizzanne]

I am trying to figure out some things (researching) on tetanus, now, too. The thing that makes me confident that my dc will be ok until I make the decision is this:
If you have access to modern medical care, and your child has a wound that screams 'tetanus!', you can get the immunoglobulin shot.

[carriepurkhiser]

Originally Posted by alegna

Sounds like dh is pretty level headed. Interestingly enough, even the CDC admits that the chance of having a vaccine reaction is higher than the chance of even CATCHING *any* of the diseases we vaccinate for. Interesting, eh?

No, no one will come after you if your children get a disease.

-Angela

That is VERY interesting! Where did you find that information at? I did not get my child the vax - I am just going to wait and see!

The nurse was very nice, but kind of questioned why I still have decided not to do vaxes. My doctor is awesome. He said when it comes to things like this it is individual choice - and he has no problem with that.

I told him of course that if it was bad puncture wound, I would be in to see him anyhow, then we could give something if it is "SCREAMING TETANUS" (loved that!).

Anyhow, BIG BIG BIG THANKS to everyone - I have found the support and info so helpful!

Thanks!

Carrie
Mama to 4 homebirthed, NO Circ, Breastfed, Cloth Diapered babes! And DISCONTINUED Vaxes!

[Plummeting]

Originally Posted by carriepurkhiser

Thanks! Do you have any references where I could check this out in more detail?

From 1980 through 2000, 70% of reported cases of tetanus were among persons 40 years of age or older. From 1980 through 1990, a median of 21% of reported cases were among persons younger than 40 years. The age distribution of reported cases shifted to a younger age group in the last half of the 1990s. Persons younger than 40 years accounted for 28% of cases during 1991-1995, increasing to 42% of cases during 1996-2000. This change in age distribution is a result of both an incresaes in cases in persons younger than 40 years and a decrease in cases in older people. The increase in cases among younger persons is related in part to an increased number of cases among young injection-drug users in California in the late 1990s.

http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/pink/tetanus.pdf

So if your child isn't an injection-drug user, it's unlikely they'll develop tetanus. If your child did, by some bizarre, bizarre, rare freak of nature develop tetanus, then it is almost 100% guaranteed that he or she would not die. I wouldn't want my child to suffer from tetanus, even if I knew she was going to survive, but knowing that it wouldn't be deadly does influence my decision.

[Spy]

First of all, do we have proof that if you vax, the child will be protected any more than if you don't vax? If we don't, then how can we assume vaccination protects? Tetanus vaccine was never tested for efficacy. There is evidence that people fully vaccinated and with 'protective antibody levels' can get severe tetanus and die from it:

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/320/7231/383
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

[Tracy]

put 'tetanus' in the search engine here in vax. you will find so many threads and I know it will help.

it was the last one on our list...and when it was all said and done (after researchig) we skipped it.

good luck.