Daptacel

[ChinaCatSunflower]

hey there! i have chosen to avoid / delay or complete certain vaccinations for my son. in canada (specifically ontario) the combo vac is most widely used. in fact sanofi pasteur canada (the manufacturer) almost exclusively sells combo vacs to canadian customers. i chose to avoid this option for many reasons.

i have found that to choose preferred individual vacs going through local health units is the best way.

i am not concerned about getting vacs for diptheria or tetanus but unfortunately there is no indivdual shot for pertussis. however - Daptacel (for DTaP - which would be my preferred) is not manufactered in canada/ therefore not available in canada. do any of you from the U.S. know how i may get this in canada? or should i not really worry about petussis since the slight number of fatalities occur under the age of 3 months and my son is already approaching this age?

[dot1]

I don't know if this will help, but I completely delayed until 9 months when dd got one dose of Pentacel (the 5-in1) and one dose of Prevnar. I've since abandoned the Prevnar after researching it more; however I'm continuing on with Pentacel at a slow rate (dd is 14 months and has had her 2nd dose with no problems). I'm going to switch to the Quadracel (4-in1) for her 3rd shot. We couldn't get the DTap. The reason I continued with Pentacel was mainly for the pertussis component, but moreso so dd1 would have less chance of contacting pertussis and transmitting to a potential new younger sibling. Plus it's just a nasty disease to go through at any age, and it does make its rounds through the BC Kootenays from time to time...especially among the unvaccinated circles and unknowing adults who just think they have a bad bronchitis.

The public health nurse I saw is close to retirement, and says the difference in vax reactions from the old DTP to the current Pentacel is remarkable - she hasn't seen a serious reaction to Pentacel yet, and says the statistics have shown a big difference too.