I'm new to this subject. I don't plan on having kids for a few more years, which means I have plenty of time to read about vaccines before my husband and I have to decide what we think is best for our baby.
I'd like to know about the last article or book chapter you read on vaccines and what you thought about it.
What did you learn from the article, do you find it to be from a trustworthy source and would you recommend the article or book to someone else?
I'll go first:
Below is the reference for the last thing I read.
Cohn AC, Broder KR, Pickering LK (2005). Immunizations in the United States: A Rite of Passage. Pediatr Clin N Am 52: 669– 693.
I liked this article because it is a well-written broad review article. It lists the reported morbidity of vaccine-preventable diseases and vaccine coverage levels, broken down into two categories: the reported morbidity for the 20th century and for the year 2003. It describes the process of vaccine development and the stages of vaccine testing each vaccine must go through.
The authors talk about each vaccine individually, which was really helpful. They did a really good job explaining why the Hep B vaccine is given to infants. Apparently, adults can have Hep B and not know it. An infant infected perinatally has a 90% chance of getting a chronic infection if he or she doesn't get the vaccination at birth and before 1982, ~20,000 kids in the US were infect annually hep B.
The hep B vaccine was recommended for all because it is hard to identify which mothers have hep B. Now that I know this, I will just make sure myself and my husband get tested before we have a baby and then skip this vaccine if we both are hep B-free. I've been vaccinated for hep B (because of my job) and I really shouldn't have it, but better safe than sorry.
One fact that surprised me was in the last paragraph. The authors say that until the 20th century, ~ half of the children in the US died as a result of childhood ilness. I never would have guessed the number was close to that high, probably because I watched too much Little House on the Prairie as a kid.
I'm going to start collecting articles on this subject and will try to review them all carefully. I will post more article summaries here now and then and I hope others will do the same.
I'd like to know about the last article or book chapter you read on vaccines and what you thought about it.
What did you learn from the article, do you find it to be from a trustworthy source and would you recommend the article or book to someone else?
I'll go first:
Below is the reference for the last thing I read.
Cohn AC, Broder KR, Pickering LK (2005). Immunizations in the United States: A Rite of Passage. Pediatr Clin N Am 52: 669– 693.
I liked this article because it is a well-written broad review article. It lists the reported morbidity of vaccine-preventable diseases and vaccine coverage levels, broken down into two categories: the reported morbidity for the 20th century and for the year 2003. It describes the process of vaccine development and the stages of vaccine testing each vaccine must go through.
The authors talk about each vaccine individually, which was really helpful. They did a really good job explaining why the Hep B vaccine is given to infants. Apparently, adults can have Hep B and not know it. An infant infected perinatally has a 90% chance of getting a chronic infection if he or she doesn't get the vaccination at birth and before 1982, ~20,000 kids in the US were infect annually hep B.
The hep B vaccine was recommended for all because it is hard to identify which mothers have hep B. Now that I know this, I will just make sure myself and my husband get tested before we have a baby and then skip this vaccine if we both are hep B-free. I've been vaccinated for hep B (because of my job) and I really shouldn't have it, but better safe than sorry.One fact that surprised me was in the last paragraph. The authors say that until the 20th century, ~ half of the children in the US died as a result of childhood ilness. I never would have guessed the number was close to that high, probably because I watched too much Little House on the Prairie as a kid.
I'm going to start collecting articles on this subject and will try to review them all carefully. I will post more article summaries here now and then and I hope others will do the same.
