To think friend was irresponsible to spread whooping cough around?

[Monkley]

DS (3) who is asthmatic and have a very low immune system has just be diagnosed with whooping cough, he is so ill I've been in tears (he has been vaccinated)

I have friend who is against vaccinations and therefore didn't vaccinate her three DC's which I have never had a problem with until now. Our children play together and a few weeks ago she mentioned (after a day of DC's playing together) that all hers had terrible coughs like she'd never heard before which had lasted over a month. She had given them homeopathic remedies but not been to the doctor.

I am convinced DS caught whooping cough from them and I do realise how unreasonable that sounds but I just feel she's been really irresponsible.

The reason why lots of late teens early 20s are catching mumps is because they fall into the group that had only one MMR vaccine

Those who have two doses have higher protection

Hope your dc is ok, another thread about whooping cough
My dd caught it at 2 weeks and was very ill, I was furious and wish I knew where she caught it

Those who don't vaccinate their kids are fukin loony toons Nd IMO shouldn't be Admitted to nursery or school.

Selfish selfish and putting their own and other kids at risk.

Loopy, child goes navy blue and struggles to breathe if really bad like my dd was.

Go to doctor for reassurance. Children are often sick after coughing though as helps clear chest.

Thanks thebody.

I'm quite sure that whatever it is, it isn't a bad case (certainly no blueness). But after a bit of googling it seems that a cough lasting a few weeks should be seen anyway, so I think I'll get DH to take them in.

I read this thread yesterday and took dd1 to the doctors today. She is 14 and has a prolonged cough going on for the last 6 weeks but because it comes in spasms I have kept thinking it's getting better. I mentioned whooping cough to the GP but she was fairly dismissive. We were however seeing her for sinusitis and psoriasis flare up (poor dd is a wreck!) and she gave us a course of erithromycin to see if that would cover whatever's going on. If it is whooping cough - and I think there's a good chance that it is although dd has been fully vaccinated - then at least the erithromycin will ensure nobody catches it from her now although probably the horse has bolted on that one. I really hope dd3 (5) in particular doesn't come down with it.

OP - yanbu. It's a vile illness and it's absurd not to try and reduce the incidence of it in the community.

Also saintly your nearly 40% of 11-12 year olds are the children who's parents only gave them 1 dose, you can't site them when talking about how effective vaccines are as they haven't received the recommended dose.

Your figures show that 87% of 11-12 year olds who have received two doses have immunity.

Of course vaccinated children still get whooping cough, it has never been said that they don't, and the makers of the vaccine haven't implied it was a complete deterrent for the disease. It does (or should) however, make the vaccinated child less likely to get it, or when they do, it should make it less severe.

To whoever pointed out that we had an outbreak here (Australia), yes we did. Infact my friend did what OP friends did (2 of 3 of her children are not vaccinated, the two that aren't got it very bad & the one who is didn't get it at all) but actually sent her infected children to school & childcare (against advice). Her baby spent a couple of days in hospital dehydrated due to throwing up so much.

And a baby died after contracting it, as it was too young to have been vaccinated.

"Eldritch, not all children get it that badly."

"Also, whooping cough isn't always that severe - it can just be a persistent, irritating cough..."

Yes, I suppose you have to tell yourself this bumbleymummy, in order to convince yourself that not immunising is the right thing to do.

It also kills.

Just to add - the vaccine wanes. It does not give permanent cover - nobody ever said it did. You need boosters after around 10 years.

More than likely, when it is passed on by someone who was vaccinated, this is either well after the vaccine has worn off, or right when it is starting to wane.

The best course of action is to be vaccinated in the first place, and then get boosters every 10 years, but this is naturally too expensive to fund on the NHS.

Anyone who is around young children, especially babies who are too young to have been vaccinated should really get the booster.

As per, the anti-vaxers need to play down the severity of the disease to justify their stance. This is irresponsible. The most vulnerable are very young babies, and the best reason to vaccinate is not to protect yourself necessarily or per se, but to protect them. I have seen footage of a baby with whooping cough and it is not nice at all.

Sodoff, I'm not sure why you picked up on my post specifically considering that other people have said the same. Yes, in rare cases, it can kill and it is much more serious for young infants ( where have I said that it wasn't?) but the majority of people will make a full recovery and will not have complications. You can find this information on the NHS website. If you disagree or think they are being irresponsible by giving that information then you can take it up with them.

BTW studies in the US have shown that immunity from the vaccine starts to wane after about 4 years (some have suggested that even after 5 doses, susceptibility increases after just 1 year) so you would need a booster more frequently than the 'every 10 years' that you suggested.

AFA herd immunity is concerned, immunity from the vaccine wanes so quickly that there is probably no chance of ever being able to achieve herd immunity to whooping cough, even if every child was vaccinated.

All of you who have called this woman irresponsible, have you had your immunity checked? When was the last time you had a booster? Are you sure that your child is immune? You could just as easily be putting babies at risk too.

Irresponsible for not vaccinating*

I do think it is irresponsible to take a child with whooping cough out to visit other children who may be more vulnerable. Although it is a bit unclear whether she was still contagious when she met up with the OP.

The NHS website states that complications are less likely in older children and adults

It also says babies and young children are likely to be admitted to hospital because of the risk of complications

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Whooping-cough/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Where have I said differently Moomins? Or are you agreeing with me?

Your figures show that 87% of 11-12 year olds who have received two doses have immunity.

Which was why I gave the range. Also the second dose there has only had to last about 6 years- would be interested to see what the rates were for late teens. If you do a search on pubmed you'll find quite a few papers give a lower rate than 87%.

The other issue is that in a highly vaccinated population immunity wanes more quickly, which is probably why the mumps vaccine long term efficacy keeps being revised downwards. In the early days of introducing a new vaccination there is still quite a lot of circulating disease giving regular boosters, as that disappears waning immunity becomes more of a problem. I remember Hib being introduced as a 'one dose for life' vaccine, (hooray I thought as I rushed ds1 to the docs) then shortly after it was found, oh whoops immunity wanes after 1 year and a booster is needed

www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/jcvi/childhoodimmunisationoc05.pdf

Years ago, back in 2002 my friend rang into a Radio 4 show to talk to some bod from the Dept of Health and made the point that if you vaccinate against common childhood diseases then you need to introduce regular adult booster. The dept of health bod agreed that that was the case but doesn't seem to have happened.

Agree with what bumbley's said as well.