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Covid

To think that the Corona virus is a sharp reminder of why vaccinations are so important

109 replies

Mummypigisalwaysright · 29/02/2020 06:45

All these people in quarantine with suspected Corona virus shows exactly the lengths we'd have to go to if something like measles or mumps started doing the rounds again.

Quarantine used to be standard for things like mumps, measles, diphtheria. My nan today told me the harrowing story of when she had to be quarantined in hospital at two years old for two months because she'd been exposed to diphtheria. She had forgotten how to talk when she came out. I recently re-read a childhood favourite, the twins at st Clare's, and in one book the twins were quarantined as they had played tennis with a child who had come down with mumps. It used to be a common occurrence and was really the only way to prevent the spread of the disease.

My generation (early 30s) and the few generations before me have never really had to deal with things like quarantines because vaccinations have mostly eradicated the disease's that plagued our older generations childhood's.

Would our society cope, would our NHS cope ,with so many more vulnerable people who could really be very ill should these illnesses come back? Would workplaces cope with parents off work if they had a child that had just come into contact with measles they then had to quarantine?

It's a very sobering thought that we take for granted these diseases have mostly been eradicated due to the pain and experience and research of our past generations.

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bruffin · 29/02/2020 07:01

Yes, DH was also in quarantine hospital for diphtheria when she was 3 ,also left her with heart problems.
When I got measles back in very early 70s we had an official letter to say quarantine. There also used to be notices in library books , saying not to return if there was measles etc in household

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LolaSmiles · 29/02/2020 07:07

YANBU at all. Unless there's medical reasons such as allergy or compromised immunity there's no reason to not vaccinate in my opinion.

Though I'm sure someone's going to claim they have "done their research", not vaccinated and their child hasn't caught measles so it's all a big pharma conspiracy.

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Elouera · 29/02/2020 07:14

@Lolasmiles- majority of vaccines also come in egg free versions for those with allergies, so the amount of people that have a true allergy from a vaccine constituent is minuscule.

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Stressedout10 · 29/02/2020 07:19

Anti vaxers really give me the rage.

Unfortunately their heads are so far up their own backsides that they just won't get it.

Anyone who thinks that vaccines cause autism dispite all the evidence to the contrary are to thick to see the parallel.

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sashh · 29/02/2020 07:20

My mum was in hospital
for 6 weeks with diptheria, she was 5, she couldn't have visitors, her parents could come an look through a window. Her siblings couldn't visit.

Any toys could not be taken out of the hospital, so if a child took their beloved teddy in they had to leave it behind.

My brother had scarlet fever when he was little, but by then antibiotics could be given, my mum was so impressed.

Also my mum was exposed to German Measles when she was pregnant with me, she had no idea if I would be disabled, she just had to wait until she had given birth.

When I first started working in hospitals, in the mid 1980s one hospital had been built as a 'fever hospital' so all the
wards were seperate buildings, each had its own kitchen so only doctors moved between buildings.

TB was 6 months in hospital.

So a combination of antibiotics, vaccination and other medical technology has really changed lives beyond all expectations.

When people talk about 'big pharma' and vaccinations I always think, "They would make more money without them"

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JosephineDeBeauharnais · 29/02/2020 07:30

I've had several conversations with people who can't understand why there's no vaccine for Coronavirus and complaining that it's a conspiracy. These are ones who don't have the flu jab - they're not anti vaxxers as such, they simply make decisions based on nonsense such as the flu jab gives you flu. When you explain that any corona vax will be developed and delivered in the same way as the flu jab, well "that's different, they wouldn't make a vaccine that gave you corona". There's no helping people truly.

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LolaSmiles · 29/02/2020 07:30

Elouera I agree. I was just clarifying that there's some genuine medical reasons that most reasonable would know aren't compatible with vaccinations, before an anti-vaxxer gets ready to argue that a minority of people having a true allergy means the vaccines aren't safe.

When people talk about 'big pharma' and vaccinations I always think, "They would make more money without them"
This

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BelleSausage · 29/02/2020 07:36

Obviously no anti-vax people have ever read The Velvatine Rabbit.

On a more serious not. My dad, who is 90, can still recall the five children he want to school with who died of preventable diseases.

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LadyGAgain · 29/02/2020 07:58

The anti vax brigade make me rage.

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DingleberryRose · 29/02/2020 08:01

It’s a sharp reminder that we shouldn’t be eating animals...

The source of the coronavirus is believed to be a "wet market" in Wuhan which sold both dead and live animals including fish and birds. Such markets pose a heightened risk of viruses jumping from animals to humans because hygiene standards are difficult to maintain if live animals are being kept and butchered on site. Typically, they are also densely packed

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Cremebrule · 29/02/2020 08:02

My child had one of the notifiable diseases despite being vaccinated. The vaccine saved her and the ‘mild’ version she had was horrid enough. We had quarantine for that and there had to be contact tracing etc done.

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Defenestratethecat · 29/02/2020 08:02

Yup, DH and I were having a chat last night and wondered whether anti Valera would be queuing up for a corona vac. Bet they would..........

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Defenestratethecat · 29/02/2020 08:03

Anti Vaxxers

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Branster · 29/02/2020 08:04

Good point. And specific to this outbreak, washing hands is also very important. It amazes me when I see friends or children coming home from anywhere (especially from hospital or health centre) and don’t go straight to the sink to wash their hands properly and also take shoes off. It’s not like we have a shortage of water and basic soap in this country.

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bowchicawowwow · 29/02/2020 08:05

I had a relation that had diphtheria as a child and was given a tracheotomy to save her. I think anti-vaxxers are mad.

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SimonJT · 29/02/2020 08:06

Some people are just a bit dim.

My son is hearing impaired and has lost toes because his birth mother didn’t vaccinate him. He’s lucky, he could have easily died or lost limbs.

If a parent loves their child, why would they purposely deny them vital medical care?

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PlomBear · 29/02/2020 08:09

They’ll have to bring back the old isolation / fever hospitals. Shame they are all luxury flats now.

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LittleCandle · 29/02/2020 08:19

DM contracted Diphtheria from a classmate when in primary school, before WWII. She was sent to the fever hospital and there contracted scarlet fever from another inmate. I'm sure she said they shaved her head. DD2 had a mild case of measles at about 9 months. She had had all her jabs. She was really unwell, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

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Lindymac · 29/02/2020 14:32

Doctors waiting room touch screens have got to be a bad idea as surely they are going to carry viruses from ill patients.

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flirtygirl · 29/02/2020 15:09

I'm not anti Vax but I would not get a corona vaccine or any new unproven, untested in general populace vaccine.

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flirtygirl · 29/02/2020 15:14

Washing hands is one of the single most effective things an individual can do, but most people don't care/bother but wax lyrical about anti vaxxers instead

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Likethebattle · 29/02/2020 17:54

Washing hands PROPERLY is the best defence. I see people in toilets who just give their hands a cursory rinse, No no no! Warm water, lather up well, remember between fingers and your thumbs. What also baffles me is people who take rings off when they wash their hands, those rings have been in exactly the same places as your hands so they need washing too.

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TeaAndStrumpets · 29/02/2020 18:03

Bow my Mum was the same (born in 1920) she was left with a scar on her neck - like a little tuck of skin. The doctor rushed her to hospital, it was the first time she had ever been in a car!

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ManonBlackbeak · 29/02/2020 18:08

My DM nearly died from measles as a child YANBU.

I think not getting your child vaccinated is a form of neglect personally.

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HoldMyLobster · 29/02/2020 18:13

Where I live, if there is a chickenpox outbreak at school, they exclude all the non-vaccinated kids.

It's amazing how people suddenly decide they will vaccinate their children when it becomes inconvenient not to.

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