Local hospital seeing more newborns with Whooping Cough because people aren't vacinnating

[aufaniae]

Just had a chat with a nurse friend and she says the numbers of newborns admitted to her hospital as very ill with Whooping Cough is rising, because people aren't vaccinating.

I fully understand that there are reasons why some people can't vaccinate, but I am just so fed up with trying to explain why vaccinating is a good idea to some of my friends who don't do it - or delay it - for spurious reasons like "she's so young, I can't bear to put poison in her just yet".

Or "it's a conspiracy by the pharma companies"

Or "the diseases aren't that bad, I remember having them when I was little and none of my friends died"

My anti-vac friends seem know all about the risks of vaccines and sod all about the risks of the diseases they're preventing! They also don't seem to have grasped how their actions may affect others.

It's very frustrating, and terribly sad when you hear stories like the ones my nurse friend told me today.

OK, rant over, just had to vent!

Interestingly enough I work in an area with a high higher education population and the infectious disease people have been around to see us this week as several of our adult customers have tested positive for whooping cough, barely any contact with the younger generation, so it's looking likely that the disease is entering the country one way, through the inbound 'foreign' student population. FYI.

Hmmm, so yet another conspiracy theory, numbertaker? Wasn't that with the mmr? Now those nasty big pharma folk are burying evidence showing that immunity to whooping cough passes in breastmilk! Goodness me! Yes, there must be a hidden agenda

This was one thing I speculated about Boris...either here or the other thread, about immigrant pockets enhancing outbreaks. There must be a heterogenous landscape of immunity across the country.

Yeah, I don't really believe they're hiding anything number. Normally they like to go on about how wonderful everything is about bf, probably a bit too much. Immunity against wc (not a virus) is a bit complicated which is why immunity wanes with time I think. So I can believe it's not easily transmitted mother to baby.

I'm in France and everyone gets recalled for whooping cough here every 10 years, I take it that's not the case in the UK? I don't know if incidences of the diseases are lower here though, the GP specifically advised us to check all adults around newborn DD had been vaccinated for whooping cough as there were outbreaks.

I had wc at 4 months old. I almost died.

I have te full article LeBFG linked to - not sure why I was able to get to it, possibly because I have access to some articles through my research.

It compares outbreak with vaccination rates in a number of countries. Some give 4 doses, some 5 doses etc.

I think the most interesting is the East/West Germany.

Oh dear 'blame it on the immigrants'.
Perhaps the reason you're seeing it more in adults, boris, is because their immunity to it has waned, as shown in the articles linked to.

Maternal antibodies to WC don't seem to last beyond 8 weeks.

Was the 'blame it on the immigrants' aimed at me?

I wasn't. It's just interesting to see the differences between vaccination rates and wc in populations that are virtually identical.

I will never understand why people think it's ok to pump tiny babies with poisons that don't work. It's too late when the damage is done. There is plenty of info out there to make an INFORMED decision about vaccinations. You will only get a one sided argument from anyone in the health? service they are trained and conditioned to give scripted information and at the end of the day it's their job.There's plenty of information in libraries and on line about how vaccines DON'T WORK and are dangerous, causing untold health problems for babies that last throughout their lives. Vaccination is a multi billion pound industry that is protected and covered up by governments with no interest what damage is being caused. They pay out to vaccine damaged children when they have to but it is all kept quiet and they can always rely on the 'sheep' instinct of people not wanting to stray from the norm and have their children vaccinated for fear of being seen as making a fuss. In ALL the outbreaks of whooping cough most of the children were vaccinated!!!!! :(

Yes there is plenty of informed information out there. You obviously havent read a word of it.

bruffin you should work for the government ;) Im going to look for some informed information- So far I've found a lot more informed information` about how these figures were improving BEFORE any introduction of vaccines. The government just hijacked the information and turned it to their advantage. Your last post hasn't really addressed anything I said ???

no I don't agree. why not the mmr for your dc if you don't see anything wrong with it?? why mention the auto-immune problems if it's not relevant?

Again with the conspiracy theories. Vaccines really aren't that profitable compared to say a long term antihypertensive drug or diabetes medication. Just in the same way how antibiotics don't make much money, hence why the development of both these type of drugs are slow because pharmaceutical companies just aren't that interested.

Vaccines aren't perfect because immunity for things like whooping cough can wane, but immunity for whooping cough can also wane following natural disease. And the whooping cough disease in an infant can cause long term lung damage, brain damage and at worse death. So considering there is A LOT of whooping cough going around at present, those who choose not to vaccinate are taking a risk and should their babies fall ill, it will be the same healthcare services left picking up the pieces.

'The government'? You mean just the UK government? Or is this an international conspiracy of every government of every developed country in the world? Oh, and I guess the WHO is on this big conspiracy as well. LMCG - you don't realise how ridiculous you sound.

You do realise, LMCG, that the reason that most children in whooping cough outbreaks were vaccinated is that most children ARE vaccinated. What's important is the relative risk and it's far far more likely that an unvaccinated child will get whooping cough. Importantly for the individual (rather than the community for herd immunity) the whooping cough vaccine is actually VERY effective in preventing severe whooping cough and long term morbidity and mortality. The problem is that it's not so great in conferring herd immunity because even vaccinated children with less severe whooping cough can still transmit the disease (although are less contagious than unvaccinated) which will therefore reduce the protection to infants who too young to be vaccinated.

I have also done many hours of research into vaccines (just not on the crankosphere) and, as a result, made sure my kids were also vaccinated against chicken-pox as well as the regular UK schedule. I also get them vaccinated against the flu when possible.

I love the implication that the cost of vaccinating child generates more profit for pharamcetical companies than it would cost to treat the actual diseases, plus potential lifelong side effects. Yes there is profit to be made, but not as much as in treating the disease, surely?

And especially because if you eradicate the disease you totally wipe out the profits!

Bumblemummy, It's not me blaming it on the immigrants, I was explaining (badly obviously) that the HPA had been in touch, as the adult (not immune to due vaccinations not having been boosted) population has been hit, BUT the source in our area does indeed appear to be indicative of the local university immigrant population, who are un vaccinated/boostered adults (I know quite a few people who have had it recently!)