Anyone NOT having the whooping cough vaccine?

[Bluepetra]

Im not on here to sway anyone either way, for or against but I'm not entirely convinced I need to have this vaccine. I'm not anti vaccine, but this one has too many negatives for myself. Has anyone else decided not to have it ?

I'm not pregnant, but my 2 young DC and I all had it in 2012. It lasts for weeks, and is very contagious. I got it and passed it onto them, and so DH went in to be vaccinated purely off the back of us having it. I hardly had any sleep when it was at its peak. Nights on end, being woken up but the need to cough.

It is very contagious, and circulates among communities in waves. An email went round our work last week saying there was a confirmed case. I'm surprised, as it swept our city only 3 years ago (I'm not in the UK).

I wouldn't hesitate to have the vaccination in pregnancy (I had the swine flu vax when pg with DC1).

Whooping cough can be lethal in pre-vaccinated babies.

Herd immunity now proven not to work.

Erm what?

I work for the NHS and I know that they trying to increase WC vaccination uptake at all maternity units in London (and I suspect nationally) because there have been some deaths from WC in babies recently. These would have been entirely preventable if the mothers had taken up the vaccine.

I had it. Friends of ours (our age) had a little boy who died of wc pre-vaccine. This was in the last few years, in England.

This vaccine helps protect the baby until they have their jabs. And I found it less painful than flu jab or anti-d.

Even if you had a week feeling poorly after the vacc, that is better than sitting for a week in baby ICU watching your child trying to breathe... and possibly losing them altogether.

Someone said they didn't know anyone with WC, but how would they know they haven't crossed paths with someone infected by it? At school, in the shops, on the bus, any cough might be WC, diagnosed or undiagnosed.

This isn't a vaccine for you, it's for your baby who could be exposed before they can get their own vaccination.

There was an epidemic in England in 2012. Fourteen babies died, all too young to have been vaccinated themselves (there is an appropriate window for vaccination of babies), and none of their mothers were vaccinated while pregnant.

Hence the campaign to have pregnant women vaccinated.

Whooping cough comes in cycles of three to four years. The UK is due another epidemic.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/pertussis-enhanced-surveillance-laboratory-confirmed-cases-in-england-in-2013/laboratory-confirmed-cases-of-pertussis-reported-to-the-enhanced-pertussis-surveillance-programme-in-england-annual-report-for-2013

To those saying "well you don't see it around much now"..that just shows the vaccination is working, it's not a reason not to have it!
I'll be having it anyway.

My friend has whooping cough recently and was really poorly for 3 months!! It's def still about so I'll be getting the vaccination

I had whooping cough 18 months ago. Three weeks in bed. I had a two year old at the time too which was exhausting!

Apparently the vaccine we had at 15 (or so) has run out by the ripe old age of 36.

It was quite prevalent in the south west at the time,, several people in my work had it.

My son suffered damage from the whopping cough jab, which took years of treatment to rectify.

What side effect? It didn't have any on me.

And the last couple of weeks of pregnancy is horrid for me. About 36 or 37 weeks onwards. Nothing to do with whooping cough jab as I had it weeks before.

I had the vaccination, and was very glad - when DD was born there was a baby with whooping cough on the postnatal ward. It was identified after we'd been discharged, so I dread to think how many people were exposed to it. Poor suffering baby, I hope it was okay :( I was very relieved to know that DD was as safe as she could be.

I had it two days ago, nurse told me I might feel under the weather a bit the next day so I braced myself for the worst but.... Nothing. I can feel slightly that I've had a jab in my arm but it's not sore. Actual jab itself was not sore either and over much quicker than when you give a blood sample to your midwife for example.

Stupidly perhaps I googled lots of internet opinions and read stories which scared me beforehand but a quick chat with the nurse put me at ease. Obviously I'm not dismissing those who had side effects but I felt like that's all I read about, probably because if you have a bad experience you are more likely to share it.

Ultimately we are all just trying to do the best for our babies with the information at hand and to a certain extent taking risks. My risk factor is trusting the medical professionals in charge of caring for me and my baby to advise me properly. Having the jab on their advice is something I'm comfortable with.

My DH caught whooping cough when he was a child because MIL refused to vaccinate him. He started school late as a result and still has after-effects now.

I had the vaccine a few weeks ago at 29 weeks and apart from a mildly sore arm for a few days, felt nothing.

Due to being on immuno-suppressants until I was 24 weeks, I am not allowed to vaccinate my baby until they are 6 months old, which I will be doing. Herd immunity is vital to protecting babies like mine who have a genuine reason to wait.

Very topical for me as about to go to get the vaccine this morning. I personally have no hesitation getting the vaccine - I can't believe a reason being given is basically a sore arm - worst part of pregnancy, really? This isn't just for you, it's for the protection of your baby - I for one would happily deal with a sore arm. Plus the vaccine isn't live as far as I'm aware so unlikely to 'wipe you out'. And as other pp's said, the reason you don't see it around much anymore is most likely down to the effectiveness of the vaccine! This thread is scaring me a bit...

I had DD not long after the recent UK epidemic when the babies died. I didn't have the flu jab, but I did have the whooping cough jab, because I didn't want to put my baby at risk during her first few weeks of life. It didn't hurt and I had no side effects.

I can't believe people even debate this, even I remember the epidemic a few years back which killed some babies. I would rather feel like crap for a few days than bring any harm to my daughter. Incidentally I suffered no ill effect from having the jab and can't see how ir can be linked to pre term labour as someone else suggested. I was already at risk of pre term labour for a different reason and still went overdue! I'm off to get my eight week old DD her jabs today including whooping cough which I am glad that I have protected her from for the first eight weeks of her life! Great to hear that those who didn't have the jabs had no issues with their babies, but just cause it was fine for you that doesn't mean it will be the case for everyone.

i have an adult relative who was born "hearing" but was left deaf and unable to speak (due to hearing loss) after contracting WC as a baby in the days before widespread vaccines. i will be getting the jab as soon as possible (currently 27 weeks). i am staggered by the comments about WC no longer being an issue - the last outbreak in the UK was very high profile...

Poppy don't be scared - you are quite correct it is not a live vaccine. I had it on DS and had a bruised-feeling arm for a couple of days but otherwise was fine. It is the low-dose booster that is given - the same one we are given in our teens (though the pertussis antibodies have long since worn-off unfortunately). It is used in many countries around the world in pregnancy and has been for a number of years.

Whooping cough is far more prevalent than any of us know - many cases in adults are undiagnosed and people think they just have nasty and persistent coughs. It's so dangerous to infants and young children - I wouldn't hesitate in getting the vaccine again. Relying on herd immunity is a ridiculous notion in this situation since 99% of the adults the baby will come into contact with won't be immune!

It's not a live vaccine so unlikely to cause much of a physical reaction. Some of the anti vaxx ideas on this thread are just bananas. And who said herd immunity doesn't work? LOL! Totally, completely bonkers. The NHS wouldn't bother with such a programme if it wasn't worth it. Just be grateful that we can have this vaccine for nothing, for minimal effort on our part, and very little physical side effects if any a (bit of a sore arm).

I had mine at 28 (ish) weeks.

If you have to have anti-d I can confirm categorically that anti-d is MUCH more painful than the wc one.

Having said that, I went back to work straight away after having both injections (on separate days) and was absolutely fine.

I accept some people may react badly to some vaccines (feeling under the weather afterwards) but I think the majority are absolutely fine. And even if I had felt a but ill after the jab, I would still think it's worth getting. Much better to have a few days feeling shitty than a dead baby imho. But each to their own!

Thanks mawsymoo - I meant scared at the views/misinformation! Now on dc2 I have long got over my needle phobia (although obvs still not my favourite thing to do of a morning!)

I had DS2 in 2012, at the height of the last epidemic but before they were vaccinating pregnant women, I did ask for it but was refused. As there had been confirmed cases in the area by the time I had him, including a couple of deaths, I was advised to avoid any gatherings (toddler groups etc with 2yo DS1) until after DS2's 8 week jabs. I'm very happy I'll be having it for this pregnancy (tomorrow in fact) to do the best I can for this baby because I was terrified of anything happening to DS2 because he was born a couple of months too early for me to get the vaccine and protect him.