Does Anyone Know Anyone Who's Child Contracted Pertussis? (Whooping Cough)

Its not that the immunizations aren't as effective - this illness seems to be more prevelant because some children don't have the immunizations.

K.,

I am obviously going to be a lone voice here. But, you bring up a very good question.

First, to pose another question to one of your responders regarding this illness being more prevalent due to children not being vaccinated... how does that affect the VACCINATED children IF the vaccinations are effective????

Second, do your research. There is a great deal of information out there on both sides of the fence. Please please please go to other sources besides mothers (who will be very opinionated one way or another) or the CDC who takes their recommendations from a group of doctors who have shares in the pharamceutical companies and/or PATENTS on vaccinations. In my opionion it is difficult to take the word of someone like Dr. Offit (who is VERY vocal about getting vaccinations and basically calls parents who don't vaccinate barbarians) who holds a patent on the Rotovirus vaccination. (this is public information and can be verified if you don't believe me) If I held a patent on one vaccination I certainly wouldn't be telling parents they should be cautious about the whole system. Think about it. Money talks my dear.

That's not saying vaccinations are bad. But, think through what they want you to do to your child. HOW many they want to give and when. When I was a kid we received about 12 before the age of 2.... now it is upwards of 36 before the age of 2!!! CRAZINESS!

Dr. Sears 'The VAccination Book' is an excellent source. He does advocate vaccinations, but looks at it in a very factual manner. He has done the research. There are also many other good sources out there.

In my opinion we are trying to cover up poor nutrition and exercise with too many medications. Good nutrition and hygeine go a long way. Of course you have to look at your individual situation. I am a SAHM ... my daughter doesn't do daycare. We are selective with our vaccinations. If I worked full time and my daughter was in daycare, I would have to rethink my approach.

My little sister in law contracted Stevens-Johnson Syndrome from the antibiotics for her whooping cough. The reaction to the antibiotics almost killed her. Not the whooping cough itself.

Whooping cough is a terrible sickness. If your child his having a hard time breathing when cough, it's time to see the doctor.

This website has a link titled "Treatment and prevention alternatives for pertussis" and other vaccination related links.
http://www.mothering.com/sections/experts/tenpenny-archiv...

Don't take ANYONE's word for it regarding vaccinations. Not even a doctor. Do your own research and decide what you believe is right for your child. You will get mostly strong opinions from unresearched people who just believe their doctors who are paid by drug companies for selling prescriptions.

My daughter was not given the pertussis vaccine, but got whooping cough from my friends child who was vaccinated. Her cough was very persistant and sounded kind of like a bark. But if your childs cold has lasted a long time you should probably see your ped. Bronchiolitus (Spelling ?) was going around and could cause coughing for up to 6 weeks. Your child may need a breathing treatment if it is severe enough.

I have a girlfriend whose daughter got whooping cough a few years ago - I think she was 14 or 15 at the time. Her pediatrician told her that the rise in whooping cough and other previously "immune" childhood ailments stems from the increasing number of people who are not immunizing their kids. She said this creates a pool of viable candidates for the disease to make a comeback and the best way to avoid is to immunize. Said that by immunizing, if by chance they should become exposed to it, that the symptoms and severity would be more minor than without the immunization.

ther was an outbreak of whopping cough at my friends daughters college.

It was almost christmas break so they shut the shool and sent everyone home.

After this happened I asked my pediatrician about whooping cough.

He says he has seen it in his practice. They can take a culture to test for it. But drs do not always culture for it. It is treated with antibiotics. It would be just like a bad cold/flu that just hangs on and does not get better. So you would go to the dr after 7-10 days of no improvement in your symptoms.

I thnk the vaccine is effective but it does not last forever and booster shots are needed for teens and adults.

No vaccine is 100% effective. There will always be those few children that get the illness anyway. It all depends on how you body builds up the white cells to defend against it. I recommend that any adults around small children, especially those too small to get their shots yet, get their booster shots. The shots you had as a child probably do not work anymore. Anyway, I'd take my kid to the doc to get checked out. Better safe than sorry!

have your kids had the vaccination? If they have, don't worry about pertussis. It is a horrible sickness, and usually is not confused with a cold. If you think your children have been exposed and they are not protected, then contact your doctor. It is also very contagious. Many dr.'s haven't seen it because everyone was vaccinated, but as people choose not to have their kids vaccinated,it comes up. If you think your kids might have it, take them to the dr. immediately, and please keep them away from other people. The immunizations are just as effective as they always were.

YES! I actually had it last year for 5 weeks! Then it just stopped! Our family Dr. also had it for 6 weeks! He said it was starting to go around again! The cough is terrible!

Whooping cough is being diagnosed in several areas. If you suspect it, get to the doctor. My sister is a teacher and everyone who works with the students has been asked to take preventative antibiotics. It is highly contagious and they had a sibling who got whooping cough from a pre school and the sibling brought it to the elementary school. It is a cold that doesn't go away, so take precautions and alert the school if you get it immediately.

I've never had to deal with whooping cough - thank God! However, my oldest daughter will get a cold and it will go on and on forever - often developing into bronchitis. Last winter she got pneumonia twice (same year she started school). The rule of thumb we use if a cold lasts two weeks or longer AND/OR the cough sounds hollow and deep. We also listen for wheezing when she is breathing. At that point we take her to the doctor, if it's on a weekend when she crosses the corner we do not hesitate to take her to the hospital. We even discussed it with the doctor after the first bout last winter and he told us that direction was the correct one to take. We've always been very in tune to our children's health, and have very rarely been wrong. If we feel that there is something wrong, we take action and are usually right. The rule of thumb our doctor uses when it comes to a cold is that over two weeks has turned it into bronchitis. I know that not all doctor's use that rule of thumb, but ours does.

My 60 year old mother just recently had it and has lots of contact with my 3 1/2 year old and my 1 year old. My 3 1/2 year old never showed any signs but my 1 year old got a bit of a cough. The vaccine is supposed to help keep from getting the pertussis really bad, as it can be terminal if left unchecked. I am 37 and I got a mild case as well.
Pertussis is a very highly contagious disease....the health department gets involved when it's reported.
C.
BTW: Our treatments for Pertussis was a 2 week treatment of Zithromax antibiotic. Cough lasted 6 weeks.

They often now recommend a "booster" vaccine at certain ages, for two reasons 1) like other mom's have said there are a number of people who have not gotten the vaccine which causes #2) the immunity from a vaccine is not as "strong" as one from contracting the actual disease and when you combine #1 with #2 you have a problem. They offer a booster for pertussis with the tetanus shot - you might want to talk to your doc about getting it for you or your family if you are concerned. So, yes you can be immunized and still get it.

It is treated with antibiotics, big heavy antibiotics. Drs can diagnosis the condition based on the type of a cough, which often sounds more like a bark as a person coughs all the air out of the lungs and then a bark or "woop" sound occurs as the lungs then re-fill with air. Typically its a cough that lasts longer than 4 weeks and results in the above symptoms.

My MIL doesn't vaccinate her youngest 3 kids, which, in my book, is neglectful (MY OPINION...don't jump all over me). They have all had pertussus many times, one is deaf from meningitis and one just got over meningitis. You do need a Tdap booster eventually, but ask the doc about that one.

Regarding cold symptoms; if they are bothersome, seek medical help. If you do encounter pertussus, only medical treatment is effective. Please, please don't wait.

~L.