Whooping Cough Surges Again in U.S. (Video)

ABC News ^ | May 4, 2012 | Staff

[C19fan]

Video at link

[C19fan]

Nice going idiot parents who don't vaccinate their kids. Millenia of parents who lost their children to this now 100% preventable disease are mocking you.

[momincombatboots]

They will change their tune when it is Polio. The other problem I see is the waning immunity of older folks. Vaccinated children have prevented infection in immuno- compromised folks as well. I also wonder if the viruses will mutate and adapt as it bounces around between immunized and non- immunized populations.

[oh8eleven]

The other problem I see is the waning immunity of older folks.
Excellent point. My first two grandchildren were born in 2011, and both their pediatricians recommended the grandparents get booster shots.
As a sidebar ... my next door neighbor hosted his nephew from Morocco so he could attend college here.
Shortly thereafter the nephew was diagnosed with TB, as was my neighbor's young son.
Good thing we don't have open borders. Oh wait ...

[BuffaloJack]

Last summer my doctor asked me when when my last DPT vaccination was.
Since I didn’t know, it had been so long, he gave me the shot.
I’m glad now.

[BuffaloJack]

When my Asian wife came to the USA years ago and our then infant daughter began going to the pediatrician for vaccinations, I was concerned about my wife since she had never received any childhood vaccinations when she was growing up. We asked our family doctor, but he was not set up for vaccinating anyone. Evidently you can’t buy single dose childhood vaccinations (they go bad if not used in some time frame), so he referred her to our daughter’s pediatrician. As our daughter got her shots, so did mom.

[GrannyK]

Hubby has been having health issues with no answer, blood work shows he had whooping cough recently...he is 72 years old. Dr. put him on antibiotics & he is still coughing, so not sure about the diagnosis now.

[raybbr]

Nice going idiot parents who don't vaccinate their kids. Millenia of parents who lost their children to this now 100% preventable disease are mocking you.

You believe that bs? Oh no, it couldn't be the millions of illegals infesting our country, could it? The parent opting out are few among U.S. citizens. This is squarely on the shoulders of open borders politicians and advocates.

[aruanan]

Getting the history I said “ well, he’ s had all his immunizations hasn’t he. Silence. Then “ no I don’t believe in them”.

So my response was, “ let me get this straight , you didn’t get any immunizations for your child, now at 3 am you suddenly feel its an emergency and are worried your child has whooping cough?” The moms responded was” I’m not going to discuss this now.

Keep handy a picture of a family cemetery plot from the pre-immunization days with all the little tombstones of dead infants and children and say, "They didn't believe in them either; of course, the reason was because immunizations weren't invented yet. Do you think they would have wanted a choice to believe in them?"

I know you couldn't actually do that in an ER situation, but...

[aruanan]

I also wonder if the viruses will mutate and adapt as it bounces around between immunized and non- immunized populations.

If someone is immunized, the pathogen won't be there to mutate. Immunization doesn't mean that it is present, replicating, and able to be shed but otherwise not causing disease. Being present, replicating, and being able to be shed IS the disease. Some people, like Typhoid Mary, can tolerate a pathogen without dying or showing outwardly much of a sign of being infected, but that's because of a resistance in that individual, not a mutation in the pathogen. However, repeated instance of a disease in a population does eventually tend to result in less virulent forms of the disease. It's just that with some of them the costs to be borne to reach that point are too high when you can induce acquired immunity now in a single individual rather than waiting thousands of years for the development of some sort of innate immunity in a population, either of the disease or one of its vectors.

[Adonijah1943]

My 18 year old granddaughter had whooping cough about a year ago and she was vaccinated when she was a baby. The doctor said she should have been vaccinated again when she was 10 but no one told us that at that time.

[elk]

Indeed, FReepers should do some research into the pertussis vaccine in that DPT combo before casting aspersions on the parents who may choose to avoid the vaccine damage risk.

I am amazed at how unkind (and hysterical, even) folks get on this forum when they think they are at risk from the unvaccinated, and suddenly they become Big Government advocates, wanting the government to impose its dictates on people, to take away their freedom to choose against a medical treatment.

Folks should remember that Freedom is risky. It comes with a price. It allows people to make decisions you might not agree with. Even if it's "for the children." Our country would not be here if folks, with children, didn't take the risk of crossing the Atlantic for freedom from tyranny.

Think about it.

[momincombatboots]

I suppose it’s the bacterium vs viral infections. Bacteria like Staph A and even good old E Coli seem to be developing survival strategies in the wake of antibiotics.. but viruses are unable or slower. I hope. Typhoid Mary, the prime example of natural immunity. Always fascinating thought over morning coffee. Endemic populations, and such, exposure to the full virus vs pieces of it.

[dps.inspect]

Not to mention, this is why you need "LEGAL" immigration...

[Oatka]

Back in the ‘70s, a buddy of mine was taking some medical courses. The class went on a field trip to the Long Beach, CA harbor and brought back mud samples to be analyzed. He said he was appalled at the toxic mix of pathogens and said that if the population hadn’t been immunized, half of ‘em would be dead.

Now add in the Third World diseases the illegals are bringing in to a population not immunized and the vision of white man smallpox vs the red Indians comes to mind.

[momtothree]

“.. this is squarely on the shoulders of open borders politicians and advocates”

100% correct, raybbr. This is from the third world countries shipping people into the U.S.

[beaversmom]

I believe I had this a couple of years ago. Had a cough, then rattle and a wheeze that last nine months or more. I never got it checked out. I guess I should have.