couldn’t have said it better myself

What these anti vaccination dolts fail to realize is that all persons are at risk once vaccination rates drop too low. An unvaccinated person is in better shape in a vaccinated population than a vaccinated person in an area without sufficient herd immunity. It is time to stop getting medical advice from playboy bunnies and do what is right for your kids. Get them the shots and STFU.

If you pro-vaccine folks would just read a tiny bit you would realize that us “paranoid” parents have reason to be paranoid. Facts: vaccines can kill (SIDS is an example), casue permanent brain damage, autoimmune diseases, pain, seizures, to name a few “side effects”. Fact: vaccine companies are excempt from liability if their products damage a person. Fact: vaccine companies (billions in revenue annually) are allowed to do their own safety testing. Fact: vaccines made in China are “inspected” every 10 years. Fact: there have been no long term studies done here to see if vaccines really improve health or not, but with billions on the line and pediatricians needing their primary revenue stream, I won’t count on that. The immune system is unbelievably complex, and to assume we have this all figured out is flat wrong. If you want to vaccinate, go ahead, I will opt out.

Are you in Smithtown? I am so nervous about this outbreak. I have a 6 month old and I live in Setauket. Hope you all feel better soon.

Actually other macrolides work in addition to erythromycin.

i can’t seem to find the name of the viral form of it. Both forms are caused by the bacterias Bordatella Pertussis and Bordatella Parapertussis. Please give the name of the virus

Well educated, prosperous parents who ought to know better are not immunizing their children, out of a discredited fear that the shots cause autism.

This is leading to an increase of former dormant diseases, including measles and in this case whooping cough.

There are also people who are not immunized and do not get the disease. It is never 100 percent either way unless we are talking about the ebola virus (even then, it is only in the high 90s).

Additionally, we have no good longitudinal research to show how long vaccines are effective. We have good guesses and that’s all.

My point is, you’re brother’s immunity may have dipped to the point that for someone else, they still would not have caught the disease, but for him, because of having weakened lung function from his asthma, he caught it. And then while a person with normal lung function may have only been mildly ill, your brother became deathly ill.

It isn’t as easy as just pointing a finger at a particular group of people.

CJA, what are you talking about? There’s no evidence that vaccines prevent illness? Thousands of clinical trials. Stop spreading misinformation. Asthmatic is right. Research herd immunity and you will understand why this stuff is coming back. Research what has happened in the UK after the infamous now debunked autism link. 15 years later vaccination rates in some areas had dropped as low as 30%. Guess what happened? Bugs that were once nearly eradicated came back. Infected children of people who refuse to vaccinate do infect other youger kids with developing immune systems. It’s cool if you guys want to let your kids get sick and boost their immunity the natural way. Just keep them away from mine. Kids die from these things. Vaccines don’t stop everyone from getting everything. They stop rapid rates of mass infection that lead to epidemics.

For whatever reason, there is not a “reply” button for Jon’s comment below. So, I’m writing it here.

Jon – where do you see that I’ve written “There’s no evidence that vaccines prevent illness?”

Answer: no where.

What I did write was that there are no LONGITUDINAL studies to show how LONG the vaccines are effective.

That is not misinformation.

About these diseases being deadly. How about YOU do some research into the morbidity and mortality rates of the diseases in question.

The true nasties:
polio
diphtheria
tetanus (can be immunized post-exposure)
pertussis (esp. <1 yr.)
rotavirus (esp. <1 yr., but can be treated. Also, it is fecal-oral, like polio, so wash your hands if you really want to participate in not spreading disease!)

Chicken pox (varicella), Hep A, Hep B, even the MMR, Hib and PCV – you have a better chance of dying in a car crash than of any of those. You probably have a better chance of KILLING someone in a car crash. So, is the solution, just don't drive?

You are correct, there is a lot of misinformation and fear-mongering out there. But it is not coming from me. And again, if your kids are immunized, then you should have nothing to worry about.

– CJA, who has been immunized, along with her kids, for Hep B, DTaP, OPV/IPV, Hib, MMR, HepA, pre-exposure rabies, yellow fever, typhoid. I'm not anti-vaccine. I am anti-idiocy.

At the time there wasn’t a safe booster available for adults. That came later. By the way, he was getting an advanced physics degree at the time and it made him feel he was living in a dangerous, ignorant society.

Parents who do not immunize their children are putting their own and other children at risk.

They are also threatening the lives of adults whose immunity has worn off and who otherwise would not have contracted these diseases, were it not for the larger pool of sick people

For SD surfer:

I would say, for all those folks whose immunity might have worn off, stop putting the burden of keeping you healthy on everyone else. Go get your darn booster.

By you being on the road, you are threatening my safety, given the incidence of car crashes. But I’m not telling you not to drive, am I? No, I’m driving a car with air bags, wearing my seat belt and driving defensively.

I’m taking responsibility for ME. How about all of the rest of you do the same and quite whining.

– CJA, who has been immunized, along with her kids, for Hep B, DTaP, OPV/IPV, Hib, MMR, HepA, pre-exposure rabies, yellow fever, typhoid. I’m not anti-vaccine. I am anti-idiocy.

There is no way you can say because kids died from whooping cough it was because of a lack of vaccination. Vaccinations aren’t 100%…in fact (just read CDC reports) in some of the latest measles outbreaks, most of those contracting the disease were immunized previously. The fact that these vaccines “wear off” creates a host of unintended consequences, like older people and babies getting the disease. All you people blaming unvaccinated children aren’t thinking things through logically – just like the physics student in the above posts blaming everyone but himself. If you believe in vaccines, then you know you can never stop injecting them, you will need boosters every 2-3 years. If vaccines work so well, you have nothing to worry about…except for the contamination by foriegn DNA, viruses, bacteria, adjuvants (read poison, i.e., aluminum, mercury, etc) in vaccines, ineffective vaccines, or vaccines made for a disease they never get right (re flu vaccines). You get the contamination and the poison but no benefit. The build of a aluminum in the brain is a very bad thing. There is so much to say about this it could fill volumes…oh wait, there are volumes out there but sadly the provaccine side can’t be bothered with it. I challenge anyone to read a Neil Miller book and disprove or falisify his work. I started out on the pro side until I couldn’t anymore. Educated families aren’t vaccinating their kids because they have educated themselves….and it isn’t just about autism….vaccines kill people every year all over the world. We don’t have a whooping cough epidemic, we have a Vaccine Epidemic (a great book!).

John (below) Please, in all your wisdom, do tell me how my brother is responsible for contracting whooping cough that some infected person was spreading around. There were no booster shots for adults available back then. And one more thing, it’s complete BS that educated families are not vaccinating. My kids are at a school that has programs for kids with high IQs. I can’t think of one that wasn’t immunized. My son got his immunizations during the time when some of the new vaccines weren’t being combined yet. He had more shots than any other group. He doesn’t even have asthma.

Yes – small pox is eradicated and then they pulled the vaccine. Why? Because the vaccine also caused injury and death.

Who are you people who think that YOU can force a parent to do something that may injure or kill their child and then blithely say, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

Stop acting like the decision to vaccinate should be nothing more weighty than the decision to put on clothes before heading out of the house. YOU are not the one who will help care for an injured child.

Besides all of this. even if Wakefield is a crackpot, there is no denying that autism rates are now 1 in 110. WHAT THE HECK? This is not because we are doing a better job of identifying autistic children. There is something going on here.

CJA, Man up and admit you did not vaccinate your kids. Your posts clearly show you are in the anti-vaccine crowd.

Jimmy Jack:

I have been immunized, along with my kids, for Hep B, DTaP, OPV/IPV, Hib, MMR, HepA, pre-exposure rabies, yellow fever and typhoid because I lived outside of the country for 6 years. I’m not anti-vaccine. I am anti-idiocy.

And most of the people who go into medicine just figure all the questions have already been answered, so why keep asking?

CJA.. autism rates are on the rise because its over diagnosed.. its easier to diasgnose a child and give them meds then parents actually having to discilpine their own child for their behavior. I know this because ive seen it first hand many times, kids act one way with their parents and another when they are not.

Fortunately most people who go into medicine want to find the answer themselves. “Why?” is the single most common question I have ever heard from any student in a clinical science.

SickofNY and Will:
I was just responding to Sal’s broad-brush painting of journalism with a broad-brush painting of my own.

But SoNY – there is no way in hell that the rates are from overDxing of the condition. That was once presented as a theory of the rise in rates when it hit about 1 in 200. Somehow it stuck and people just keep repeating it.

– CJA, who has been immunized, along with her kids, for Hep B, DTaP, OPV/IPV, Hib, MMR, HepA, pre-exposure rabies, yellow fever, typhoid. I’m not anti-vaccine. I am anti-idiocy.

Great. And maybe they also think eggs have too much cholesterol why I choose the research that says the opposite.

What is your point? Rational, informed, educated people can and do come to opposite conclusions all the time. That is a part of science. Seriously.

Vaccines are not 100 percent effective. And no drug is 100 percent safe. Children *are* injured every year by vaccines just as there are folks who are deathly allergic to antibiotics, aspirin, ibuprofen and the like.

No one forces 100 percent of the population to take ibuprofen or any other medication. Yet, we feel completely comfortable in trying to force parents to give vaccinations 100 percent. Trouble is, are you or anyone else going to be around to care for an injured child? Or pay burial costs? If the answer is no, then let parents determine for themselves. If you have your vaccines in order and believe them to be 100 percent effective, then you are covered. Quit worrying about what every one else is or isn’t doing.

I eat well, don’t smoke, don’t use drugs, exercise and don’t drive without my seat belt. I keep my guns locked and they always have their safeties on. I don’t speed and don’t cheat on my taxes. I personally think everyone ought to do the same — we certainly would have a healthier, happier society. But I don’t go around poking my nose in everyone else’s private life to make sure they are always doing what is “right.” Even though their decisions can have a significant impact on my bottom line through higher health costs or taxes for more police, etc.

Same with vaccines. If Sandra wants to treat herself or her kids naturally, then you and your family have nothing to worry about. Especially if you already have your vaccinations.

Research herd immunity. If the majority of people think like you vaccinations stop working for a majority of people.

“Vaccinations are required to attend public school”

Not really. It’s very easy to sign a waiver form – check off “religious exemption,” etc,

Your fear of the unvaccinated proves you know they don’t work.

“Eventually the government stepped in and set up a fund and immunized the manufacturers from such lawsuits.” – so you think this means the vaccine companies make no profit? There are 4 million babies born each year in the USA. Let us do the math: 4 million multiplied by about 95 shots by the time they are 5 yrs old, multiplied by about 2 average antigens per vaccine, multiplied by $10 profit margin = nearly 4 Billion per year! (That is profit, NOT revenue). You you and I pay taxes, vaccine makers make huge profits, most of this is not effective, and worst: We OVERVACCINATE our children! Waste of money, and definitely the cause of elevated pulmonary conditions (confused immune system) and elevated behaviour disorder spectra (1 in 134 boys now become autistic) – oh but don’t worry – the all powerful government will step in and save the day…again…

Without doing any research at all, I can prove vaccines are lifesavers. How many children in a family born in the USA live to grow up? How many epidemics wipe out entire communities? That there is even any argument about this is idiotic.

Of course, by having most people vaccinated, others that aren’t vaccinated benefit as well. Too obvious to even discuss.

When pro vaccine people spread their hype and lies, it results in innocent children being harmed by misguided treatments. Get this straight, vaccines harm and kill innocent healthy children all the time, perhaps more so than the diseases these vaccines were designed to prevent. But we likely won’t know for years to go because no one is making these long term studies. Vaccine safety is based on what happens up to two weeks post vaccination.

Another thing, Andrew Wakefield doesn’t define the debate, anymore than Paol Thorsen, eminent Danish autism scientist, being charged with fraudulently billing the CDC for faked autism studies as well as money laundering, does.

Tdap is the recommended adolescent/adult booster for the last 5+ years, as opposed to Td. All adults should get one, not only to protect yourself, but more importantly to prevent transmission to infants. The main reason adults are recommended to receive Tdap is to reduce transmission to unimmunized or insufficiently immunized infants.

The current acellular vaccines are about 80% effective in clinical trials and a little bit less so in community effectiveness trials. Multiply that (call it) 75% by the coverage rate of around 80% and you get a protection level of only 60%, which leaves 40% still vulnerable to the disease. Add to that the waning immunity of acellular vaccines and the protection quickly falls even more.

We have seen an antigenic drift in the bacteria, but 1) we cannot say this is due to the acellular vaccines since the drift was noticed before their implementation, and 2) we have not observed evidence that the current vaccines protect less against the new strands than the older. The acellular vaccine does not contain a whole bacteria but rather pieces of it (antigens). These antigens are still present in the newer strands.

There is a great difference in the disease rates (we really know nothing about infection rates, because infection means the bacterium is in you but not necessarily that it is causing disease) between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations. The quote of the KPBS study is followed by a statement from the same poster that says that reporters are lazy and don’t use google. I’m assuming KPBS is a news station and not a science institution.

In California there was a bump in children with pertussis among the 7-10 year-olds, which was fairly new. The leading hypothesis is that the ones who were fully vaccinated had been vaccinated more than 4 years ago and so their immunity had waned.

What about snot-fed?

Blame the victims. Maybe the brown poor wretched of the world need not migrate to LI?