Why Are Babies Dying of Old-Fashioned Whooping Cou

[ttt]

Sept 6, 2012 5:21:30 GMT -5 @irishbride said:

This is why I don't get why adults don't have a pcp and go to check ups when they aren't sick. That is when they catch things like missing boosters!

I don't have a PCP. We've moved three times in the last 5 years and there very often aren't many PCPs in network for our insurance where we've moved. When my H was having trouble breathing and I tried to get him an appointment with a PCP, the wait was 4 months. I haven't had one in years - the only regular doctor I see is an OBGYN (and now I don't even have one of those).

Considering how many people have very limited time off work, I am not at all surprised that your average person doesn't take half a day of vacation to see a doctor when they're not sick (assuming they even have a PCP in the first place).

[wawa]

Sept 6, 2012 9:59:55 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Can we talk about the development of a new vaccine, and whether that will actually happen? I mean, the gov. is already giving incentives to drug companies to keep manufacturing the vaccines that they want to drop. Are they really going to be motivated to create a new one?

Drug companies aren't the only ones capable of developing vaccines though, right? Could the neccessary research be done at a the university level through federal grant money at one of the big medical schools?

[pixy0stix]

Sept 6, 2012 10:11:00 GMT -5 @mrdobalina said:

I'm up for a good Amish picketing. They don't vax right? I personally boycott Mrs. Yoder's pies because of it.

This is actually a mis-conception. They do vaccinate. I remember this from the "Amish don't vax and have low incidences of autism!" stuff that was going around.

[pixy0stix]

Sept 6, 2012 10:09:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

Sept 6, 2012 9:59:55 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Can we talk about the development of a new vaccine, and whether that will actually happen? I mean, the gov. is already giving incentives to drug companies to keep manufacturing the vaccines that they want to drop. Are they really going to be motivated to create a new one?

Drug companies aren't the only ones capable of developing vaccines though, right? Could the neccessary research be done at a the university level through federal grant money at one of the big medical schools?

Maybe? This should really go into a category of "I don't know." You'd still have to get a drug company to manufacture the vax for the general populace.

[pixy0stix]

Sept 6, 2012 10:15:15 GMT -5 @mrdobalina said:

Sept 6, 2012 10:12:51 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

This is actually a mis-conception. They do vaccinate. I remember this from the "Amish don't vax and have low incidences of autism!" stuff that was going around.

so the pies are in?

Eat your fill of pies! nom nom nom

[wawa]

Sept 6, 2012 10:13:58 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Sept 6, 2012 10:09:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

Drug companies aren't the only ones capable of developing vaccines though, right? Could the neccessary research be done at a the university level through federal grant money at one of the big medical schools?

Maybe? This should really go into a category of "I don't know." You'd still have to get a drug company to manufacture the vax for the general populace.

true. But I keep getting told that it's the R&D that makes shit so expensive. Manufacturing is peanuts in comparison. Soembody is already making the (not as effective) vaccinne, right, so if the expensive part is taken care of and they are just handed a new formulation I can't imagine things would really change that much.

[meshaliuknits]

Sept 6, 2012 10:09:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

Drug companies aren't the only ones capable of developing vaccines though, right? Could the neccessary research be done at a the university level through federal grant money at one of the big medical schools?

I don't see why not.

A lot of pharma companies partner with universities for research, which is good. Research is spendy with uncertain results and pharma companies have a fair amount of ready scrach. But I imagine it guides the research in specific directions in a lot of ways.

And, to tie this back to pharma companies not being entirely evil and self-serving, I'm compltely up to date on all of my boosters because I get them (and my phsical until recently) at work. And they even give me vaccine's developed by our most hated rival. Or, as I like to call them, the company that sold me to these crazy people.

[ttt]

Sept 6, 2012 10:16:47 GMT -5 wawa said:

Sept 6, 2012 10:13:58 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Maybe? This should really go into a category of "I don't know." You'd still have to get a drug company to manufacture the vax for the general populace.

true. But I keep getting told that it's the R&D that makes shit so expensive. Manufacturing is peanuts in comparison. Soembody is already making the (not as effective) vaccinne, right, so if the expensive part is taken care of and they are just handed a new formulation I can't imagine things would really change that much.

I'd also like to point out that pharmaceutical companies actually spend more on advertising and marketing than R&D.

[wawa]

Sept 6, 2012 10:21:32 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Sept 6, 2012 10:09:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

Drug companies aren't the only ones capable of developing vaccines though, right? Could the neccessary research be done at a the university level through federal grant money at one of the big medical schools?

I don't see why not.

A lot of pharma companies partner with universities for research, which is good. Research is spendy with uncertain results and pharma companies have a fair amount of ready scrach. But I imagine it guides the research in specific directions in a lot of ways.

And, to tie this back to pharma companies not being entirely evil and self-serving, I'm compltely up to date on all of my boosters because I get them (and my phsical until recently) at work. And they even give me vaccine's developed by our most hated rival. Or, as I like to call them, the company that sold me to these crazy people.

board expert FTW! See...I love this. Somebody who actually works in this field can pipe up and actually answer the question.

[Deleted]

I'm shocked! I've had several PCPs, and they always ask for vax records when I join them, and they always mention boosters. I didn't have to have one when I delivered DD (they checked) because I was up to date.

[meshaliuknits]

Sept 6, 2012 10:32:21 GMT -5 ttt said:

I'd also like to point out that pharmaceutical companies actually spend more on advertising and marketing than R&D.

Most large pharma companies don't do R&D at all or just have small departments that mainly work on improving their current drug line up, not so much developing brand-new stuff. The big companies tend to buy smaller companies who have just developed something new/innovative. It's more cost-effective for them rather than pouring money into uncertain research.

I know several people who work for or have worked for start-up biotechs. The main goal for almost all of them was to get their product approved by the FDA & then sell the company to a bigger one and come into a fat payday. It seems like a fairly symbiotic relationship.

[meshaliuknits]

Sept 6, 2012 10:35:01 GMT -5 wawa said:

board expert FTW! See...I love this. Somebody who actually works in this field can pipe up and actually answer the question.

I have flashes of usefulness on this board. That's why y'all keep me around.

[orangeblossom]

Sept 6, 2012 8:18:38 GMT -5 jaylea said:

Someone on my FB feed (anti-vax) is all up in arms that her Kindergartener has been barred from K until the CDC determines that her WC is no longer contagious.

That's right, she sent her child with WHOOPING COUGH into a public school. And then has the gall to get upset about her perceived persecution.

I hope she also realizes that if her child was not the child that had WC, and it was another child in the class her unvaccinated precious, could still be told to stay home until the period of communicability has passed. This can and does happen. Same thing for chickenpox. I don't know too many parent's that have the time or money to stay home a week plus, while their kid waits out the communicability period.

I wish parent's who choose not to vaccinate for non-medical reasons would realize they can't have their cake and eat it too. At least educate yourself on your state's laws when it comes to outbreaks and unvaccinated children. At the end of the day, their child is but one of many and the goal is to protect the public's health, so if little Sue or Johhny is unvaccinated and there is an outbreak going on, they have the potential to further endanger public health, and the consequence for that is keeping the unvaccinated child home.

[jaylea]

Sept 6, 2012 10:45:50 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

I hope she also realizes that if her child was not the child that had WC, and it was another child in the class her unvaccinated precious, could still be told to stay home until the period of communicability has passed. This can and does happen. Same thing for chickenpox. I don't know too many parent's that have the time or money to stay home a week plus, while their kid waits out the communicability period.
I wish parent's who choose not to vaccinate for non-medical reasons would realize they can't have their cake and eat it too. At least educate yourself on your state's laws when it comes to outbreaks and unvaccinated children. At the end of the day, their child is but one of many and the goal is to protect the public's health, so if little Sue or Johhny is unvaccinated and there is an outbreak going on, they have the potential to further endanger public health, and the consequence for that is keeping the unvaccinated child home.

She lives off of a massive, multi-million dollar trust fund. She can have her kids home all she wants - no missed work for her! This, of course, makes her a better parent than all those germ-carrying "daycared" kids she has referenced before.

[IIOY]

Sept 6, 2012 10:44:49 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Sept 6, 2012 10:35:01 GMT -5 wawa said:

board expert FTW! See...I love this. Somebody who actually works in this field can pipe up and actually answer the question.

I have flashes of usefulness on this board. That's why y'all keep me around.

Listen - you are the one who told me about the FDA alerts regarding previously unspecified allergens in food products. You get a lifetime pass from me.

[meshaliuknits]

Sept 6, 2012 11:00:12 GMT -5 IIOY said:

Listen - you are the one who told me about the FDA alerts regarding previously unspecified allergens in food products. You get a lifetime pass from me.

Aw! :heart:

I'm so glad it's helping you. How lax the food industry can be in regards to proper labeling makes me ragey. It's like we're not even being audited by the same agency.

[ringstrue]

Can you really get a DTAP at the pharmacy? I'm thinking maybe I'd get the booster when I get the flu shot??

[basilosaurus]

I'm assigned a PCM, not that it matters. I tried scheduling a physical before moving to Japan b/c of the overseas paperwork I have to do, and they couldn't figure out what general physical meant. I haven't had a true physical since being required to before college. At least they always take bp and weight, regardless of appt.

I'd say it was a fluke, but there's a woman on the mil board going through the same thing right now, 5 years later, at a different location.

H gets a very specific type of physical, and usually comes home with arms full of shots. I just get what I ask for when/if I schedule it. The military is at least good about giving you all sorts of vaccines. H has gotten about every one there is.

chilerellenos, I think other floors just focus on flu, maybe some others, like shingles or pneumonia, for geriatric pts.

[laurenpetro]

am i the only one who is totally up on these vaccines because they cover you for tetanus? i'm askeered of that shit and i'm on that like clockwork.

[wawa]

Sept 6, 2012 12:23:17 GMT -5 laurenpetro said:

am i the only one who is totally up on these vaccines because they cover you for tetanus? i'm askeered of that shit and i'm on that like clockwork.

LOL, nope. Before we started TTC I was behind on all my boosters, except for tetanus. When you spend your weekends smashing walls, tentanus boosters seem like a good call.

[downtoearth]

Sept 6, 2012 8:29:36 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Before I even read this, I just want to say that yesterday, I got a note home from PTS's new school saying that there's already been an incident of Whooping Cough. Two weeks into school and this shit is already starting. It's a 5th grader which is a different campus than the one PTS is on, but FFS, people. I can't send my kid to school with a goddamn almond milk pudding, but someone else can send their kid to school with the walking time bomb that is their lack of vaccinations...

Okay, now I'll read the article. I'm sure it will calm me down.

ETA: Interesting read. Maybe I should withhold my ire at the WC kid's mom. I guess it could just be that his vaccination wore off. Scary stuff, that. And I agree with Meg, whooping cough, second only to Diphtheria scares the shit out of me, and WC may have the edge in the fear component because there haven't been any Diphtheria outbreaks in the US. Yet.

Yeah, the more you know about vaccines, the more you have to understand that we can't predict how they will change over time or how the disease will change over time making the vaccine less effective. According to my friend who works with vaccine development, the science of vaccines is mostly science, but also a little art since we can't do human studies and prediction models often need recalibation as vaccines/diseases change.

My 17 yr old neice had whooping cough for weeks before she was diagnosed and she too was vaccinated. It's not bad parenting for your kids to get sick IMO.

[pt716]

After seeing my little sister suffer through whooping cough, and the resulting asthma, I should really be better about getting boosters. I should check to see if my last tetanus vaccine had pertussis in it.

[msmerymac]

Sept 6, 2012 12:23:17 GMT -5 laurenpetro said:

am i the only one who is totally up on these vaccines because they cover you for tetanus? i'm askeered of that shit and i'm on that like clockwork.

This. But, frankly, I only get tetanus shots when I have an accident and need one. Which, I guess, if often enough to be covered.

BUT I think I'm due. I was going to wait a year or so so that I'll be covered when we TTC, but now this article is telling me that it's best to get it in the 3rd tri? Hmm.

Also, if I am not mistaken, it seems like all of us got the whole cell vaccine. This one... wears off less? We still need boosters, but the first shot lasted longer than today's shots?

[pt716]

Sept 6, 2012 13:50:27 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Sept 6, 2012 12:23:17 GMT -5 laurenpetro said:

am i the only one who is totally up on these vaccines because they cover you for tetanus? i'm askeered of that shit and i'm on that like clockwork.

This. But, frankly, I only get tetanus shots when I have an accident and need one. Which, I guess, if often enough to be covered.

BUT I think I'm due. I was going to wait a year or so so that I'll be covered when we TTC, but now this article is telling me that it's best to get it in the 3rd tri? Hmm.

Also, if I am not mistaken, it seems like all of us got the whole cell vaccine. This one... wears off less? We still need boosters, but the first shot lasted longer than today's shots?

But aren't some tetanus shots only Td? So they don't have pertussis in them.

[ringstrue]

aw shit I probably need a tetnus shot too.

what else do you need if you are thinking of TTC??

[meshaliuknits]

Sept 6, 2012 14:02:31 GMT -5 ringstrue said:

aw shit I probably need a tetnus shot too.

what else do you need if you are thinking of TTC??

Miri's gonna be a big sister?

I think they recommend a trip to the dentist, also.

[wawa]

Sept 6, 2012 14:02:31 GMT -5 ringstrue said:

aw shit I probably need a tetnus shot too.

what else do you need if you are thinking of TTC??

beats me, I just know that my appointment where I finally got cleared from all my complications from my m/c to start TTC again I got shot up like a damn pin cushion becuase I couldn't tell my midwife when the last time I had a booster for anything except tenanus.

[AJL]

Just to be a stickler, the adult booster is called the Tdap. I was very obnoxious when it came to my newborns (both winter babies) being around other people. I sent an e-mail out to my family and close friends asking that at least two weeks before the babies were due that they have a seasonal flu vaccine and to get their Tdap booster if they hadn't already. If they didn't get vaccinated, they couldn't come visit the babies. I think the email went out to about 30 friends and family and no one refused my conditions. I'm quite proud of that.

Anyway, I don't monkey around with vaccine preventable illnesses and sure as hell not with pertussis.

[Deleted]

I had a seizure as a baby in 1981 after the vaccine. This makes me feel better about potentially getting a booster. I'm still planning to GP next week about it and get it if she gives me the go ahead.

[basilosaurus]

Does anyone know how far in advance they recommend grandparents getting a booster? Since moms get it in the hospital, I'm guessing there's no real concern about it taking months to take effect.