Strollerderby : immunizations

They Say: Another Reason to Vaccinate Your Kid

JeanneSager — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:28:00 GMT

The no-vax movement got more bad news this week with a report in Pediatrics that confirms herd immunity does not keep the non-vaccinated safe.

The study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente Colorado and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health determines kids whose parents opt out on vaccines are twenty three times more likely to develop pertussis than their vaccinated peers.

More commonly known as whooping cough, the incidence of pertussis was rapidly declining in the U.S. from the 1940s through the late nineties thanks to vaccinations. But with parents forgoing the vaccines, the numbers are back up - big time. In 2005 alone, more than twenty-five thousand cases were reported (for comparison check out the numbers in 1976 - only one thousand ten cases in the entire U.S.).

Those numbers should have proven the importance (and efficacy) of the vaccine, but parents have been skipping the vaccine in increasing numbers, or delaying it as part of the system touted by Dr. Robert Sears, a much revered pediatrician by the middle-of-the pack vax crowd. The study at Kaiser found that eleven percent of the kids who contracted pertussis were kids whose parents actually refused the vaccine (which makes a difference - these weren't kids whose parents opted out because of a medical issue that kept them from getting the vaccine).

What a fair number of anti-vaccine parents fail to realize is the problem isn't just the other kids their kids are coming in contact with. Even if the majority of American kids get the vaccine, adults age out of their immunity. Which means unless they head to the doctor for a booster, they're susceptible to the disease, and carriers who could be passing it on to your kids (studies indicate at least one third of pertussis cases were transmitted by mother to child).

And pertussis is not a silly, laugh it off disease. It can kill, particularly infants.

So if herd immunity isn't protecting your kids from pertussis, what else isn't it protecting them from?

Image: LA Times

Mom Tells State Don't Make Me Vaccinate

JeanneSager — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:04:00 GMT

It's one of only two states that won't allow parents to use religion as an excuse to avoid vaccinating their kids, and now West Virginia is facing a lawsuit from a mom who says she doesn't want her six-year-old daughter to receive the shots.

Jennifer Workman says it's a "sacrilege" to expect her to vaccinate her daughter. But wouldn't you know, this so-called religious excuse is coming from a mom who claims vaccines cause autism.

I say so-called religion in this case because it sounds awfully convenient. Workman describes herself as "bapticostal," a mix of Baptist and Pentecostal religions, and she's asked a federal judge to overturn the state's demands that her daughter be immunized before attending public school based on religious freedom.

But her real problem? Her elder daughter, teenaged Susanna, has autism. And she's afraid of vaccinating Madison because she believes the vaccines are to blame. Never mind the long line of studies that have discredited that theory. That's only a small portion of the problem here - because Workman isn't presenting this as a medical case.

She's clearly using religion to push through her agenda. And she's not alone. Two years ago, Babble reported on a hike in religious dispensations being requested by parents who didn't want to vaccinate.

But where our forefathers were talking the right to assemble and pray to your own God (or G-d or Allah . . .), to circumcise your kids, to not eat pork, to string a cross around your neck, they were also talking about personal rights as they affect one person. They weren't, however, talking about excuses couched in religious belief that void the social contract. Just as ritualistic killings can not fall under the guise of religion because it's an express harm to others, an unvaccinated child walking into a school building is a public health risk. Allowing these types of dispensations only increases that risk.

Should kids in West Virginia be forced to bow to a mother's attempts to skirt the law?

Flu Has Claimed at Least Three Kids This Season

JeanneSager — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:09:00 GMT

When people ask me why I'm so pro-vaccine, I have one answer: they prevent disease and/or death.

So why have three kids already died in what is being described by doctors as a pretty average flu season?

At least one of the children went unvaccinated not because his parents were lax, but because the twelve-year-old reportedly lost his permission slip to get the immunization at a school clinic. Hunter Pope is the first child in Massachusetts known to have died from the flu this season; he was fine on a Friday and gone by Sunday.

Sadly, the weekend also brought the death of a ten-year-old boy on Long Island, the first ever pediatric flu death in the five years since public health officials have been tracking the diease. First believed to have been fighting meningitis, tests eventually showed the boy was carrying the A-strain of the flu, one of two preventable by this year's vaccine. The two deaths followed the announcement of a six-year-old North Carolina child who succumbed to flu complications on February 9 - again because he had not been vaccinated.

Why? It's the question you always ask when a child dies (when anyone dies, really, but the question is more plaintive when a child has been taken). It's just that much more confusing when there was a clear method for preventing a tragedy, and people opted to ignore it. I equate vaccines with seatbelts - they might not work every time, but there's a much higher degree of success with them than without them.

The Centers for Disease Control came out with new recommendations this flu season, calling for every single American under the age of eighteen to get the shot - which paved the way for insurance companies to cover the shot and for those on public assistance to get them for free. They made it even EASIER this year, and yet parents refused.

Why? Read the answers to my post on the CDC recommendations last fall: because they've never gotten it before (neither - might I add, had Hunter Pope - whose parents said he had no pre-existing health conditions), because they are afraid of thimerosal (not necessarily - there are thimerosal-free flu vaccines available for kids six months to twenty-three months), because they think the pro-vax crowd is too preachy.

I realize I stand on a soapbox and beat the vaccine drum, but I will tell you I also practice what I preach. On Halloween day, I lined up at a crowded neighborhood clinic with my daughter so the two of us could get our flu shots. My husband got his - separately, but around the same time.

Seeing the flu really can kill children, will you do the same?

Image: Flu-Vaccine.org

They Say: Vaccines are Safe - Take That Jenny McCarthy

JeanneSager — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:31:00 GMT

In yet another round of good news for those of us who vaccinate, the February issue of Pediatrics features a study out of Italy that says . . . wait for it . . . vaccines are good for kids!

In a month when I've written first about the meningitis vaccine working (yay!) and the death of a child from a disease his parents refused to vaccinate against (bad), I'm starting to feel like I'm beating the non-vaccinators out there over the head with all this pro-vaccine talk.

And then, there's more good news!

The study in Pediatrics comes out of Italy, and it's centered on the whole "thimerosal causes autism" debate. Children in Italy were given two different sets of shots in the early 1990s. According to the AP: Ten years later, 1,403 of those children took a battery of brain function tests. Researchers found small differences in only two of 24 measurements and those "might be attributable to chance."

Out of more than one thousand kids, only one case of autism was found - and that child received the lower level of thimerosal in his or her vaccine. Overall, the kids tested all scored - on average - within normal ranges on mental acuity tests.

The significance in this study is in the varying amounts of thimerosal, and its affects. If thimerosal causes autism, scientists who worked on the Italian study say it would stand to reason that increased dosages would show marked effect on kids. Yet the only autistic child in the randomized study to fall on the autism spectrum received a lower dose. The kids exposed to more thimerosal (which breaks down as ethyl mercury, hence some advocates' claims that mercury poisoning causes autism) should have been at higher risk if the theories held true.

"Put together with the evidence of all the other studies, this tells us there is no reason to worry about the effect of thimerosal in vaccines," said the new study's lead author, Dr. Alberto Tozzi of Bambino Gesu Hospital in Rome.

So, is it time those who don't vaccinate their kids stop looking cross-eyed at those of us who do?

Image: USA Today

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They Say: Meningitis Vaccine Actually Works

JeanneSager — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:24:00 GMT

We hear a lot of bad news these days about vaccines. Aack, autism. Aaack, superbugs.

Finally, some good news: the meningitis vaccine is working.

Since pushing the Prevnar plunger into the thighs of babies two months to two years began in 2000, rates of pneumococcal meningits have dropped sixty-four percent in kids under age two.

That’s based on studies in kids in 1998-99 to 2004-05 published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. The numbers are dipping for bigger kids (and the biggest kids of all - us) too, dropping thirty percent in the same time frame. In people over sixty-five, the rates dropped by more than fifty percent.

The study notes that vaccinating children is as important if not more than getting to the rest of the population, because fewer sick kids means fewer germs spread around.

When kids are sick, they not only fail to cover their mouths and practice the type of hygiene adults (should) practice, but they’re also a sector of the population that can’t be isolated when sick. We as adults can stay home from work and hide on the couch, kick everyone out of the room (well, unless we’re parents, in which case we just try to hide from our kids and spray a lot of Lysol).

Kids, on the other hand, need to have someone in close proximity caring for them - and that someone can easily pick up their germs. The disease cycle doesn’t stop when you’re dealing with kids – it just gets passed over to Mom and Dad. But with immunized kids, researchers say they're able to create a "herd immunity."

It doesn’t solve the autism debate or the superbug debate, but this is the kind of news that puts a little wind back into the sails of Moms like me who have vaccinated their kids. At least some of them are working.

Image/Source: USA Today

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FDA Asked to Approve Gardasil for Boys

JeanneSager — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:25:00 GMT

If you thought parenting boys meant you were off the hook on having to decide whether or not to go with the Gardasil shot, listen up.

Gardasil, the HPV prevention shot aimed girls nine to twenty-six, has been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by maker Merck for consideration as a vaccine for boys.

Obviously, we're not talking about cervical cancer here (please, tell me that was obvious), but a Merck study tracked four thousand boys ages sixteen to twenty-six who were given Gardasil and found it prevented ninety percent of cases of penile cancer and genital warts caused by the four common virus strains targeted by the vaccine.

The proposal calls for the vaccine to be approved for boys in the same age group as that already approved for girls - nine to twenty-six - and all report indicate it would come at a similar cost.

The three-series shot has drawn controversy for its $360 pricetag in the past, and its not the only one. Parents have had mixed reactions to the vaccine, some rushing out to have it administered to be on the safe side. As reported on Babble last month, however, others parents say Gardasil has caused paralysis in their daughters. I'm still undecided, myself, and hoping more conclusive research on the risks and benefits is available six years down the line when my daughter would first be "of age" for Gardasil.

But if the Merck study results are to be believed, this could save little boys lives. What do you think parents, would you take your sons in for the shot?

Image: Jezebel

Source: USA Today Via Jezebel

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AAP: Delayed Vaccines Too Risky for Kids

JeanneSager — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:24:00 GMT

Parents who have become wary of vaccinations for their children have been making the news for ahile now. But decisions by parents to simply delay vaccinating their kids seemed to have taken off this year.

It’s a trend that’s alarmed the American Academy of Pediatrics – enough to prompt the AAP to publish an article this week, along with its new vaccination guidelines, that strikes at the core of the delayed vaccine movement.

The movement got traction this year with sales of pediatrician Dr. Robert Sears’ book. The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child came out last fall, and calls for splitting up the MMR and chicken pox vaccinations.

“Theoretically, giving each shot separately may allow the immune system to create better immunity to the disease,” Sears says in a blog that complements the Amazon listing for the book. “Since the MMR and chickenpox vaccines are live viruses, injecting them all on the same day is like exposing a child to all four diseases at once. That doesn’t happen in nature, and I feel it is safer to ‘simulate’ these infections one at a time so a child can handle them better.”

The AAP’s article comes from the desk of Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who cites that break Sears says will allow the child’s body to heal may actually put a baby at further risk. What’s more, Offit says Sears developed his “delayed schedule” without any clinical trials to determine how effective or safe they might be for the kids.

"This alternative schedule may respond to parental anxiety at the price of keeping the baby susceptible to serious infectious diseases for a longer period of time," Offit notes.

Ironically, even Sears can’t say the delay is the best bet for baby.
In the same blog, he notes, “Now, I admit that this precaution is completely theoretical. I have no research to show that giving these four live virus vaccines together is dangerous. In fact, in safety research virtually all kids who get them together don’t have any apparent problems at all.”

Regardless, Sears stands behind his writings, and he says parents who are wary of going forward with the vaccination schedules put forth by their doctors would do better breaking them up than they would to eliminate vaccinations entirely. He is also supportive of parents going full bore with their vaccination plans – and following the AAP-approved schedule.

So who do you trust? Raised in a healthcare-heavy home, I’ve always been pro-vaccine myself, so I can hardly speak for the anti-vaccine crowd. But for those parents who are still on the fence, does the lack of clinical trials bother you? Or does Dr. Sears’ all-encompassing attitude give you faith that he’s got your kids’ best interests at heart?

Image: Amazon

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They Say: Get Your Kid the Flu Shot

JeanneSager — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:40:00 GMT

My mother used to roll me over early in the morning and poke a needle in my arm. "Good morning, honey, you've just been vaccinated against the flu." Welcome to life as a nurse's kid.

It's no wonder I've been lining up each year to get my daughter her flu shot since her first shot at 7 months. Yes, 7 months - her summer birthday set her up to hit the minimum approved age for the vaccine in the heart of flu season, and I wasn't taking any chances. So I was one mom who was happy to hear the CDC extend the recommended age for vaccinating kids against the flu this year.

For us, it's just in time. Recommended before for kids 6 months to 2 years and only to kids older if they're at a heightened risk, this would have been the first year I would have had to pay for her shot out of my own pocket. Then the word from the CDC - get a shot for every kid, age 6 months to 18 years. Which means my insurance company should pony up. It also means I'm pressing harder on other parents to follow suit.

What makes the flu vaccine so important? The flu is rampant. It's easily transmitted from person to person, and it puts 20,000 American children in the hospital every year. And every year, 36,000 Americans die from the flu. From the flu? Yes, from the disease I hear people tell me year in and year out is "no big deal. It's just a like a bad cold."

Wrong!

Sorry, I think something that kills people is sort of a big deal. Something that sends 20,000 kids to the hospital every year sounds like more than a bad cold. The flu is symptomized by high fevers, nausea, diarrhea, muscle aches, extreme fatigue, sore throat, stuffy nose - none of this is fun stuff.

Second claim I hear from moms (and dads) who don't get their kid vaccinated? "You can get the flu by getting the shot - so what's the point?"

Wrong again.

The flu shot contains an inactivate (dead) virus. As your body builds up antibodies to the virus, you can experience low grade fever and muscle aches. Now compare that to the list above of what the flu can do to your body. Do they really compare?

The flu shot doesn't always work - some people still get the flu. But anyone who's just sent their kid to school or just put a child in daycare knows how fast the bugs spread from kid to kid and then from your kid to you. So let one flu germ loose on a school and every kid is going to have it, and so is every parent of every kid.

So it's up to you - do you want to run the risk of being one of 200,000 Americans sent to the hospital every year because they got the flu? One of 36,000 who die? The parent of one of the 20,000 kids sent to the hospital? Or do you want to suck it up, call the pediatrician and get your kid a flu shot?

Image: Health News-Stat

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They Say: More Toddlers Get Immunized Than Ever

Madeline Holler — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:01:00 GMT

From the news -- multi-state measles outbreaks, autism-weary parents cautious when it comes to immunizing -- you'd think parents who get the full schedule of vaccines for their kids are the ones way outside the norm.

In fact, it's quite the opposite. Surprisingly so. According to the CDC, more than 75 percent of U.S. toddlers got the recommended shots against childhood diseases in 2007. And nearly 90 percent got all but one in the recommended six-shot series.

Fewer than 1 percent of the more than 17,000 children in the study got no vaccines at all.

From Reuters:

The one exception was the four doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis or whooping cough vaccine, received by 84.5 percent of toddlers, the CDC said.

Maryland parents are the most inclined to get the full schedule of shots -- 91 percent of toddlers in that state are up-to-date with the recommended innoculations. Nevada, with 63 percent, is the least.

Here's the schedule for toddlers that the study looked at.

The recommended series tracked in the report was: four doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine; three doses of polio vaccine; one or more doses of measles, mumps and rubella (German measles) vaccine; three doses of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (Hib); three doses of hepatitis B vaccine; and one or more doses of chickenpox vaccine.

Where do you come in? Do your toddlers have all the shots? Did you follow the schedule? Did you opt out of all of them (if so, do you live in Nevada?)?

PS: That kid in the picture? He's smiling not shrieking. How do you get one of those?

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Photo: dearborncounty.org

The 'Vaccine Fugitives' Can Come Home

Jen Chaney — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:28:00 GMT

A couple of days ago in this space I wrote about the Australian couple who went on the run to avoid vaccinating their newborn for hepatitis B. Now it looks like the couple and their kids -- they also have a three-year-old -- can now go home.

The Department of Community Services had obtained a Supreme Court order demanding that the infant receive the vaccine because the mother has hepatitis B. The first stage of the vaccine needed to be administered by yesterday morning to take effect. Since the family was on the lam and couldn't be tracked down by the government in time, a judge decided there was no longer any point in pursuing the court order.

As I said in my previous post, it seems somewhat irresponsible not to vaccinate either of their children since they know the mother has the disease. But the bottom line is that the government can't force the parents to get their children immunized if they're intent on avoiding it. Whether it was smart or not, becoming fugitives just days after their son was born cannot have been a pleasant experience.

I just hope that both of those kids remain hepatitis-free and that the family can resume something resembling a normal life.

Couple Goes on the Run to Avoid Vaccination

Jen Chaney — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:06:00 GMT

A mom and dad from Sydney, Australia are now on the lam because they refuse to get their two-day-old son vaccinated against hepatitis B. Australia's Department of Community Services has gotten a Supreme Court order requiring the baby to receive the vaccine because the mother was diagnosed with hepatitis B several years ago.

Like many immunization-averse parents here in the States, the couple believes their son faces greater danger from the aluminum in the vaccine than from the disease itself, which they say they could manage if he happens to contract it. They fled their home last week after Community Services indicated it would take the child into custody and ensure that he gets the vaccine. Apparently, the family -- which also includes a three-year-old girl who has not been vaccinated against hepatitis B and has not been screened for the disease -- plans to continue life on the run.

Based on the information in this article, it seems like this couple is in a bit of denial about the hepatitis. I could sort of understand their reticence to get the vaccine (a little), but the fact that they aren't actively making sure their daughter is hepatitis-free strikes me as irresponsible.

But should the Supreme Court really get involved? Does the government need to step in to this degree?

I was erring on the side of no until I got to this graph in the article from the Sydney Morning Herald, which quotes pediatric professor David Isaacs.

"Professor Isaacs said the baby had a 5 to 40 percent chance of contracting hepatitis B from its mother and 'about 30 percent of people with hepatitis B will develop cancer or cirrhosis and die young … I don't understand why these people are willing to sacrifice their child for a warped idea when the benefits far outweigh the risks.'"

Ultimately they know the children are being exposed to an existing disease. I don't know if the aluminum in the vaccine could harm those kids or not. But it seems like you have to go with what you definitely know. They know the mom has hepatitis. So they should do whatever they can to make sure it doesn't run in the family.

Related Link:

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Are Parents 'Victims' of Autism?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

According to researchers from the University of Washington, parents of children with disablities such as autism, suffer from high levels of anxiety, depression, and divorce. Are parents effectively victims of autism?

An interesting article in today's Seattle P.I. profiles a middle-income family with an autistic son that implies the answer is "yes."

There is no question that parents with kids who are autistic face long waits for diagnosis, insufficient insurance coverage for behavioral treatments, and the extra complications and stressers of caring for a special needs child.

The article provides a sympathetic view of the endless and unenviable tasks many parents who find themselves in this position face each day. To wit:

Children have autism, but parents are often invisible casualties. Their child's disorder ricochets through their lives, breaking up marriages, draining bank accounts and robbing them of sleep.

But are parents really victims and invisible casualties of autism? Don't we, as parents, sign up for this when we decide to have children? We deserve sympathy, but do we deserve pity? I'm sure what was intended with this piece was to shed some light on the impact of having an autistic child on parents, but something about the word "victim" rubs me the wrong way.

They Say: Everybody's Catching Measles

Madeline Holler — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:02:00 GMT

Are you sure you want to skip childhood vaccinations? Because in at least seven states, federal officials are expecting more cases than ever in 2008 thanks to several measles outbreaks around the country.

The numbers, according to the NY Times:

There were 64 cases from January through April 25, more than in all of 2006 and the highest number during that four-month period since 2001. None have yet proved fatal, but officials said they expected the total to keep rising.

Fourteen patients, or 22 percent, have been hospitalized, mostly for pneumonia.

How bad could measles be? After all, an invite to a measles party is a rather coveted thing in some areas. (Want a lick my lollipop?) Worldwide, measles kills about 242,000 each year. Sure, those deaths are likely in countries where they couldn't get treatment for the side effects.

Still, who wants to be this mom? In Washington State, eight siblings came down with measles -- three of them getting pneumonia -- after attending an international religious conference. Also, one baby caught measles at the doctors office, where she went for her measles shot.

What do you think? Worth the risk in skipping the measles shot?

Photo: dermatology.about.com

Autistic Triplets: What the Hell is Going On?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:29:00 GMT

The number of children affected by autism has been increasingly rapidly since the early 90s. And while many of us may be able to shrug off the connection between autism and immunizations, this family with autistic triplets cannot.

At 18 months, the Gaston triplets, began showing signs of autism...

Including compulsive behavior, social isolation, and delayed language.

Like so many families affected by autism, the Gastons looked for possible triggers for their sons' sudden changes, but could find none.

Many people find the co-occurrence of autism and immunizations more than coincidental. Some believe preservatives used in certain shots are a trigger.

As parents and doctors try and solve the mystery of autism, more networks are cropping up to offer parents information and support. One such effort, the IAN project provides families information and resources. And the Gaston family has a website about their experience with autistic multiples.

Whatever the causes or links between environmental degradation and autism, one only has to look around the neighborhood and wonder what the hell is going on here? We have an epidemic on our hands and not enough is doing done to solve it.

Cervical Cancer Vaccine for Boys

Madeline Holler — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:12:00 GMT

Mother of two girls, here, so maybe I'm just being a boy-hater when I say, yes, yes, as long as we're vaccinating girls with Gardasil let's go ahead and do the boys too.

Gardasil is the newish vaccine that guards against four types of HPV. Two of the HPV viruses are found in 70 percent of all cervical cancer cases and the other two are found in 90 percent of genital warts cases for both boys and girls. Because of the possible dramatic reduction in cervical cancers, some states tried to mandate the expensive three-rounds shot for all girls.

Next year, the vaccine may be approved for boys and disease control experts say they're hoping the immunization will eventually be marketed for both boys and girls. But will parents do it? Especially if genital warts are not a matter of life and death for the boys (and are actually treatable)? Even though doing so could lower the incidence of cervical cancer dramatically (herd immunity and all)?

The vaccine stirred up controversy when it came out, since we're really talking about STDs, an STD that can lead to death in girls, a situation (sex and girls) that is still so fraught for many, many people.

I'm going to speak hypothetically here, but if there were a vaccine that guarded against a virus that was found in a male cancer, let's say prostate, and said hypothetical virus were sexually transmitted, I'd bet there would be a whole lot of interest from conservatives to guard their big boys against slutty dirty girls and calls for vaccines for all.

But again, I'm coming from the girl side of it all. Moms and dads of boys, if you're immunizers, will you get your sons the shot or not?

Photo: NYTimes

Jack 'Em Up With Sugar Before You Vax

Karen Murphy — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:25:00 GMT

All other vaccination debates aside, I think we can agree that the part about it huuuurts! that I have just caused pain to My Preshus Baybee—and on purpose!—is the worst part of all about keeping our kids immunized. After all, we're wired to keep harm from our kids, and seeing that trusting sweet face suddenly crumple with shock and pain when receiving a shot causes tiny microdarts of badparentitis to shoot directly into our hearts.

However, there's an easy solution to easing the pain of vaccination: sugar.

Giving infants a small does of a sugar solution just before receiving a shot seems to make the shot hurt less. And coupling that with other methods like being held, feeding right afterward, and pain relievers can maybe make the experience far less traumatic than it has been. Plus, there's the added benefit of a possibly causing a negative Pavlovian response to sugar, which could lead to some interesting reactions later on in life. Like at Halloween.

Although...how traumatic are shots-as-an-infant, really? I don't remember mine, do you?

Photo: www.doh.state.fl.us

Shots for Mom and Dad, Too

Madeline Holler — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Infants and toddlers aren't the only ones who need vaccines. But they're the ones most likely to get them, which is making health officials worry. Despite the development of vaccines that guard against terrible illnesses people can develop as adults, only a teeny tiny number of people are actually getting the shots.

Here's what a new CDC report found:

Only about 2 percent of Americans ages 60 and older received a vaccine against shingles in its first year of sales. Anybody who had chickenpox is at risk for developing shingles, a super painful viral eruption, as they get older. The shingles vaccine cuts that risk in half.

About 2 percent of adults ages 18 to 64 got a booster shot against whooping cough in the two years since it hit the market.The booster toddlers get stars to wear off by adolescence.

About 10 percent of women ages 18 to 26 have received at least one dose of a three-shot series that protects against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that causes cervical cancer.

Among people 65 or older, a high-risk age, CDC found only 69 percent get an annual flu shot; just 66 percent have had a one-time pneumonia vaccine; and 44 percent had received a tetanus shot in the past 10 years.

Okay, so, guilty as charged! But seriously, did you know about all this? The report said health officials are disappointed that more people haven't gotten these vaccines, even after so much publicity about the vaccines. But except for the HPV and flu shots, I didn't know about them. I would think this is the kind of thing doctors could tell us about or make a part of our checkups. So, do they know about them?

Another problem is the cost of these shots. $150 for some, $300 for the three-shot HPV one. Naturally, insurance coverage on these varies.

Anybody out there totally current on their shots? Honestly, I have no idea.

Photo: Salt Lake Tribune

Hib Vaccine Recall = Shortage

Karen Murphy — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:34:00 GMT

Planning on having your child vaccinated with the Hib vaccine any time soon? That may be difficult, since 1.2 million does of the vaccine were recalled last week ans production has been suspended by one the U.S.'s top manufacturers, and doctors are rushing to stock up even as they are advised to delay the previously-recommended timetable if giving this vaccine at the age of 12-15 months.

Hib is Haemophilus influenzae type b, a bacteria that manifests as several different diseases, including pneumonia and infections of the bloodstream, bones, joints, and lungs. Before the vaccine was developed, about 20,000 children per year developed serious related infections that were sometimes fatal, or that sometimes caused permanent damage including mental retardation.

Doctors are not optimistic about the impending shortage, which will likely affect kids in the age range in which this vaccine has normally been given since it was developed in the mid-1980's.

This one's your call. I've made my feelings on immunization known before (social obligation, the herd protection element, etc), and I dont have strong feelings about ths particular vaccine, though my kids have all received it (albeit only fairly recently). It's possible that waiting a bit until new supplies can be produced won't affect the population too greatly (although, obviously, if it's your child you would feel differently, as would I). But I have t wonder about the whole recall-of-vaccines thing: how safe are our vaccines? We place an awful lot of trust in them, myself included.

And this makes me a little nervous.

Photo: nature.com

Vaccinate or Go to Jail

Karen Murphy — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:26:00 GMT

Parents of about 2300 Maryland schoolkids face fines and possible jail time if they fail to show up to court tomorrow because they have failed to vaccinate their kids. The kids themselves will have to witness their parents being lectured to/yelled at by a judge, and the kids won't be able to leave the courthouse until they've been vaccinated.

My 11-year old was just looking over my shoulder just now, which prompted an interesting discussion during which we looked up (for his benefit) the word "draconian". I've told you before where I stand on vaccinations for my kids, but hello? This is ridiculous.

Now, admittedly, I'm unclear as to whether the recalcitrant parents were given the opportunity to submit waivers based on religious or medical exemptions. Those exist in many states (though not offering a third option of "I just don't want to vaccinate, thank you anyway" has caused some parents to—gasp—lie about those religious exemptions), and Maryland appears to offer the religious exemption option. And the wayward parents appear to have been asked several times to submit proof of vaccination for the required shots, which in this case were for Hepatitis B and varicella for kids in grades 5-10. Either the proof of the vaccination or an appointment to do so had to be submitted by September 20 or the kids would have to stay home, or the parents could sign consent to have the kids vaccinated at school. But these 2300 kids, representing less than 2% of the total kids in the district, have been continuing to attend school despite not having met any of the conditions imposed upon their parents, and as a result if the parents don't show up tomorrow they face a fine and up to 10 days in jail.

Harsh.

Supposedly, about 95% of kids across the US are vaccinated, largely due to school-district requirements that they be immunized before attending school. Oh yeah. Those "immunization schedules"? Quite convenient for schools, aren't they, requiring that the majority of the shots be given by age 6? I imagine there is a correlation, if only to provide a more concrete motivation to get parents in gear to vaccinate their kids.

But the less-than-2% rate in Prince George's county, Maryland, is quite a bit less than the average unvaccinated rate. Are they aiming for a complete 100%? No Child Left Unvaccinated? Seems unlikely.

I'm not debating the need or efficacy or potential danger of immunizing or not immunizing. Again, I've made my position clear about that (which is, I have reservations and strong ones but I'm immunizing my kids anyway, a complete 180 from the past 8 years or so). But berating the parents in front of the kids? Tying them down (so to speak) and administering shots in a courtroom? Jail time for those who don't agree? Something tells me there's more to the story here, more than a story about a handful of parents who forget to fill out forms.

Helping Kids (and You) Handle Immunizations

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:34:00 GMT

Helping your kids through their immunizations is a testing ground for the level of fantasy versus reality you'll sprinkle into their life training. Will you warn them that it will "hurt"? Or will you claim it will only "pinch"? Will you decry the pain that will eventually subside, or will you tell them to look away? According to some experts, the best manner for a parent to affect is a matter-of-fact- this-will-be-over-soon seriousness.

Am I the only one who requires Valium and seven helpers to get me through the door? I can't stand the kiddies and their shots. Especially not the little newies with the pink little feet and the bewildered pained expressions. OY!

I'm routinely late with my kids' immunizations (don't worry, they're not in public school), mostly because I have no stomach for the whole business. Last time, when they were four, I reported that they could expect it to "hurt like hell" at which point they both started crying torrents and I was ordered from the room by more responsible adults.

You? Any better tips on helping your kids through?

Autism on the Rise, New Report Says

Karen Murphy — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 13:19:00 GMT

According to new statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 in 150 children have some form of autism, up from previous estimates ranging from 1 in 500 to 1 in 166. The new figures were compiled from school and medical records from children in fourteen states across the U.S. The CDC has no explanation for the rise in prevalance in autism, now estimated to affect 560,000 children across the country, but this article and others I have read over the years suggest that it is tied to increases in vaccinations. Specifically, the MMR vaccine given at the age of 15 months seems linked to the onset of autism in many children. This theory has proved inconclusive, however, and remains refuted by the CDC.

At any rate, the sheer numbers now of children and their families experiencing various effects of autism is staggering. Overall, some 17 percent of U.S. children have some form of developmental disability. It is time to accept these facts and to move toward social policies of inclusion and acceptance, as well as education and life enhancement not only for the children, but for their caregivers as well. No longer can these people be hidden behind closed doors, not when they represent almost 1/5 of the population.