A really good example of children in the USA still dying from childhood diseases.

Published

This is a child that died of chicken pox...what is unusual was that this wasn't an infant, but a 12-year old.

Article didn't say if the child was immunized or not, which to me, was a pretty important detail that was missed.

http://www.local6.com/health/18271674/detail.html

Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.
I know of a baby girl who died who died of whooping cough - not even two months old. Better herd immunity would have protected her..

Better herd immunity? What, were her parents suppose to look for communities with the highest vaccination rates and move there? Unless societies are required to vaccinate, cases like this will continue to happen; the first round of pertussis is not given until 2 months, this girl had no chance....had all the people around her gotten vaccinated out of requirement the story would have panned out differently...I understand a parents rights not to vaccinate, but if their unvaccinated child get my child sick before its time to vaccinate (which could very well be what happened in this case...some one that was not vaccinated got this kid sick)...what about my right to keep my child safe, especially from things that CAN BE avoided if people vaccinate?

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Huh?????????????????

I am not a huge fan of vaccination for chicken pox but in cases where kids don't contract it then vaccination should be considered. In adults chicken pox can definitely be fatal as this case sadly showed.

"Better to be a little bit sick than a whole lot dead" HMC Marple.

yup...that was my pedeatritians thought, I had never had chicken pox before going to college (confirmed by a titer) and so she vaccinated me.

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I attended one of these parties when I was a kid, that's how I got chicken pox and then gave it to my siblings.

I always had playdates with my friends when they got chicken pox....i just never got it....it is odd.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
We can educate, encourage, and educate some more, but it is not our place to judge those who do not vax.

I'm not in agreement with this sentiment. It is completely reasonable for me to develop opinions on various subjects, such as childhood immunizations, and even to disagree philosophically with those who choose not to vaccinate their children. What my job entails, as a healthcare professional, is not that I do not have opinions, but rather, that I respect the patients' right to autonomy in health care decision making. :twocents:

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While I am all for vaccinations (I work public health, I ought to), we need to remember that it is a parental decision, just as much as it is for someone of a different religion to refuse blood products or other treatments. Regardless, the parents in all cases are doing what they believe is right for the children. We can educate, encourage, and educate some more, but it is not our place to judge those who do not vax.

By not vaccinating, these people are putting many others at risk..........so, yes, I am going to be very judgmental if one of my family or friends is harmed by that decision.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Wow... I too know that I have to respect a parent's right not to vaccinate their kids, but at the same time... *shakes head*. Let me say this; I know of a woman with 5 kids, they live out in AZ, she never even takes her kids to the DOCTOR, let alone gets them vaccinated. Are diseases less prevalent out in AZ, due to the dry atmosphere or something? She also says that the schools out there do not require up to date vaccinations.

I think it's just plain silly. Without vaccinations, we'd still have polio. We'd have smallpox. Whooping cough would be worse than it is now. So would chicken pox, perhaps. We'd have diphtheria. Is that what people want?

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Wow... I too know that I have to respect a parent's right not to vaccinate their kids, but at the same time... *shakes head*. Let me say this; I know of a woman with 5 kids, they live out in AZ, she never even takes her kids to the DOCTOR, let alone gets them vaccinated. Are diseases less prevalent out in AZ, due to the dry atmosphere or something? She also says that the schools out there do not require up to date vaccinations.

I think it's just plain silly. Without vaccinations, we'd still have polio. We'd have smallpox. Whooping cough would be worse than it is now. So would chicken pox, perhaps. We'd have diphtheria. Is that what people want?

You can bet when some of these unvax kids start contracting these illnesses, the parents will suddenly start looking for someone to blame............."no one told me my kid could get sick and die"...............next, enter the lawyers, and a few billion more dollars will get siphoned off. :banghead:

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We are giving Tdap to postpartum moms, if they wish, to boost their immunity to Pertussis. This is an effort to protect their unvaccinated young babies. These shots are FREE from our state DOH. It used to be that kids could not attend school w/o vaccines. Folks do have right to refuse, but then I think perhaps they can go for homeschooling and let potential playmates know the kids are not vaccinated. I am not talking about people who have a medical reason, not to vaccinate but those who choose not to. That is your right BUT you also then bear a responsibility to stand by your decision and not put others at risk. I'd never want a child to suffer like the girl I saw w/ the hip problem sec. to c-pox back in the early 1980's. I also got the chicken pox as an adult back in 1988. It was awful, but luckily uncomplicated. In 1990, I got measles. As a child my family doc gave the measles vaccine to me earlier than reccomended. I did not have complete immunity. Whether or not it was from getting the shot at the wrong time, I do not know. I was never so ill in my life. I had a temp of 104.8. I thought I was dying from meningitis, but was to sick to get OOB and go to the hospital. Eventually, I had titres drawn and was dx's w/ measles w/ the assistance of the local health department. Several other adults at the hospital I worked for also had measles. These are not nothing diseases. Kids have died from them or spent weeks in quarratine years ago. That what my mom did back in London in the 1930's. She was separated from her mom. I remeber my grandmother crying, just talking about it. She was so sad because her breast milk dried up being apart from her baby for so long.

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Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.

I've always wondered about the varicella vaccine protection waning thru the years. I had chickenpox as a kid so my titre was three times higher than needed. My oldest daughter had it as a pre-schooler. But my other kids were vaccinated. My son is 21 and I keep telling him that he needs a 2nd vaccination for it. He goes to college so is in a population that puts him at risk.

That story reminds me of those childhood books, one called "The Great Brain" where everyone took turns getting all the various childhood diseases; in the Little House on the Prairie books they all got diptheria.

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My dad had scarlet fever, an aunt died of diptheria, an uncle of pneumonia, a childhood friend was left deafened by mumps, another sterile from them, a friend's sister wears a brace from polio, my mother remembers an entire friend and her family dying of it.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

A few years ago we had a toddler in our unit who needed a heart transplant. His parents were members of an Eastern orthodox religion; they didn't want immunizations for their five children. They were adamantly opposed until it was explained to them that without immunizations their sick child would not be listed for transplant because of the risks of life-threatening illness superimposed on an immunosuppressed host. The kids had their initial series of shots, but in the end the child died of complications following a successful transplant. My guess is that those kids have never had another immunization since.

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I read an article in the New York Times awhile ago that described it as,

parents perceiving the risk of vaccination as greater than the risk of disease.

Clearly this is a flawed way of thinking, but it gives me a way to frame my education of parents (including friends of mine) with this view. Do we want to go back to the dark ages where a couple had five children and lost three? It's "all-natural." Ah, don't get me started. This is why I don't do peds. :bugeyes:

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