I decided to start a new thread to show evidence or stories of just how serious these illnesses can be
And to anyone who disputes the severity of just how serious these well documented illnesses and complications of them are, I would seriously suggest reviewing some of your science courses
From another board I was reading.....
Obviously you are not of the generation of those of us who suffered through these illnesses. We ALL had measles, mumps, chicken pox. Oh, and let's not forget polio. Even an ear infection could result in complications. With the mumps you think you are choking to death. Oh yeah, testicular mumps can cause sterilization. The chicken pox left scars. But with the measles the scariest part was the high fever. I remember that illness in a dreamlike state. I remember the doctor making the house calls, my parents bathing me in alcohol to try and get the fever down. My mom told me I was delirious. Now picture that times the eight kids that were in our family.
Of course, the problem with the high fever is that it can lead to convulsions and other serious complications. I had an older cousin who got the measles at age 16. Her complications led to such severe brain damage that she was left with the mind of a two year old. She spent the rest of her life in an institution.
Because I was curious, I pulled out my Kindergarten and first grade report cards. I was absent 22 days in Kindergarten and 30 days in first grade. I remember as these illnesses would go like wildfire through the classrooms there would be 8 - 10 kids gone at a time. Pretty hard for a teacher to teach when kids are out for long periods at a time.
You can bet that when these vaccines became available our parents got us vaccinated. The Polio vaccine didn't become available until 1963. They did mass community vaccines for that. I remember going to **** School in ***** and standing in long, long lines of people waiting to get it. It was an oral vaccine and I remember they put it in sugar cubes.
A Few Years ago when I worked ambulatory, I was in charge of the evening flu clinic during the season
I met a family who had three girls, all between the ages of 11-15, if I am remembering correctly
Three years prior, a fourth daughter had died in the night from respriatory failure due to influenza. No one knew until they went to wake her for school the next morning- She was 12 y.o
Mom was not anti-vax, but had not gotten the girls their flu shot that year, because she fell for the "it's-not-that-serious-and-doesn't-work-anyhow" line
The psychological toll it took on the family was devstating. Mom was regularly going around waking up all of the girls every night to make sure they were all still breathing.
The girls reported teasing in school because "their mom was too stupid to keep their sister alive"
Does the flu shot always work? No.
If you catch a strain of the flu after the shot, will it lessen the severity and risk of complications? YES
This Mom was always first in line to get all of her girls the shot from then on
Maybe her daughter still would have gotten the flu- but maybe it would not have killed her if she had the shot
I would really like to have a word with those who teased the sisters of the deceased sister. It's soooooo sad how ignorant and cruel people can be.
dinah77, ADN
530 Posts
Signed up for it!