Six Reason to Question Vaccinations

Ivor said:
If so, what do you think of the people from countries that do not routinely vaccinate children against such conditions as Hep. A & B, Varicella, etc.?
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It (the courthouse vaccinations and jail threats) was over kids not having HepB and chickenpox shots, too.
That's why I think it's so weird that the mandatory shots aren't...like...triaged in as far as penalties go. And those parents, to get out of it, would have to file a religious exemption and then skip ALL vaccines. Because whatever you do, you can't get the MMR and IPV and DTaP but skip chickenpox or HepB.
All or none, take your pick.

The comments from scienceblogs really remind me that these are strange times.
You didn't bring any mutant euro-chickenpox over here when you visited, did you, Ivor?
(In the US in many states, actually having had chickenpox isn't considered proof of immunity...even if you had it last year, you still have to get the shots.)
 
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kellyb said:
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You didn't bring any mutant euro-chickenpox over here when you visited, did you, Ivor?

(In the US in many states, actually having had chickenpox isn't considered proof of immunity...even if you had it last year, you still have to get the shots.)
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I think the American public were safe from this particular disease vector tourist.
 
I don't understand the objections to HepA vaccines. It used to be very common for news reports to come out that a restaurant worker had HepA, and that customers they had should report to their medical care provider for an immune globulin shot.

About 20 years ago was an outbreak at work throught a shared bowl of popcorn (one person hospitalized, the others received the immune globulin and monitored), and my husband had to get an immune globulin shot after eating at a sandwich shop.

It is transmitted in pretty much the same as polio, fecal-mouth. And children can get it and show no symptoms, but pass it on since they are not very good with hand washing: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/hepa.pdf
 
Why might you not want the Hep. A vaccine for your child:

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068758/

Who needs immunising against hepatitis A?

Travellers to countries outside Western Europe, North America, and Australasia should consider being immunised. The highest risk areas include the Indian Subcontinent, the Far East, Africa, Africa, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe. Your doctor or practice nurse can advise if you should be protected against hepatitis A for your travel destination.

Contacts. Occasional outbreaks of hepatitis A occur in the UK in institutions or in families. Contacts (for example, family members or other members of the institution) may be offered immunisation. This only happens rarely. The most important measure when dealing with anybody with hepatitis A is good personal hygiene. In particular, washing hands after going to the toilet or before eating. The virus is passed in the faeces (motions).

Note: If you have been infected with hepatitis A in the past, you are likely to be immune and not need further immunisation. A blood test can detect antibodies to check if you are already immune. This may be worthwhile doing if you have had a history of jaundice in the past, or come from an area which has a high incidence of hepatitis A.

Hepatitis A vaccine

A single injection of vaccine protects against hepatitis A for about one year. The vaccine causes your body to make antibodies against the virus. These antibodies protect you from illness should you become infected with this virus. Ideally, you should have an injection at least two weeks before travel to allow immunity to develop. However, the vaccine may still be advised even if there is less than two weeks before you travel.

A booster injection 6-12 months after the first injection gives protection for up to 10 years.

A combined vaccine against hepatitis A and typhoid fever is also available. This may be useful if you require protection against both diseases. The hepatitis A component gives protection for one year and the typhoid component gives protection for three years. (You can have a booster with the hepatitis A vaccine after 6-12 months to give protection against hepatitis A for up to 10 years.)
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http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/hepatitis.html

Hepatitis A
In children, the most common form of hepatitis is hepatitis A (also called infectious hepatitis). This form is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), which lives in the stools (feces or poop) of infected individuals. Infected stool can be present in small amounts in food and on objects (from doorknobs to diapers).

The hepatitis A virus is spread:

when someone ingests anything that's contaminated with HAV-infected stool (this makes it easy for the virus to spread in overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions)
in water, milk, and foods, especially in shellfish
Because hepatitis A can be a mild infection, particularly in children, it's possible for some people to be unaware that they have had the illness. In fact, although medical tests show that about 40% of urban Americans have had hepatitis A, only about 5% recall being sick. Although the hepatitis A virus can cause prolonged illness up to 6 months, it typically only causes short-lived illnesses and it does not cause chronic liver disease.
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So given that children typically have milder symptoms than adults, if they are going to be exposed it would seem better that it occured in childhood, rather than delay the risk of infection into adolencence or adulthood.
 
And how is that supposed to make me NOT want the HepA vaccination for my child?
 
Skeptic Guy said:
And how is that supposed to make me NOT want the HepA vaccination for my child?
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Because presumably the vaccination only lasts for a maximum of 10 years, so unless you get a booster after this time, all you're doing is shifting the risk of infection from a time of life when it is less likely to cause symptoms, to one where they are more common. Plus Hep. A is not a serious infection for the vast majority of people who contract it.

Unless I'm off to Africa to eat salad, I'm not going to worry about it. It should not be a required vaccination for school attendance. Targeted use in the case of an outbreak would seem quite sufficient.
 
Hydrogen Cyanide said:
So we should also avoid tetanus vaccines because they also only last 10 years?
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Last I checked, tetanus vaccines were only given when an injury had exposured someone to a risk of contracting the disease - i.e. if you step on rusty nail, you need to get a tetanus shot if you haven't had one in the last ten years. Has that changed? Are tetanus vaccines routine for children these days and required for school admission?

ETA: I don't think that tetanus is considered to be milder in childhood.
 
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Beth said:
Last I checked, tetanus vaccines were only given when an injury had exposured someone to a risk of contracting the disease - i.e. if you step on rusty nail, you need to get a tetanus shot if you haven't had one in the last ten years. Has that changed? Are tetanus vaccines routine for children these days and required for school admission?

ETA: I don't think that tetanus is considered to be milder in childhood.
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In the UK the tetanus vaccine is routinely given to children as part of the 5 in 1 vaccine (DTP-Polio-Hib) at 2, 3 and 4 months of age. There is also a pre school and a school leaver booster. The source I read says that this schedule should give you life long immunity. If you have had all five doses you don't need another vaccine in the case of injury unless the wound is particularlyserious or dirty. If you have not had all 5 doses you should have the vaccine for less serious/dirty wounds.
 
Professor Yaffle said:
In the UK the tetanus vaccine is routinely given to children as part of the 5 in 1 vaccine (DTP-Polio-Hib) at 2, 3 and 4 months of age. There is also a pre school and a school leaver booster. The source I read says that this schedule should give you life long immunity. If you have had all five doses you don't need another vaccine in the case of injury unless the wound is particularlyserious or dirty. If you have not had all 5 doses you should have the vaccine for less serious/dirty wounds.
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Okay. Thanks. I didn't know that.
 
Huh. I got tetanus/diptheria/God-knows-what-else vaccine for slipping in the bath and bashing my head - I was bathing in a decent-strength solution of Savlon at the time, too. The nurse just took one look at my occupation and decided she'd get me while the going was good.

That's the one vaccine I did feel foul afterwards.








Or maybe the concussion had something to do with it.....

Rolfe.
 
I got a Td shot at work after stapling my finger. Then I got the next one about 10 years later after slicing my hand with a bread knife... then I got it 10 years later on general principle because I am a gardener and those tetanus spores can hide in rose thorns (herd immunity does not apply, and it has even been transmitted through bug bits). Many gardening websites and magazines have semi-regular reminders to be caught up with tetanus.

Tetanus is the "t" in DTP, DT, Td, DTaP and Tdap vaccines:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/tetanus.pdf
 
From 1992 through 2000, 15 cases of tetanus
in children <15 years of age were reported from 11 states.
Twelve cases were in boys. Two cases were in neonates
<10 days of age; the other 13 cases were in children who
ranged in age from 3 to 14 years. The median length of
hospitalization was 28 days; 8 children required mechanical
ventilation. There were no deaths.
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http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/109/1/e2.pdf

OMG!! That is like, one case every six months! We need to call out the National guard and start forcing these people to get vaccinated! Doesn't anybody realize the danger we are in? Sure nobody died, but just wait. It is going to happen. And even one dead kid is worth forcing millions to get a shot, even if we have to jail them for refusing.

Religion. Bah! Next these religious nutjobs are going to insist their "religion" tells them to cut off the flesh from a newborns penis. "God told us to!"

Yeah, right.
 
Yeah, getting hospitalized for an average of 28 days is a cake walk. It also didn't cost anyone any money either. Why get a vaccine that can prevent an average of 28 days vacation in a hospital? Pfft, what a dumb idea!

So, everybody STOP getting the tetanus shot. We can see how useless it is!!! Any hospital can handle tons more 28 day stays for all those that stop getting the shot!
 
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I hope my sarcasm was obvious. In this day and age, I can't believe anybody still gets tetanus. I also find it hard to believe that with so many people NOT getting a tetanus shot, that there are so few cases.
 
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