Mandatory Pertussis Vaccine in California

This post was inspired by and mostly taken from a thread that was started from a friend's FB status.  She wanted to know how others felt about the mandatory pertussis booster requirement to be in California public schools.  I know I'm a hippie, but I've always made myself very clear on the topic of vaccines in this blog and in other venues.  Indeed, I feel the need to educate others by any means necessary to get the message across that vaccines are vitally important.

I've come to the conclusion that most people grossly misunderstand vaccines.  They either think that it's not necessary because the illnesses prevented "aren't that big of a deal" or they think that it isn't necessary to expose their children to "toxins" because enough other people vaccinate their kids.  How do I feel on the mandatory pertussis vaccine requirement in public schools?  Come on, can't you guess?

I am strongly libertarian.  That is, I strongly believe in individual rights and would prefer to live with very little interference or so-called assistance from the government.  Certainly much less interference/assistance than is currently experienced in modern US society.

I chafe under many government-mandated requirements.  It seems that a day doesn't go by that I'm shaking my tiny fist of impotent rage at some dumb requirement that the government has determined is necessary.  Seatbelts, carseats, and helmets are but three examples of requirements that I think are ridiculous.  Understand that I'm not saying that I wouldn't use them if it weren't the law (actually, I wouldn't put a helmet on my son when he's on a bicycle if I had a choice), but I am irritated that the govt says you HAVE to use these safeguards. 

I'm further irritated when the government has safeguards in place to protect the individual, but not society at large.  Choosing not to vaccinate has far worse implications and can injure far more than just the one refusing the vaccine whereas choosing not to use a seatbelt (in the event of an accident) only can injure the one refusing to use it.  Yet, somehow, the government is more concerned about the health of the individual versus the health of society.  Does that make sense?

I think this analogy illustrates my thoughts on vaccines in general:  You certainly have the right to swing your fist to and fro.  However, your right to swing your fist ends at my face.  You have the right to willfully choose to do things that could be damaging to yourself or your children.  However, your right to do those things (or, more accurately, refuse those things), ends when it can be damaging to me or my children.  And, make no mistake, refusing vaccinations has the potential to impact more than just those who refuse.

Of course, it is only my opinion that vaccines should be mandatory for even enrolling in school.  We all know what they say about opinions, right?  An uninformed opinion is like a sapling, it bends in whichever direction the strongest wind is blowing, so I am going to offer up the actual reasons why I have an opinion that so wildly is at odds with my personal political philosophy.

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Let's look briefly at how vaccines work.  First, it's important to realize and accept that there is no vaccine that has 100% efficacy rates.  That means that even one who has received all of their shots still has a chance (slim, but it's there) of getting the illness they were vaccinated against. Generally speaking, it's a much milder case, but the risk is still there.

Also, it's important to realize that vaccines work on the premise of herd immunity.  If everyone were vaccinated against an illness, it would cease to exist.  Think I'm just making that up?  The very last known case of smallpox was in 1977.  How did smallpox get wiped off the face of the Earth?  Through a massive world-wide vaccination campaign.  Smallpox was only eradicated by 100% herd immunity! 

The flip side to the awesomeness that is herd immunity is that once we get a certain percentage of people not vaccinated, watch out!

On vaccines in general, I kinda think they have worked altogether too well. No one remembers a time when people (often children) where stricken, disfigured, crippled, or killed from what are now pretty much entirely preventable diseases. Or a time when most families had at least one child who was injured or died from an illness that we have the ability to prevent today!

Even illnesses that aren't generally thought to be a big deal can absolutely be a big deal.  Take chicken pox.  I know someone who won't vax their child against chicken pox because "it's no big deal." I guess she's never known anyone who was left with a scarred up face from it or, worse, someone who has died from it/it's accompanying fever. On varicella (the virus that causes chicken pox), most people don't realize that you are NEVER totally free from the virus because it lives dormant in your nervous system. Ever heard of shingles? It's extremely painful and is what happens when varicella is somehow reactivated later in life. Naturally, my son received his varicella vaccination to spare him any suffering from an initial outbreak of chicken pox or the possibility of future pain from shingles in his later years.

The worst part of refusing vaccination is that herd immunity only works when the vast majority of the herd is vaccinated because it doesn't allow an illness to get a toehold in society.  And who is injured the most when the herd's immunity is diminished?  Who are the ones who suffer when a large enough percentage of people refuse vaccinations?  The most vulnerable members of society.  The sick, the old, and the very young; cancer patients, HIV/AIDS patients, those with any autoimmune diseases, grandparents (& some of our parents), newborns.  Remember that vaccines do not carry efficacy rates of 100% and these people are counting on the rest of us to get our vaccines!

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I think the reason they are pushing pertussis in California right now is because of the amount of infants who were stricken and died last year. I remember reading that, although the number seemed small to me (of course, it wouldn't seem that way to me if it were my own infant who died), it was the highest number of whopping cough deaths in some number of years. If memory serves, they have to be at least two months old before even beginning their series on that one so they are completely vulnerable (less so if breastfeeding, but still vulnerable) until at least 2 months of age.  If you expect to be around any infants, do that child a favor and get your Pertussis booster to help protect the lil' one.

I'm guessing that the reason they are pushing it on school kids is because education is mandatory so there's less chance of falling through the cracks and avoiding it. But ideally we all would keep up on our vaccine boosters and we certainly should if we will be around any young infants.

* * *

I've read that I'm excessively verbose on this topic.  I guess it's because I read and hear so much faulty information that I think most people don't understand any of this.  I'm not trying to impose my will on anyone, but I'm trying to explain the "why" in a way that makes sense to those who don't want to do the research for themselves. 

And, yes, it should just be your choice. Unfortunately, parental choices as it relates to vaccines can threaten the general public.  Parental freedom is infringed upon all the time and this is one of the rare cases where I believe that the government needs to make a mandate.  Frankly, I wish they'd made the vaccines mandatory years ago so it would simply be second nature now, just like wearing seatbelts, because not vaccinating threatens a helluva lot more people than just yourself and you're the only one who suffers if you get in an accident while not wearing a seatbelt.

If a parent doesn't care that their own child might suffer due to a preventable illness because "it's no big deal" or they believe in a fraudulent study and discredited researcher linking vaccines to autism, that's their business.  But it is absolutely my business if my child may suffer due to your choices.  Remember the swinging fist analogy?  Choosing not to vaccinate your child can end with my child getting hit in the face by your decision and that is why I am so passionate on this topic.

Feel free to comment and debate on this, but do back it up with facts and not simply opinion or fears.  I do have strong opinions on the topic, but I'm not unreasonable and am willing to change my views in light of new facts.  But do note that anecdotes, while usually profoundly sad, are not facts.  And play nice with each other. . .none of us intentionally wants to harm their children so personal attacks aren't necessary or welcomed.

My Sucktastic Day + A Tasty Recipe

My son and I live very active lives.  We go to parks, playdates, playschool, the zoo, the children's museum, the movies, stroller walks, the beach, swimming at Grandma & Grandpa's house, any number of fun activities.  Unless there is a pressing reason, a really pressing reason, I hate staying home all day with my 2-year old.  Thanks to his reaction to yesterday's vaccines, I stayed home all day today with my sickly 2-year old.


My sweet little boy ran a fever from somewhere between 4:30 am and 7:30 am until around 1:00 pm today.  And he was still limping a little bit for much of the day.  But I'm very thankful to report that he was totally himself by the time he went to bed this evening.

My husband took our son to the potty at 4:30 this morning and put the boy back to his own bed.  He didn't have a fever.  The boy woke again at around 7:30 am and I brought him to my bed because he had a fever.  He fell back to sleep until around 10:00 am.  He still wasn't 100%, so I sat him on the couch and brought him a snack tray to eat in the front room.  A snack tray is just a compartmentalized plate that I fill with stuff like Cheerios, Goldfish crackers, bananas, grapes, olives, just about any finger snacks the kiddo likes.

He sat on the couch much of the morning and only ventured off to sit on his special chair or to use the toilet.  Funny side story, he made a #2 in the toilet and pointed at it when he was pulling up his pants.  "Poo-poo," he said.  I replied that it was indeed.  "Poo-poo tie-tie," he nodded.  Tie-tie means tired, in case you're not up on my toddler's special language.  I laughed and said that poo-poo can't really get tired, but let's flush it away just the same.  Where do they get these funny ideas??

He crawled in the kitchen while I was preparing lunch.  I immediately picked him up and looked at his legs, sure that I'd see some terrible reaction to yesterday's vaccines.  Nope.  The puncture sites looked exactly like I'd expect.  His legs weren't hot to touch and there were no visual signs of problems.

I served him a tuna sandwich with veggie sticks for lunch and he had a pretty good appetite.  A little after lunch I noticed that his fever was gone.  Hooray!  And he totally lost his limp after his nap - his 3 hour nap!  Double hooray!

I prepared pasta tonight for dinner.  Though my son declared that he didn't want pasta, he ate a hearty serving and followed it with a banana and milk.  I'm so thankful that he's back to his regular sweet self! 


I had a lot of odds & ends to make dinner with and here's the pasta I whipped up tonight - no real measurements, just eyeballed:

Whole wheat pasta (reserve 3 cups of cooking water)
1 brown onion, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup shredded carrots
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 can black olives, sliced
2 Tb capers, drained & rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
2 cans tomato paste
Seasonings - don't be stingy with 'em:  Black pepper, salt, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes

Prepare pasta according to package.  I have a pot with a steamer insert and I used that to steam the onion, red bell pepper, carrots, & garlic while the pasta cooked.  Drain pasta, reserving three cups of cooking water.  Mix everything together, adding the water 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency.  I ended up using about 2 1/2 cups.  I topped with fresh shredded Parmesan.  YUM!

The Day Started Well

My son was in a great mood from the time he woke up today.  Until we visited the pediatrician.

The little one had fun playing with the toys and books in the waiting room.  My son flipped out when the medical assistant showed up to take us to the exam room.  I guess he hadn't realized where we were until he saw the hallway decorated with safari animals.

My son whimpered when we set him on the scale.  He screamed when our friendly medical assistant measured his height.  He outright wailed when we removed his clothes so that he could wear an exam gown.

Thanks to my Rain Man-esque ability to memorize and recite Elmo songs, the little one calmed down enough to stop crying.  We looked at fun books for a few minutes and I was sure that things were going to be fine.  Then the doctor walked in the room.

The howling began afresh.  The upside to all his screaming is that the doctor was able to easily look in the kiddo's mouth.  The downside is that my toddler shrieked for nearly 30 solid minutes.

The doctor did nothing to hurt my son.  He was very patient and gentle.  He even gave the little guy a new book to take home.  Yet my son spat out a "bye-bye" as he waved the doctor away.

The medical assistant returned and my son went berserk.  He screamed and thrashed about so much that he was pink and sweaty.  Shots are never all that fun, but I knew that they were going to be worse because he was working himself up so much.

Three shots; two in one leg, one in the other.  For being less than thirty pounds, he is sure a strong little guy.  It took three adults to administer these shots.

His good attitude returned as soon as we left the doctor's office.  He never did nap today, but he ate a hearty dinner and he had fun playing with his new book.  Since he is so fond of Elmo, I let him watch two Elmo videos.

Shortly before bedtime, he started limping a little.  His left leg, the one that had two shots, was clearly hurting.  I took off the bandages and the injection sites look normal.

He seemed perfectly fine, except the limping, but I gave him extra cuddles and snuggles tonight.  I really didn't want to put him in his crib because I wanted to keep him close.  Since we don't normally co-sleep, I figured that he wouldn't sleep any better in my bed.  So I put him in his crib. 

As I do every night, I'll look in on him before I turn in for the night.  Yes, I still check to see that he's breathing and make sure that he doesn't have anything like bedding or stuffed animals up close to his face - I guess I took all that SIDS prevention info a little too seriously.  I'm sure he'll be fine in the morning, but my heart hurt to see him limping tonight.

Of course, I'd feel worse if he ended up with HepA, Hib, or pneumococcal meningitis and I refused the shots.  I guess the limping isn't all that bad in comparison.

Vaccines and Autism

WARNING - WARNING - WARNING: This post is about a controversial subject (vaccines) and it contains strong language with some profanity. If you are offended by any of this, you should stop reading now.


I'm not terribly crunchy, but I do have some granola tendencies.

I breastfed my son for over a year. The only reason I stopped is because my husband patiently waited long enough to have my boobies back and my son seemed willing to wean. I cloth diaper part-time. I still use 'sposies part-time because my son rashes up if left in cloth overnight and I'm not willing to hassle with a wet bag containing piss- and/or shit-filled diapers when we're out & about. I haven't used a single paper towel since the new year began because I use little microfiber towels to wipe up messes and throw them in with the laundry that I wash each night. I even stopped using my Swiffer Wet because I bought a (reusable) steam mop.

I'm not some sort of antiperspirant eschewing, furry legged, organic eating hippie either. I will only use antiperspirant containing aluminum because it's the only kind that actually stops the sweat. I shave my legs because, well, because I think my husband prefers it. Otherwise, I might be furry legged. I do not go out of my way to purchase organic food, but I am happy to grow my own veggies in my own garden. If necessary, yes, I will use pesticides and I don't worry about them in the least.

There is one area in which I am decidedly in favor of modern invention: vaccinations.

Prior to Dr. Salk's miraculous invention in 1954, the only way we were able to create immunity was through suffering a bout with a dangerous illness. Those who survived the illness gained an immunity to the disease. Thanks to modern medicine, we no longer have to suffer through potentially deadly illnesses to gain our immunity.

I realize that a certain former Playmate has been intently planting seeds of doubt in the minds of parents across the country in recent years. Dr. McCarthy asserts that the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella) caused her son's autism. . .which she then cured with a wheat-free and dairy-free diet. Um, okay. Assuming for just a moment that any of this is true, who cares if a kid has autism since it can apparently be easily cured, or at least managed, by diet alone? Of course, science does not back up her anecdotal claims.

The medical journal, The Lancet, first published a study suggesting a link (Note: this does not mean a causal relationship exists!) between autism and the MMR vaccine back in 1998. The Lancet has since issued a full retraction of the paper, noting that claims made by the researchers were "false." Ten of the thirteen authors of that study have also formally issued retractions.

It is well-known to anyone who will take a little time to conduct some research that this study relied on incredibly flawed methodology. They cherry-picked their subjects, they outright falsified data, and, most disturbingly, they subjected children to invasive procedures simply to experience the joy of experimentation rather than for clinical purposes. Words truly can not convey the contempt I have for these individuals.

The British physician who was the lead researcher in that study, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, has subsequently been stripped of his medical license. But don't worry, he's since emigrated from the UK and he now lives and works in the US. Thankfully, the sadist is not licensed to practice medicine in the US.

Typically, the biggest risks from getting a vaccine is fever, soreness at the injection site (duh!), and an occasional rash. The biggest risks from not getting vaccines? Suffering through a serious illness, being responsible for spreading contagious illnesses throughout society, possible disfigurement, and possible death. Autism has not been scientifically proven to be a risk associated with vaccination. Sure, anecdotal evidence abounds. But anecdotes are not science.

The benefits outweigh the risks, but people are always going to be afraid of that which they do not understand. Many people have an adversarial attitude toward modern medicine, preferring to rely upon the old-ways or on outright placebos. And that's fine by me. But choosing not to vaccinate puts the herd at risk, potentially putting my own family at risk, and that's not fine by me.

I'm open minded and always willing to change my opinion if I'm proven wrong. I respectfully challenge anyone who believes that there is a relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism to produce a link to a study that demonstrates the relationship. I'll happily research it and create another post.