Who's been promoting adult boosters to fight pertussis? Why it's those dang pro-vaccination people!

[HuckleB]

Why we vaccinate. Part 1.
http://skepchick.org/blog/2010/08/why-we-vaccinate-part-1/

"Over the next few days, as the Skepchicks and the Women Thinking Free Foundation prepare to launch the Hug Me! I’m Vaccinated campaign, I will be posting videos. These will be stories, examples, and maybe even an educational video or two, to emphasize the importance of getting your Tdap booster.

If you will be at Dragon Con, you have no excuse. We organized a vaccine clinic to be held in the Mall at Peachtree Center, adjacent to the D*C hotels, where we are providing free Tdap vaccines to any adults who need one.

We are in the middle of a pertussis epidemic, and an epic one at that. And the people who are most risk of serious complications, including death, from this disease are not able to be vaccinated against it. The herd needs to rise to the occasion. Your vaccine could save someone else’s life. And if we all get vaccinated, we will save lives. That’s how it works.

..."

Why we vaccinate. Part 2
http://skepchick.org/blog/2010/08/why-we-vaccinate-part-2/

Why we vaccinate. Part 3
http://skepchick.org/blog/2010/09/why-we-vaccinate-part-3/

Why we vaccinate. Part 4.
http://skepchick.org/blog/2010/09/why-we-vaccinate-part-4/

Why we vaccinate. Part 5
http://skepchick.org/blog/2010/09/why-we-vaccinate-part-5/

Why We Vaccinate. Part 6 (very special edition)
http://skepchick.org/blog/2010/09/why-we-vaccinate-part-6-very-special-edition/


That's right. It's the pro-vaccination crowd that wants you to get vaccinated! Who would have thought that?

[HuckleB]

1. Meanwhile, the anti-vaccination movement wants to blame the unvaccinated for the epidemic!

Yup. The head scratching never ends. But here's a bite of reality for those who are now worried that they'll be criticized for their advocacy against vaccines.

Thanks to the Anti-Vaccination Movement, Whooping Cough is Making a Comeback

http://therelativelyinterestingblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/thanks-to-anti-vaccination-movement.html

"...

By the 1970s, through vaccinations, whooping cough was as endangered as the whooping crane, with only about 0.000005 percent of the population infected. Unfortunately, fears that the DPT vaccine (a combo for diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) could cause brain damage in rare cases — not entirely unfounded — gave rise to the anti-DPT movement in many industrialized countries.

At issue was the "whole-cell pertussis" element of the vaccine, since replaced in most countries, including the United States, with an "acellular" formulation (which includes purified proteins from the Bordetella pertussis bacteria), indicated by the "a" in DTaP, a common abbreviation for the vaccine these days. While never conclusively associated with brain damage, the original formulation was tied to other serious albeit rare side effects, such as allergic reactions and seizures.

Hype and consequences

The impact of the anti-vaccine movement was dramatic. In Great Britain, immunization rates for whooping cough dropped from over 80 percent to 33 percent (and in some regions to less than 10 percent) from 1974 to 1977. Then the epidemic hit. In 1979 there were over 100,000 cases and 36 deaths worldwide. In Japan in 1975, amidst public worry, the government suspended mandatory pertussis vaccines for infants; the 1979 epidemic killed over 40 children there. The same scene repeated itself in other countries, as well.

In June 2009 researchers reported in the journal Pediatrics that children who didn't receive the whooping cough vaccine were 23 times more likely to contract pertussis. In the June 2010 issue of Pediatrics, researchers found no connection between the vaccine and seizures.

..."


I know. I know. No one wants to face the consequences of their actions. I know. I know.