Mother in law won't get pertussis vaccine
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Anonymous
| Both my OB and my pediatrician (to my 2 year old) have told me that I, my husband, and anyone who will be a caregiver to our newborn (due in October) should get the pertussis vaccine. My mother in law, who tends to visit LOTS, refuses to get it. I am fuming about this, and worried about my baby - am I overreacting? Has anyone else's doctor emphasized this? |
Anonymous
| Tell her that is the price she needs to pay to visit your baby until your baby can be properly vaccinated. While chances are she will not be exposing your baby - if she does it can be really bad. She might not understand the risks - send her some literature about it. |
Anonymous
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Personally, I would never ask someone else to get a vaccine. It's their place to manage their health. But I understand your concern. I would go back and talk to your OB about it first, describe the situation. Chances are a regular visitor is nowhere near as big a risk to your baby as a daily caregiver.
Some things to think about: 1) How old is your MIL? 2) If she's over 65, the Tdap booster is not recommended. Just the Td. Which means no pertussis vax. Does a separate one exist? Is there some reason people over 65 shouldn't get the pertussis vax? 3) If she's under 65, has she had the Tdap booster recently? She may already be vaxed and not realize it. Most people her age (and mine) think of it as a tetanus booster only. If your OB is adamant that a visiting grandmother needs to have the pertussis shot, then of course it's your place to manage your child's health and safety, and you'll have to go from there. |
Anonymous
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While I am a firm believer that adults should get their booster shots as well, I am not sure this is worth fighting.
Your baby will get the first shot at 2 months, and will receive a level of protection at that point. In truth, most babies are born and exposed to several adults who have not gotten their vaccines. It is not ideal, but many adults have built up a natural immunity due to exposure or infection. I am not trying to say there is no level of risk to exposure of a nno-boostered adult, but try to put it in perspective. The possibility of anyone in your inner circle contracting pertussis before your baby's vaccine is very small. How big a battle do you want to make this? I think your mother in law may be putting her foot down about something she shouldn't be, but who knows how she feels about shots. It is possible you may be freaking out because this is your mother in law...does your expected child have a known health condition that makes it necessary? |
Anonymous
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I agree with PP that it's not your place to ask someone to get vaccinated. It is, however your place to protect your child and set conditions for those who will be caring for him. It's up to your MIL if she wants to comply and help care for the baby, or not.
FWIW, though, you may want to check back with your doctor and find out exactly who this recommendation applies to. Is your MIL going to be taking care of baby regularly or just visiting sometimes? Are you going to demand thy every visitor gets vaccinated? It seems to me you can catch a disease jus as easily from 10 different visiting friends as you can from a MIL who visits 10 times. |
Anonymous
| 8:17 again. Just wanted to respond to another part of your question. I have never heard this recommendation before, and both my mom and MIL care for my baby regularly. Neither my pediatrician nor my best friend who is a pediatrician in another state have ever mentioned it. Did you make everyone do this for your first child? Are there special health considerations here? |
Anonymous
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Both my MIL and FIL will be getting the vaccine, in addition to the new Prevnar before my new LO arrives in February. They live near us and will be over all the time and they both are totally fine with getting vaccinated.
I agree with PPs that say you can't really force anyone to get vaccinated. But if she is planning on visiting often and for extended periods of time, I would also be concerned. Talk to your doctor to see what is recommended and if she still is not willing to get it, tell her she can't visit until the baby gets his/her first set of shots at 2 months. |
Anonymous
I've never heard of this either-crazy! My children are current in their vaccines, so I'm not worried about other people's vaccination status. Sounds to me just another mandate for the pharma companies to rake in more profits with a bunch of unecessary drugs. |
Anonymous
There is currently an epidemic of whooping cough/pertussis, particularly in adults and, therefore, more infants getting it. Just because you've never heard of it doesn't make it a VERY real threat and very dangerous for newborns. I agree with your doctor's recommendation. Full immunuization doesn't kick in at the 2 month shot - that's why they need it again at 4 months, 6 months, etc. EVERYONE with daily, close contact to your newborn should get vaccinated. It is highly contagious. |
Anonymous
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My understanding is that this is a new recommendation because of the fairly large number of pertussis outbreaks in the last year. Adults can be carriers without many symptoms, pass it on to newborns where it can be deadly. My ped recommended that caregivers that will have a lot of close contact with my newborn (due in Oct) get the vaccination. He will not have any protection until he's two months old. My mom will be staying with us for at least the first couple of weeks and has been vaccinated already. My ped also recommended that I get the vaccine after deilvery.
For what it's worth - our ped is a very progressive, happy to comply with alternative vaccine schedules, wholistic therapies, doesn't prescribe anti-biotics for every little sniffle, type of doc. The fact that she so strongly recommended the vaccine really says a lot to us. |
Anonymous
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I am curious if anyone knows how many illnesses actually constitute this outbreak?
I am also curious if the pediatrician, OB, delivery room nurses and other nurses at the hospital are current in their vaccines. OP, your baby is going to be exposed to dozens - maybe hundreds - of people in their first months of life who are not vaccinated. It seems really crazy to make this huge fuss about your in-laws, unless you are going to refuse to let anyone else (whose vaccination status is unknown to you) not hold the baby either. The good thing about pertussis is that it is hard to miss. If MIL is sick at all, obviously that would be the time to refuse to allow her access to your baby. |
Anonymous
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I know of an infant who got it last year. The child is fine now but there were some very scary moments.
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Anonymous
Is this true? In an newspaper article I read recently, the person had a cough for a couple of week that went undiagnosed-- assumed it was just allergies or a standard cold. |
Anonymous
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At least 8 babies have died in California, and there is concern about having a larger outbreak here on the East Coast as people travel more for holidays in the fall.
I have also talked with my OB about it, and my husband and I will both be getting the vaccine after our October baby is born. I am going to ask my parents to look into it as well. |
Anonymous
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Personally, I would have rolled my eyes at both of them.
If you want to be paranoid about something your baby might actually contract, then worry about RSV. |