I can't weigh in on whether to enforce vaccination, but I do want to provide some information to the PP who indicated that Pertussis is easy to recognize. Please take a look at this LA Times article: http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-whooping-cough-20100907,0,4190790.story

While easy in older children, in infants below six months it can be very difficult to identify and may have few symptoms:
"Initial symptoms of the bacterial disease in infants are deceptively mild and can lull physicians into a false sense of security.

"It's a tough diagnosis because the babies, they don't look very sick. They don't have a fever. And they have a runny nose and a little cough," said Dr. James D. Cherry, a UCLA pediatrics professor and an expert on pertussis who has reviewed the eight infant deaths."

The NYT just reported on the surge of pertussis: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/vaccination-is-steady-but-pertussis-is-surging/?scp=2&sq=pertussis&st=cse

I think the special case with pertussis is that people THINK it's just a cold, so they don't take it very seriously, until it lingers, and then it turns out it's something more severe than a cold. The surge in pertussis is so new that it doesn't get diagnosed (and therefore spread to lots of people) until it progresses.

Also, the dr recommendation for vaccination is very new, certainly within the last year. I think it's great when our medical profession tries to stay ahead of outbreaks.

Babies born in the fall (i.e. during flu season) are also at higher risk for lifelong asthma problems, which are strongly correlated to having a serious respiratory infection before the age of 6 months. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=94429

It's all well and good to assert that whatever older people do is great and fine, but some of us like to rely on science when making choices about how to handle babies without fully-functioning immune systems.

Anonymous wrote:You people are scary. These same parents who brought you up and looked after your health (without the overuse of vaccines). And now you are shunning them because they don't want Aluminum Hydroxide, Bovine Extract, Formaldehyde, Glutaraldehyde, and Polysorbate 80 injected into their bodies? Just wondering, have any of you ever been concerned about your parent's vaccine status when you were learning to drive, or going to college, or getting your first job? If your parent's don't feel well, I bet they'll have your baby's best interest at heart and stay home until they feel better so as not to get your baby sick. Your parents will no sooner give you a deadly disease that will kill your child than you could pick it up off the shopping cart at your last grocery run, which is a thousand times more likely.

Exposing your elders to more heavy metals (thimerisol in flu shots, and aluminum in everything else) will increase their chances of dimensia.

The level of paranoia here is ludicrous.

Okay, then, easy: make sure everyone washes before touching brand new babies. Give them a squirt of hand sanitizer, too. Confirm *before* someone arrives at your house that they are not coughing/sick. I think these things are generally acceptable precautions. Otherwise, there's not much else to do and definitely do not insist that other people start seeking medical treatment (ie, vaccinations!) prior to coming. That is waaay overstepping both appropriate boundaries and common sense.

"You people are scary. These same parents who brought you up and looked after your health (without the overuse of vaccines). And now you are shunning them because they don't want Aluminum Hydroxide, Bovine Extract, Formaldehyde, Glutaraldehyde, and Polysorbate 80 injected into their bodies? Just wondering, have any of you ever been concerned about your parent's vaccine status when you were learning to drive, or going to college, or getting your first job? If your parent's don't feel well, I bet they'll have your baby's best interest at heart and stay home until they feel better so as not to get your baby sick. Your parents will no sooner give you a deadly disease that will kill your child than you could pick it up off the shopping cart at your last grocery run, which is a thousand times more likely.

Exposing your elders to more heavy metals (thimerisol in flu shots, and aluminum in everything else) will increase their chances of dimensia.

The level of paranoia here is ludicrous."

Some of us have parents who refuse to wash their hands and stay away from baby while sick. So stop berating others for their concerns over their parents refusal to take precautions to keep babies safe.

You people are scary. These same parents who brought you up and looked after your health (without the overuse of vaccines). And now you are shunning them because they don't want Aluminum Hydroxide, Bovine Extract, Formaldehyde, Glutaraldehyde, and Polysorbate 80 injected into their bodies? Just wondering, have any of you ever been concerned about your parent's vaccine status when you were learning to drive, or going to college, or getting your first job? If your parent's don't feel well, I bet they'll have your baby's best interest at heart and stay home until they feel better so as not to get your baby sick. Your parents will no sooner give you a deadly disease that will kill your child than you could pick it up off the shopping cart at your last grocery run, which is a thousand times more likely.

Exposing your elders to more heavy metals (thimerisol in flu shots, and aluminum in everything else) will increase their chances of dimensia.

The level of paranoia here is ludicrous.

My MIL wouldn't get the flu shot so I said that was fine but then she couldn't be around my baby. That changed her mind pretty quickly.

CA Dept. of Public Health recommendations for who should be vaccinated:

In addition to the typical series of childhood pertussis immunizations, CDPH now recommends an adolescent-adult pertussis booster vaccine (Tdap) for:
• anyone 7 years and older who is not fully immunized, including those who are more than 64 years old,
• women of childbearing age, before, during, or immediately after pregnancy, and
• other people who have contact with pregnant women or infants.

“Considering that immunity from pertussis vaccine or disease wears off and that most adults are susceptible to pertussis, now is the time for Californians to get immunized to protect themselves and their families,” said Chávez. “In particular, all family members and caregivers of infants should get the booster vaccine.”

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/PH10-048.aspx

Anonymous wrote:

Sorry for your situation, but the swine flu was a non-event. Anyone can get pneumonia for any reason, swine flu did not cause an epidemic of pnemonia. I think we just have some people with major anxiety disorders and I think pregnancy and motherhood causes it to be maginfied.

Actually, while I agree that the swine flu was mostly a press event and something for parents with anxiety to get more anxious over, it is not something that should be taken lightly. The DC metropolitan area has a particularly high percentage of children with asthma in comparison to the national figures. The American Lung Association's stats indicate that 1 in 10 children have asthma. For a child with compromised breathing, any strain of the flu, any cold, any virus that can affect the lungs, is dangerous. My daughter has asthma. She is 20 months old. A cold can send her to the emergency room. We are diligent about her vaccines and ours because of this. The statistics for the area mean that millions of children in the area are in the same position. I think the OP is justified in her fear. My idiotic cousin had a simple cold and visited us when my daughter was 2 months old. I didn't let her hold my daughter, and she still ended up needing to have her blood drawn, starting nebulizer treatments and requiring a week long course of antibiotics. Now that she's older and has a stronger immune system, thanks to having been breastfed for the first year and being up to date on her vaccinations, I am more lax. But for newborns, forget it. I think the mother-in-law can wait until her grandchild has been vaccinated at 2 months to see her.

Anonymous wrote:I have a 2.5 year old and am planning on starting trying to get pregnant with our second early next year. Should I get this vaccine before trying to concieve? I noticed some were planning on getting it after their baby is born.

My parents, who are around a lot, are not 65 yet so I might have them get it too.

I agree this wasn't an issue last time around for me, as this outbreak is fairly recent.

You should get it before getting pregnant. Or after - not during. Not many studies on the safety of it during.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

No kidding. Are we seriously freaking out about an 8-person "outbreak"!? Do you realize how many millions of people there are in this country?

RSV is so much more common, yet still not very common. Come on people, do some basic risk assessment.

this sounds like the swine flu non event. I'm guessing some of these posters were running around looking for masks this time last year.

Apparently, the swine flue was a non-event because people took it so seriously. The reaction worked.

Exactly. This. All the people who got the vaccine (and there were a lot) stopped the spread. People took it seriously, they got vaxed and they didn't get the flu. Check the stats on the flu rates pre/post vax releases. See the trends in the areas where vax was released.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

No kidding. Are we seriously freaking out about an 8-person "outbreak"!? Do you realize how many millions of people there are in this country?

RSV is so much more common, yet still not very common. Come on people, do some basic risk assessment.

this sounds like the swine flu non event. I'm guessing some of these posters were running around looking for masks this time last year.

Apparently, the swine flue was a non-event because people took it so seriously. The reaction worked.

I have a 2.5 year old and am planning on starting trying to get pregnant with our second early next year. Should I get this vaccine before trying to concieve? I noticed some were planning on getting it after their baby is born.

My parents, who are around a lot, are not 65 yet so I might have them get it too.

I agree this wasn't an issue last time around for me, as this outbreak is fairly recent.

My MIL is over 65 and her doctor said the recommendation is to not give the pertussis vax to people 65+ unless there is a strong reason to do so (known exposure, etc). While I'm not thrilled about this, I obviously don't want to endanger her health so she's still going to come help out even without the vax.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

No kidding. Are we seriously freaking out about an 8-person "outbreak"!? Do you realize how many millions of people there are in this country?

RSV is so much more common, yet still not very common. Come on people, do some basic risk assessment.

this sounds like the swine flu non event. I'm guessing some of these posters were running around looking for masks this time last year.

Well, as a mother who did not worry about swine flu and ended up with a kid hospitalized from secondary pneumonia from the swine flu, I wish I had worried about it more. Don't think we need to belittle people to make a point.

Sorry for your situation, but the swine flu was a non-event. Anyone can get pnemonia for any reason, swine flu did not cause an epidemic of pnemonia. I think we just have some people with major anxiety disorders and I think pregnancy and motherhood causes it to be maginfied.