Comments on: Washington pertussis outbreak is very, very bad

By: Whose to blame for the whooping cough outbreak? - Blog Central, Science-ish, Uncategorized - Macleans.ca

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 01:42:18 +0000

[...] like (be prepared for it) this. In recent years, epidemiologists have been tracking a spate of worrying outbreaks, and the incidence of whooping cough is on the rise in Canada and [...]

By: Why is it the worst that motivates us? | Rock Stew

Why is it the worst that motivates us? | Rock Stew — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:00:14 +0000

[...] My neighbor mentioned that pertussis is running rampant in the state of Washington right now (see here for a graph between 2011 and 2012) and I sort of [...]

By: Jamie

Jamie — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 19:50:58 +0000

This article is just attributing to the propaganda of the “antivaxers”. First of all, “antivaxers” do get vaccines. They just get them on a different schedule and instead of overloading their infants with multiple vaccines in one single shot, they spread them out to make sure there is no reaction to the individual ingredients.
Second of all, if you look at this info from the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/outbreaks.html, Washington is not the worst state for this outbreak. So, why do people keep focusing on WA? And if the problem was really the “antivaxers” California would have been top of the charts-but guess what, CA shows no change or a decrease.
Third of all, even though there is an outbreak the numbers are still not that high when compared to 2004-2005 and there was no mass hysteria about it then.
Fourthly, I lived in AZ for the last three year and there were these commercials for “the dangers of Pertussis” and about how you need to get your vaccine. I think it is real “funny” that those commercials went on for 3 years during a time when there wasn’t an outbreak and now all of a sudden there is “the worst outbreak in years”. Seriously, those commercials were on every damn break. And all my years of living in GA I never saw a single one.. interesting..
Don’t buy into the hype. It’s all about making money. And the vaccine industry is incredibly evil when it comes to doing what makes them the most money vs doing what is best for you. They are in control of most of the protocols that tell doctors how to treat their patients. I have worked in hospitals for years and one thing I can tell you is that the health care industry is just that, an industry. It’s main goal is to make money. Period. It is not healthy and does not have your best health interests at heart. It is up to you o figure out what is best for your family.
Do your own research before you let people scare you. http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/outbreaks.html

By: A Simple Solution | Distant Voices, Vibrating Electrons

A Simple Solution | Distant Voices, Vibrating Electrons — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 17:24:49 +0000

[...] of people’s private practices, but hearing about newborns with herpes for no reason, or dead of preventable diseases, really pisses me off. Share this:SharePrintEmailLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. This [...]

By: Marianne

Marianne — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:37:52 +0000

Chris2 – I believe McKay was not saying that getting the vaccine causes you to be infectious, but rather that whether or not you are vaccinated, you can spread germs through poor hygiene practices.

By: Chris2

Chris2 — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 03:50:24 +0000

While I was watering some very parched porch plants when I remembered this explanation:
http://justthevax.blogspot.com/2012/08/100-certainty.html

And I apologize for misspelling your name, McKay.

And by the way, next time provide some actual references. The only diseases I know that can be spread by a vaccinated person is vaccinia (the diseases is a descendent of cowpox, and only military personnel get it to protect them from smallpox), and OPV, oral polio vaccine, through a person’s fecal output.

So, really, provide some actual references and remember there is a difference between viruses and bacteria. One really cool way to learn about them, including the fact there are viruses (phages) that infect bacteria are the three podcasts that are linked to on the right side of the following site:
http://www.virology.ws/

By: Chris2

Chris2 — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 03:17:17 +0000

McCay, first pertussis is a bacterial infection not a viral infection. Please understand there is a difference?

And how is a vaccinated person able to infect others when the vaccine does not contain the entire bacteria, but just portions?

By: McKay

McKay — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 06:38:44 +0000

I’m vaccinated. Let’s just get one thing clear. Whether you vaccinate or do not, you are always capable of carrying the germs that cause these diseases. A vaccine produces an antibody response in an individual body, meaning that if it is attacked by a particular germ, the conditioned response is suppose to prevent the individual from getting sick. It does not keep their body germ free and incapable of passing potential disease along. Both the vaccinated and unvaccinated can do this. The germs don’t cause actual sickness until a person is infected….hence wanting your body to be able to fight off the disease. This is why cleanliness and hand washing is so important. That is what “rinses” germs off and keeps them from being passed along. The vaccine cannot not prevent this.

That all being said, blaming the rise in pertussis outbreaks on the unvaccinated population and not the vaccinated is bad science. Unfortunately, we’re all potential carriers. Whatever your decision, you’re definitely causing problems if you never wash your hands or keep up your personal hygiene. The truth of how a virus spreads is very important. Most vaccinated people think that because we’ve had the shots that we’re not going to spread the disease around. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You still have a daily personal responsibility in being clean, and many people are too cavalier with this because they think a vaccine keeps them from spreading sickness.

For example, even if someone is fully up to date with their vaccines, I absolutely do not want them touching my baby if they’ve just come out of a bathroom (esp. a public one, and we all see people use them and then not wash their hands) without washing up afterward. That is dangerous. Even though they’re vaccinated it’s dangerous because a vaccine does not make us exempt from germs.

This has been redundant, but I cannot stress enough: preventing illness does not rest on the vaccines alone. And because there will always be that person who the vaccine does not work for or the individual who for medical reasons cannot be vaccinated, the vaccinated population needs to be aware of this because we could be spreading the germs around and completely clueless about it.

By: Chris2

Chris2 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 02:05:32 +0000

brittany, saying that the pertussis vaccine does not work for parapetussis is like saying there is something wrong with the MMR vaccine for not working for fifth disease. It does not make sense.

By: brittany

brittany — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 04:02:27 +0000

acellular pertussis vax does help clear pertussis, but caused a 40-fold increase in parapetussis CFU’s in the study rats.

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/02/26/rspb.2010.0010.abstract

The aP vaccines are comprised solely of pertussis antigens that are are NOT EFFECTIVE against parapertussis. The study I posted shows that vaccination with aP resulted in a 40-fold increase of parapertussis CFUs, and furthermore IMPEDED immunity to parapertussis, measured as reduced lung inflammatory and neutrophil responses.

I find this theory for the increase in cases interesting, considering doctors, to the best of my knowledge, do not differentiate in their diagnosis between the two.