abulloch@violet.berkeley.edu (02/09/86)
Our nine-week old daughter is coming up for her first innoculations (pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria: DTP). In the last few years there has been a lot of controversy over the possible side-effects of the pertussis part of these innoculations, with some arguing (especially in England) that the dangers of the side-effects from the innoculation are larger than those arising from the disease itself. We are doing some research into the latest literature of this, but would be very interested to have any info. that anyone has about the current state of research and opinion, and to hear the experience and opinions of others. It can be difficult sorting out medical orthodoxy and/or vested interest from the actual state of research on something like this, it seems. Anthony Bulloch Classics Dept. UCBerkeley Ca. 94720
martha@geowhiz.UUCP (Martha Savage) (02/10/86)
> > Our nine-week old daughter is coming up for her first innoculations > (pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria: DTP). In the last few years there has been > a lot of controversy over the possible side-effects of the pertussis part > of these innoculations, with some arguing (especially in England) that the > dangers of the side-effects from the innoculation are larger than > those arising from the disease itself. We are doing some research into > the latest literature of this, but would be very interested to have any > info. that anyone has about the current state of research and opinion, > and to hear the experience and opinions of others. It can be difficult > sorting out medical orthodoxy and/or vested interest from the actual > state of research on something like this, it seems. > > Anthony Bulloch > Classics Dept. > UCBerkeley > Ca. 94720 I worried about this a while ago, reading various literature although not recent research articles. I read somewhere that in England whooping cough has become a problem again because of the lack of innoculations-- several children have died from it. I finally decided to go ahead with the full DPT, because I really trust my doctor. I'm in a type of HMO, so that the pressure is to not do unnecessary procedures, so that "vested interest" would point the other way if it wasn't necessary. More important, my doctor and her nurse both had their children innoculated (They were both born within a few months of mine, but that's another story). My son had just a slight fever and crankiness and slept more as a reaction. But different kids react differently, and make sure you ask for and understand any warning signs when it's done. -- Martha Kane Savage U. Wisc. Dept. Geology and Geophysics {ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!geowhiz!martha
avinash@ubvax.UUCP (Avinash Marathe) (02/11/86)
In article <300@ucbjade.BERKELEY.EDU> abulloch@violet.berkeley.edu.UUCP () writes: >Our nine-week old daughter is coming up for her first innoculations >(pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria: DTP). In the last few years there has been >a lot of controversy over the possible side-effects of the pertussis part >of these innoculations, with some arguing (especially in England) that the >dangers of the side-effects from the innoculation are larger than >those arising from the disease itself. We are doing some research into > >Anthony Bulloch According to Dr. Dean Edell of KGO radio, exactly the opposite is true i.e. the danger of getting whooping cough is greater than the danger of getting side-effects from the innoculation. So he strongly recommends getting your children innoculated. I know he means what he says because he has given the shots to his own children. He admits that the vaccine is not perfect but feels that it's safer to get vaccinated than not. Because more people are not vaccinating their kids whooping cough is on the rise in many states. Avinash Marathe {ihnp4,allegra,decwrl}!amd!ubvax!avinash
flowers@ucla-cs.UUCP (02/14/86)
In article <300@ucbjade.BERKELEY.EDU> abulloch@violet.berkeley.edu.UUCP () writes: >DTP: In the last few years there has been >a lot of controversy over the possible side-effects of the pertussis part >of these innoculations, with some arguing (especially in England) that the >dangers of the side-effects from the innoculation are larger than >those arising from the disease itself. We are doing some research into >the latest literature of this, but would be very interested to have any >info. that anyone has about the current state of research and opinion, >and to hear the experience and opinions of others. Our pediatrician told us that there was a big study recently completed at USC which recommends against the 6 month pertussis innoculation (i.e. give only the 2 and 4 month pertussis innoculation) because antibody titres don't increase that much more with the 6 month innoculation but there is a much greater risk of dangerous allergic reaction. It is as yet unpublished but he expects it to be the basis of many malpractice suits when it finally is published. I don't have any references, sorry. Baby tylenol (or Tempra) seemed to help much with the pain, so that she quit moaning and just ended up sleeping a lot until the next day. So the next time they gave her some with the shot and it went much better. There was no problem with the third shot which was only a DT. (Even the DT's hurt a lot, I got one at the same time and was astonished how sharp the pain was). The show 20/20 a year or so ago claimed that the cited rates of dangerous reaction to the pertussis innoculation are the British rates, and that our rates in the US, where a different formulation is used, are significantly higher, high enough to advise against the vaccine. I don't know if this charge is true or not.