So my nephew told my sister that he just got immunized for "munkungacoyta". Well, there may have been some confusion on the name of the vaccine, but I think it reflects an overall confusion about vaccinations. By the way, he meant meningococcal vaccine.
Immunization recommendations are always changing. Recently changes have been made to the tetanus vaccination. Did you know that when you get a tetanus vaccine, it includes diphtheria? When you look at your records, you should see "Td" as the name of your tetanus vaccine every 10 years. In the last few years, they have added a new component to this vaccine - Pertussis (Whooping Cough). It used to be that your last Pertussis vaccination was ~ 10 years old, but there has been a concern about waning immunity so now when you get your tetanus shot, you should be getting a TDaP (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and acellular Pertussis). If you haven't had a tetanus shot in the last 2 years, you might want to ask your doctor about this TDaP vaccine.
Even if you don't fully break out with Pertussis, you could be a carrier to those important children in your life. Infants are particularly susceptible because they haven't been fully vaccinated yet. They don't even get their first shot until they are 2 months old, and it is a 3 series vaccine. Full immunity isn't expected until after the 3rd shot.
For those of you concerned that vaccinations may cause Autism or other developmental problems, there is no evidence that this is true. I have read many studies comparing children who got all the vaccines at once and those who didn't. There is no link. Also, without the vaccines, your children are at extreme risk for major illnesses. Whooping Cough in an infant can turn into serious pneumonia, requiring hospitalization. Meningitis can be deadly. It is important to protect your child from some of these critical illnesses.
If you have older children in school, they can be carriers for diseases, even if they have been vaccinated. I didn't realize that you could bring home illnesses, even if your immune system fought it off. Scary, huh?
No need to be paranoid though. Just get the recommended vaccines.
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It's a hard thing to navigate for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe girls are scheduled to get meningits shots here next week.... but then I read that they don't recommend them until 11 years old in the states.... So now I'm questioning that particular one. But remember what happened to the Mc's grandson??? (Or were you here then?) So scary.