Deadly Whooping Cough Epidemic Claims Lives of California Infants

[LilOlLady]

Deadly Whooping Cough Epidemic Claims Lives of California Infants

Who is to Blame? You Might Be Surprised

A deadly whooping cough epidemic is frightening California parents and causing copious finger-pointing. Potentially blamed for the pertussis outbreak are illegal aliens and non-vaccinating parents. In fact, there is another explanation, and no, you won't like it either.
California Whooping Cough Epidemic

Why a Previously Controlled Childhood Disease Makes a Comeback: Illegal Aliens? Parents who refuse to vaccinate their Children?

When the Whooping Cough Vaccine Cannot Combat an Evolving Super Bug

Deadly Whooping Cough Epidemic Claims Lives of California Infants - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

 

[LilOlLady]

Illegal Aliens Spreading Diseases Across USA
Article by Frosty Wooldridge
November 12, 2003


Tuberculosis, five years ago, was almost non-existent in the USA. Last week, a school in Sebewaing, Michigan reported 30 children and four teachers had tested positive for tuberculosis infections. Michigan supports a large Latin illegal alien population that migrated from Mexico. In the past four years, 16,000 cases of multi drug resistant (MDR) TB, which was formerly endemic ONLY to Mexico, crossed over the borders inside the bodies of illegal aliens. These adults and their children have spread out across the country to work in fast foods and harvesting. Another outbreak occurred in Austin, Minnesota where eight police officers tested positive for tuberculosis. A similar outbreak occurred in Portland, Maine last week with 28 testing positive for tuberculosis.
Illegal Aliens Spreading Diseases Across USA - Article by Frosty Wooldridge - speaker, author, environmentalist, patriot, bicyclist; Frosty promotes open discussion of environmental and U.S. national sustainability issues, and reduction of immigratio

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - get yer kids vaccinated so dey don't die of the whoopin' cough...

Pertussis Rises, Research Focuses on Vaccine
December 10, 2012 - Pertussis is one of the leading causes of unnecessary infant and child deaths worldwide. The deaths could largely be prevented with a vaccine. Most of the cases of pertussis occur in developing countries, but the U.S. has seen an increase in recent years.

Pertussis often starts with cold-like symptoms, but Lara Misegades at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says that's where the similarities end. She led a study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “Pertussis is a very contagious respiratory disease, and it’s also known as whooping cough. It’s caused by a bacteria and it can cause violent coughing fits that last for a very long time, up to 10 weeks or more," she said. Colds are caused by viruses. Like a cold, pertussis can affect anyone but can be life-threatening for infants, young children and the elderly.

Globally, up to 50 million people get pertussis each year and it causes 300,000 deaths. Ninety percent of the cases are in developing countries. A vaccine can prevent the disease. The vaccine is given in a series of four shots during infancy and another just before a child starts school. Because of the increase in cases, the researchers studied vaccine histories to see if those who got the disease had completed the five dose series. "Children with pertussis were less likely to have received the childhood pertussis vaccine series compared to children who did not have pertussis," said Misegades.

The researchers also found that protection from immunization declines over time. Dr. Gregory Poland at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota says the vaccine is highly effective at first. "In year one, after getting the vaccine, the efficacy is nearly 100 percent, which is why I say it is an excellent short-term vaccine. By year five, you’re down to an efficacy of about 30 percent," he said. Dr. Poland says pertussis is mistakenly called a childhood disease. It's really a disease that adults and teenagers give to children.

Doctors recommend that pregnant women get a booster vaccine so they don't get sick and so their newborns have some protection. Doctors also recommend that adults who spend a lot of time with young children get periodic boosters. "It really is an all-round education effort to get people to realize that anyone is susceptible to pertussis, everyone needs to get a vaccine or booster against pertussis, and anyone who has a nagging, ongoing cough that lasts and lasts and lasts, ought to see their physician with the thought of pertussis," he said. The goal is to develop a better vaccine, but meantime people can take basic steps, such as washing hands often and getting vaccinated.

Source

 

[LilOlLady]

Because illegal aliens are entering the country illegally without vaccinations and their chlldren not vaccinated either some of the old childhood disease are returning and untreatable and many of us are having to be re-vacinated. A new strain of TB is brought in and spreaded by illegal aliens. Kind of like the new arrivals in 1492 brought disease and nasty pigs that destroyed Native Amerian crops. Small pox killed my paternal great grand parents and entire tribes were killed off by disease brought here. Pay back can be a bitch,uh? What goes around comes around? You invaded and now you are being invaded. Full circle.

 

[waltky]

Pertussis back on the increase due to decline in vaccinations, unvaccinated illegal immigrants...

2012 was worst year for whooping cough since 1955
Jan 4,`13 - The nation just suffered its worst year for whooping cough in nearly six decades, according to preliminary government figures.

Whooping cough ebbs and flows in multi-year cycles, and experts say 2012 appears to have reached a peak with 41,880 cases. Another factor: A vaccine used since the 90s doesn't last as long as the old one. The vaccine problem may continue to cause higher than normal case counts in the future, said Dr. Tom Clark of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "I think the numbers are going to trend up," he said. The agency provided the latest figures on Friday.

Last year, cases were up in 48 states and outbreaks were particularly bad in Colorado, Minnesota, Washington state, Wisconsin and Vermont. The good news: Despite the high number of illnesses, deaths didn't increase. Eighteen people died, including 15 infants younger than 1. Officials aren't sure why there weren't more deaths, but think that the attention paid to bad outbreaks across the nation resulted in infected children getting diagnosed faster and treated with antibiotics.

Also, a push last year to vaccinate pregnant women - a measure designed to pass immunity to infants - may have had some small measure of success, Clark said. The final tally will be higher but unlikely to surpass the nearly 63,000 illnesses in 1955, he said. Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children. Its name comes from the sound children make as they gasp for breath.

It used to be a common threat, with hundreds of thousands of cases annually. Cases gradually dropped after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s. For about 25 years, fewer than 5,000 cases were reported annually in the U.S. But case counts started to climb again in the 1990s although not every year. Numbers jumped to more than 27,000 in 2010, the year California saw an especially bad epidemic.

Experts looking for an explanation have increasingly looked at a new vaccine introduced in the 1990s, and concluded its protection is not as long-lasting as was previously thought. Children are routinely vaccinated with five doses beginning at 2 months, and a booster shot is recommended at around 11 or 12. Health officials are considering recommending another booster shot, strengthening the vaccine or devising a brand new one.

Source

 

[waltky]

California Declares Whooping Cough Epidemic...

California whooping cough cases now labeled an epidemic
6/13/2014 ~ California is in the throes of a whooping cough epidemic, state health department officials announced Friday.

Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health, said 3,458 cases of whooping cough have been reported since Jan. 1 -- including 800 in the past two weeks. That total is more than all the cases reported in 2013. "Preventing severe disease and death in infants is our highest priority," Chapman said in a statement. "We urge all pregnant women to get vaccinated. We also urge parents to vaccinate infants as soon as possible." Whooping cough, or pertussis, is cyclical and peaks every three to five years. The last peak in California occurred in 2010, when a total of 9,159 cases were reported. Chapman said it is likely another peak is underway.

Health department officials say infants too young to be fully immunized remain most vulnerable to severe and fatal cases of pertussis. Two-thirds of pertussis hospitalizations have been in children four months or younger. Two infant deaths have been reported. The Tdap vaccination for pregnant women is the best way to protect infants who are too young to be vaccinated, health officials say. All pregnant women should be vaccinated with Tdap in the third trimester of each pregnancy, regardless of previous Tdap vaccination. In addition, infants should be vaccinated as soon as possible. The first dose of pertussis vaccine can be given as early as 6 weeks of age.

Older children, pre-adolescents, and adults also should also be vaccinated against pertussis according to current recommendations. It is particularly important that persons who will be around newborns also be vaccinated. "Unlike some other vaccine-preventable diseases, like measles, neither vaccination nor illness from pertussis offers lifetime immunity," said Chapman. "However, vaccination is still the best defense against this potentially fatal disease."

Symptoms of pertussis vary by age. For children, a typical case of pertussis starts with a cough and runny nose for one to two weeks. The cough then worsens and children may have rapid coughing spells that end with a "whooping" sound. Young infants may not have typical pertussis symptoms and may have no apparent cough. Parents may describe episodes in which the infant's face turns red or purple. For adults, pertussis may simply be a cough that persists for several weeks.

California whooping cough cases now labeled an epidemic - San Jose Mercury News