Heather Hall

Harriet turned up with measles unexpectedly at 9 months. It was no biggie,
although the doctor had every staff member parade through and see it since
it was so unusual. My hubby had whooping cough as a kid and my MIL said it
was no big deal, just a pain in the butt and long lasting.

> Message: 23
> Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 15:50:48 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Sylvia Toyama <sylgt04@...>
> Subject: Re: OT chicken pox
>
> We don't vax for anything. I'd much prefer they be exposed to chickenpox, as
> well as mumps and measles -- if such a thing were actually possible.
>
> My oldest had chickenpox at age 3, when you could still find 'wild'
> chickenpox. Now, if a child has chickenpox, it's likely he got it from the
> vax strain, either his own shots or being exposed to some other child who was
> recently vaccinated. I've heard some real horror stories of cases of the pox
> caused by the vax, so I'm not sure how well that would fit with my plan.
>
> For Andy, who's 8, we had the chance 2 summers ago to expose him when a
> friend's kids had chickenpox. Unfortunately, he was scheduled to travel to
> Hawaii with his grandparents two weeks later, so it would have been a really
> irresponsible time for me to expose him, and by association everyone he came
> into contact with on a plane. As well, our entire household (except me) had
> recently survived a nasty virus that landed our Dan, then 17 mos, in the
> hospital with unexplained seizures. I've always suspected that illness was
> the result of exposure at a playground (counting backwards the incubation
> period we had), perhaps even a recently vaxed child. Since then, I've begun
> to think maybe only after Dan's 5yo.
>
> If the boys reach late adolescence without ever having had pox, mumps, or
> measles, I'll explain to them the risks of childhood diseases in adulthood and
> leave it to them to decide if they'd like to be vaxed. In spite of the recent
> media coverage, it's currently not safe (or possible) to be vaxed for whooping
> cough after age 7, so it's a non-issue in adulthood.
>
> Personally, I survived both measles, mumps (5x) and chickenpox, with no
> lasting effects. Both my parents and all their siblings (11 kids total,
> living poor in Okla & West VA) survived those plus whooping cough (pertussis).
> My Mom survived polio as a nursing infant, with no lasting effects. I'm not
> terribly worried about them being unvaxed, but I'd be happier if they had the
> opportunity to acquire natural lifelong immunities to the childhood illnesses.
>
> Syl
>
> *******
>
> does there come a time when you expose them if you can?
> Is there an age when you try to have them get it if possible or just live and
> see what happens on it's own?

--
Heather, mom to
Harriet 12.15.99
Crispin 01.25.02
heatherette@...

joylyn

My great aunt lost an infant to whooping cough. It CAN be a big deal to
a baby. It broke my heart to hear her talking about her little girl.

That said, we didn't vaccinate for whooping cough. It's just not very
common these days and the side effect of the vax is more risk than the
risk of getting it. And of course, once a child is above a year or so,
the risk of dying is slim to none, even if they do get it.

Joylyn

Heather Hall wrote:

> Harriet turned up with measles unexpectedly at 9 months. It was no
> biggie,
> although the doctor had every staff member parade through and see it since
> it was so unusual. My hubby had whooping cough as a kid and my MIL
> said it
> was no big deal, just a pain in the butt and long lasting.
>
> > Message: 23
> > Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 15:50:48 -0700 (PDT)
> > From: Sylvia Toyama <sylgt04@...>
> > Subject: Re: OT chicken pox
> >
> > We don't vax for anything. I'd much prefer they be exposed to
> chickenpox, as
> > well as mumps and measles -- if such a thing were actually possible.
> >
> > My oldest had chickenpox at age 3, when you could still find 'wild'
> > chickenpox. Now, if a child has chickenpox, it's likely he got it
> from the
> > vax strain, either his own shots or being exposed to some other
> child who was
> > recently vaccinated. I've heard some real horror stories of cases
> of the pox
> > caused by the vax, so I'm not sure how well that would fit with my plan.
> >
> > For Andy, who's 8, we had the chance 2 summers ago to expose him when a
> > friend's kids had chickenpox. Unfortunately, he was scheduled to
> travel to
> > Hawaii with his grandparents two weeks later, so it would have been
> a really
> > irresponsible time for me to expose him, and by association everyone
> he came
> > into contact with on a plane. As well, our entire household (except
> me) had
> > recently survived a nasty virus that landed our Dan, then 17 mos, in the
> > hospital with unexplained seizures. I've always suspected that
> illness was
> > the result of exposure at a playground (counting backwards the
> incubation
> > period we had), perhaps even a recently vaxed child. Since then,
> I've begun
> > to think maybe only after Dan's 5yo.
> >
> > If the boys reach late adolescence without ever having had pox,
> mumps, or
> > measles, I'll explain to them the risks of childhood diseases in
> adulthood and
> > leave it to them to decide if they'd like to be vaxed. In spite of
> the recent
> > media coverage, it's currently not safe (or possible) to be vaxed
> for whooping
> > cough after age 7, so it's a non-issue in adulthood.
> >
> > Personally, I survived both measles, mumps (5x) and chickenpox, with no
> > lasting effects. Both my parents and all their siblings (11 kids total,
> > living poor in Okla & West VA) survived those plus whooping cough
> (pertussis).
> > My Mom survived polio as a nursing infant, with no lasting effects.
> I'm not
> > terribly worried about them being unvaxed, but I'd be happier if
> they had the
> > opportunity to acquire natural lifelong immunities to the childhood
> illnesses.
> >
> > Syl
> >
> > *******
> >
> > does there come a time when you expose them if you can?
> > Is there an age when you try to have them get it if possible or just
> live and
> > see what happens on it's own?
>
> --
> Heather, mom to
> Harriet 12.15.99
> Crispin 01.25.02
> heatherette@...
>
>
>
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 7/22/2004 10:01:43 PM Central Standard Time,
joylyn@... writes:

That said, we didn't vaccinate for whooping cough.


~~~

It was in the news recently that whooping cough is making a comeback, but
mostly in teens and adults, because their immunity wore off.

_http://springfield.news-leader.com/health/thisweek/0720-Whoopingco-137064.htm
l_
(http://springfield.news-leader.com/health/thisweek/0720-Whoopingco-137064.html)


Karen


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