Speak Out: To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate?

Whooping cough is on the rise in Gwinnett. Will you get a booster shot? Tell us why or why not.

, with 95 cases reported in metro Atlanta alone.  

Whooping cough can be deadly, especially for infants and the elderly, or those whose immune system is compromised.  As of mid-July, nine children have died from it, according to the CDC.

The vaccine, which was changed in the mid-1990s, may not be as effective as it should be, the CDC confirmed.  Still, adults and children alike are being urged to get a booster shot. 

One Snellville mom asked on Facebook, "if whooping cough is part of childhood immunization, and most kids were immunized...why is there an outbreak? How is it getting worse if the vaccination prevents it? Just curious. I know its part of the standard infant vaccination package."

Lisa Mestas, an RN and Family Nurse Practitioner student at University of Georgia, had a different reaction:

"Please get immunized! I know many people are ideologically against it, but can you imagine your child coughing uncontrollably and can barely breathe and could possibly die because of your belief?" 

Will you get a booster shot?  Are you "ideologically against" vaccinations?  Tell us in the comments.  

Twyla August 08, 2012 at 10:59 PM
Wow, David Ballard, I appreciate your civility! (And I'm not being sarcastic!) Good luck with your numbers.
David Lewis August 09, 2012 at 07:43 PM
A great way to end! Best to all. David (www.researchmisconduct.org)
Twyla August 12, 2012 at 07:28 PM
Insulins saves lives, period. But does that mean that huge doses of insulin would be safe and good for everyone? Surgery saves lives, but does that mean that it does not also have risks, or that it is always the best option for everyone? Cars and airplanes are so important for transportation, but does that mean that accidents/crashes should be ignored and not studied to figure out causation and prevention and how to make transportation safer? Some drugs which save lives can be fatal in high doses, or for people who have certain medical histories - isn't it important to understand this? This is not black and white, all good or all bad. To say, "Vaccines save lives. Period," is very simplistic, not good science, not good medicine.
Peter August 13, 2012 at 02:24 AM
Gee. Debate much? Those are terrible analogies. Insulin is one hormone that helps diabetes and yes, too much of it is bad. You need multiple vaccines to prevent multiple illnesses - no one's advocating a lot of one vaccine. Yes, it's good science and good medicine, backed by hundreds of years of research. You have no proof of causality for well, anything, while science has continued to roll out study after study showing that vaccines are safe and effective. All you're doing is scaring people into not vaccinating, which is dangerous and irresponsible.
Dave Ballard August 29, 2012 at 05:49 PM
Here's a link to a story that provides a much more likely (in my view) explanation of the expansion of autism in recent decades. Turns out, it parallels an increase in inflammatory diseases in general, and pregnant women specifically. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/opinion/sunday/immune-disorders-and-autism.html The basic argument: inflammatory over-response in mothers tends to increase the chances for ASD in their infants by statistically significant amounts (3.5 times in some cases). I haven't found many of the studies that support this idea yet, and I'm still reviewing the ones from our discussion before in what little spare time I have, but I'm still looking...


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