I don't care about credit-- I just care that people are protected against this disease. No one has died yet, but 5 of the children were hospitalized because they were so sick.
I have some friends (who live in South Minneapolis) whose child was diagnosed with cancer last month and is having chemo right now (it's an insanely rare form of cancer, almost never found in children.) (Actually, technically he is between rounds of chemo.)
Here is my question. I am pretty sure his parents vaccinated him fully back before he got sick. Does the immune suppression of chemo make you vulnerable to things you SHOULD be immune to (like measles, if you were vaccinated) or just extra-vulnerable to things you are not immune to (like colds)? I am so, so worried about this child.
I really should just quit worrying about the measles killing him and worry about the fucking cancer. It kills 50% of the adults who get it. It's so rare in children they don't even know what his odds are. It's possible that fantasizing about doing violence to Andrew Wakefield is distracting me from worrying about this kid dying of cancer...
Your friends should call their oncologist and ask-- in general, until chemo is done for good, live vaccines aren't given. He's at risk because the chemo is beating up on his immune system.
Which means that the poor attendance last night at the Department of Health clinic is actually endangering this child.
I also sometimes fantasize about doing violence to Wakefield.
There was a recent case in my area in a ~14 month old. That information's via Facebook, so I don't know how definite the diagnosis is, but I do know that NO ONE in the long comments thread mentioned vaccination. >_
You said the DoH recommends a second dose before age 4. What about kids older than 4 who have only had one dose? O_O Are they and/or adults who have only had one dose somehow more resistant to measles once past age 4, or is it simply too late for a second dose to work?
I guess what I'm asking is should I be making an appointment for the 4 of us to get boosters, or are we just screwed? :-\
ETA: I haven't checked our vaccination cards yet so I don't know if I should even be freaking out about this because at least some of us may have gotten 2 shots, but I'm thinking worst case scenario. I like to be prepared, you know. :)
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Post it all over the internet. Please.
I don't care about credit-- I just care that people are protected against this disease. No one has died yet, but 5 of the children were hospitalized because they were so sick.
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Here is my question. I am pretty sure his parents vaccinated him fully back before he got sick. Does the immune suppression of chemo make you vulnerable to things you SHOULD be immune to (like measles, if you were vaccinated) or just extra-vulnerable to things you are not immune to (like colds)? I am so, so worried about this child.
I really should just quit worrying about the measles killing him and worry about the fucking cancer. It kills 50% of the adults who get it. It's so rare in children they don't even know what his odds are. It's possible that fantasizing about doing violence to Andrew Wakefield is distracting me from worrying about this kid dying of cancer...
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Which means that the poor attendance last night at the Department of Health clinic is actually endangering this child.
I also sometimes fantasize about doing violence to Wakefield.
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You said the DoH recommends a second dose before age 4. What about kids older than 4 who have only had one dose? O_O Are they and/or adults who have only had one dose somehow more resistant to measles once past age 4, or is it simply too late for a second dose to work?
I guess what I'm asking is should I be making an appointment for the 4 of us to get boosters, or are we just screwed? :-\
ETA: I haven't checked our vaccination cards yet so I don't know if I should even be freaking out about this because at least some of us may have gotten 2 shots, but I'm thinking worst case scenario. I like to be prepared, you know. :)
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