Shot of Prevention

Last week I heard about a woman, opposed to vaccines, that presents business cards to random strangers, like the pregnant teller at the bank.  The card directs people to information that is intended to deter them from immunizing their children.  While this woman is a prime example of the vocal minority, the truth is that the majority of parents vaccinate their children as recommended.  They just don’t feel the need to advertise it to strangers.  But perhaps it’s time for this to change.

The Moms Who Vax blog is an excellent representation of parents who are speaking out in favor of immunizations.  With increasing cases of vaccine preventable diseases, along with growing numbers of intentionally unvaccinated children, some parents are becoming more vocal in their immunization advocacy efforts.  Parents, like Jessica Parker, have decided to speak out – on blogs, on Facebook threads, in mommy chat rooms, directly to their members of Congress and, most importantly, to other parents who are faced with decisions concerning their children’s health and immunizations.

Jessica explains why she has become so passionate about this issue;

“I never even knew of the pro-/anti-vax battleground until I had children. It was never something I questioned, and it was never an option to consider not protecting them. The mere list of symptoms and long-lasting effects of preventable diseases was enough to convince me to vaccinate my kids. Then, when I got pregnant with my second child, a friend gave me an anti-vax book in hopes that I would change my mind. I’ll admit, it made me angry. The outright lies were easy to see through. All it did was fuel my passion to educate others on vaccination.”

Recently, Jessica returned from a trip where she made a surprising discovery.  A disease, which is now vaccine preventable, had impacted her family in ways she had never known.  Her story appears on Moms Who Vax to remind parents of the differences vaccines have made in our lives today – for us, as parents, as well as for our children.   

How Measles Made a Mark on My Family, by Jessica Parker

I’m sure many mothers can relate when I say that family is my world. My extended family tells me where I came from. My parents helped shape who I am today. My sister was my first friend. My husband is my teammate. My children are my legacy. Family is one thing I will never tire of investing in (though I do have my moments of needing a break), and my children are one thing I will always fight to protect. Read more…

We already know that there is a pertussis epidemic in Washington State. But here’s the update today.

The Governor is tapping into an emergency fund to help contain the epidemic and encourage residents to get vaccinated.

Perhaps this is a prime example of how it can be more costly to address an epidemic of a vaccine preventable disease than to first attempt to minimize the impact of disease through immunizations.

The Seattle Times and various other news sources have provided the following specifics in regards to the Washington state of affairs:

• Governor Chris Gregoire is making $90,000 in crisis cash available to help strengthen a public awareness campaign about the need for vaccination.
• The campaign will include radio ads, public service announcements, Facebook and Google ads, and possibly some bus and billboard ads as well.
• The state has received approval from the federal government to divert federal funds for the purchase of 27,000 doses of vaccine that will be made available to the uninsured.
• The state has already recorded 1,132 cases of pertussis so far this year, which is about 10 times more than last year.
• The state has been seeing about 400 cases per month, which is four times more than the threshold for what is considered “epidemic”.
• The Secretary of Health Mary Selecky and State Senator Maria Cantwell plan to ask the CDC to send investigators and epidemiologists to help the state study and contain the epidemic which will assist state health officials with their response and identify why the epidemic is growing so quickly.

So, what are your thoughts about this?  Do you think it will work, or is it too little, too late?  Read more…

Not enough can be done to ensure people are educated about the dangers of pertussis (also known as whooping cough).  That’s why I wanted to highlight a few of this week’s articles that focus on issues related to pertussis.

Brady’s Battle Proves Pertussis Can Present in Unexpected Ways

CommonHealth writer, Rachel Zimmerman, was familiar with Brady’s story that we highlighted on Shot of Prevention last week.  She recently wrote an article (located here) which addresses specific questions regarding whooping cough with detailed responses from the CDC.  She also included highlights from a recent interview she conducted with Dr. Ben Kruskal, a pediatrician and director of infection control and travel medicine at Harvard Vanguard and director of infectious diseases at Atrius Health.   When she asked what clinicians should do when confronted with infants like Brady, who had contracted pertussis, but didn’t exhibit the “classic” violent cough or whooping sound, Dr. Kruskal said this:

“Actually it turns out that most people who have whooping cough don’t show the classic signs of whooping cough. It’s really a substantial minority but still a minority of people who have it who have the classic clusters of cough that are so closely spaced that the patient has to take in this deep breath at the end of this cluster which produces the characteristic whoop.”

Accurate Diagnosis of Pertussis is Challenging

It’s probable that many cases of pertussis go undiagnosed and unreported, which  makes this particular disease difficult to identify and therefore difficult to manage.  Since this particular bacterial infection often presents like a bad cold many people simply don’t realize they are infected, and they unknowingly expose others to this contagious disease.  While the symptoms may linger, which is why pertussis is often referred to as ”the 100 day cough”, most people will eventually recover.  However, whooping cough is especially devastating for infants and young children, whose small bodies have difficulty fighting off the persistent bacteria.

So when should you seek help for a cough?  You’ll want to bookmark today’s post on the PKIDS (Parent’s of Kids with Infectious Diseases) blog.  It has been written by Dr. Kristen Feemster, who is not only an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Pereleman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, but also an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  She provides a thorough analysis of pertussis to include a detailed background of the disease, what symptoms parents should look for in infants, young children, adolescents and adults, as well as details about testing. Read more…

Last week’s Shot@Life campaign launch was not only impressive, but extremely inspirational.

Several months ago, I learned how the Shot@Life campaign was focused on building awareness, raising funds and advocating for the millions of children around the world who do not have access to life-saving vaccines.

The message is simple, yet profound.

Every 20 seconds a child dies around the world of a disease that can be prevented by a vaccine… and we’re going to do something about it.

Personal Advocacy

As a parent who has been heavily engaged in the immunization dialogue for the past two years, I quickly identified with the Shot@Life message.  However, in the past few weeks, what has  inspired me the most about this campaign, has been the way in which the 30 other grassroot champions embraced this message.  Since we all attended the  Shot@Life volunteer summit in February each of these champions have found a way to utilize their time and creativity to bring the Shot@Life message to the masses.  All across the country, these everyday moms, dedicated professionals, interested educators and concerned bloggers have hosted special Shot@Life events.  From themed birthday parties and special events, to awareness walks and in-district meetings with their Members of Congress, they have each worked hard to raise awareness for increased global vaccine funding.   (If you’re looking for inspiration and ideas on how you can get involved, read all about what has inspired these advocates and the diverse ways they’ve been able to spread the message in the recent blog carnival featured on the Shot@Life blog.)

These individual volunteers were critical in directing attention last Thursday when, after detailed planning and flawless execution, the UN Foundation officially launched the Shot@Life  campaign at the Georgia Aquarium.   Thousands of volunteer advocates, celebrities, medical experts and some of the country’s most influential voices committed themselves that day to the Shot@Life mission.  From the Tout videos that were recorded at the launch and the overwhelming number of tweets we received during our three-hour “Celebrate Childhood” Twitter party, it was clear that Shot@Life touches upon a cause that people are extremely passionate about – children’s health.

Devi Ramachandran Thomas, director of the Shot@Life campaign explains,

“More than 100,000 people, including world-renowned photographer Anne Geddes and some of the most influential online moms, are activating their networks across the U.S. and around the world to take action to save and improve the lives of children. From Los Angeles to New York and Seattle to Miami, thousands of Americans are rallying to get life-saving vaccines to children in developing countries who need them most. Their time, their voices, and the money they are raising sends a powerful message that Americans understand the value of vaccines and are ready to rally on behalf of millions of moms and their children worldwide.”

Committed Partners

The fact is that even with increased global immunization rates, one in five children still lacks access to these life-saving immunizations that can protect them from diseases like polio, measles, diarrhea and pneumonia. The solution may sound simple - improve access to vaccines so that 1.5 million children in developing countries can be saved every year.  And fortunately, organizations such as UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI), are already working to accomplish this monumental task.   But now, through the creation of this Shot@Life campaign, this broad group of grassroots advocates, coupled with many dedicated partners, are fully committed to helping mothers and their children in developing countries get a shot at a healthy life.

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter knows about the commitment it takes to improve vaccination rates.  Over 20 years ago, she co-founded a national advocacy organization known as Every Child By Two along with Betty Bumpers.  Although Every Child By Two was first created to improve childhood immunization rates amidst a measles outbreak in the US, the organization, through their new partnership with Shot@Life, is now actively advocating for childhood vaccines around the world.  As one of the prominent speakers in Atlanta last week, Rosalynn Carter helped kick off the Shot@Life campaign by saying,

“Healthy children help create a healthier world for everyone. As we know, germs and diseases don’t need a passport. Expanding access to vaccines strengthens our ability to fight disease globally and keep our families healthy here at home, while saving lives and improving economic stability around the world. I am honored and excited that Every Child By Two has joined forces with Shot@Life to educate Americans and advocate on the importance of childhood vaccines around the world.” Read more…

This week marks the 18th celebration of National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), observed in conjunction with the World Health Organization’s first annual World Immunization Week.

As we highlight the importance of childhood immunizations, it’s important that we also recognize the impact that vaccines can have on people in our communities that are not able to be vaccinated.  Since infants don’t begin receiving vaccinations for many diseases until they are two months old, they remain vulnerable at a time when they are also most fragile.  Additionally, we must consider the children and adults on chemotherapy or who have immune system deficiencies.  Often these patients can’t be vaccinated because of their condition or the vaccines are ineffective for them.  For these patients to be protected, it’s important that other members of the community do their part and help reduce the spread of disease by keeping up to date with their vaccines.

It only takes one tragedy – like that experienced by Jonathan Alcaide and Kathy Riffenburg, who recently loss their son Brady – to remind us that we can help protect one another from a highly contagious infection known as pertussis, or whooping cough.

In a recent interview with WWLP News out of Chicopee, MA, Barbara Stechenberg,  Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at  Baystate Children’s Hospital, explains how pertussis can often be contracted by an infant through an adult who has not been given a Tdap booster shot.

“One of the important things to know is most babies who develop whooping cough get it from an older child or an adult in the family,” said Dr. Stechenberg.

In the case of Jon and Kathy, their son Brady was a healthy and happy baby born on November 20, 2011 and weighing in at 8 lb 6 oz.  As excited as they were, they thought they were taking every precaution with their baby son.  They even insisted that visitors wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before they were permitted to pick him up.

But then in early January, they noticed Brady was coming down with what they assumed was a cold.  When his fever spiked to 104 they brought him to the ER where they completed a multitude of tests.  They finally sent him home, requesting that they keep an eye on the cold. Kathy kept her friends and family updated on Brady’s condition through her own Facebook posts. Read more…

My daughter enjoying a previous birthday and her special occassion cupcakes.

Today happens to be my youngest daughter’s 7th birthday – a milestone for her and a day that she has been anticipating for weeks now.  As a typical seven-year old girl she has everything planned, right down to the sprinkles on the cupcakes she wanted me to bring into her first grade class.

Unfortunately, yesterday I had to deliver her some bad news.  I wouldn’t be there to jump on her bed and wake her with my silly birthday song like I do year after year.  And I wouldn’t be there to deliver the much-anticipated cupcakes.

Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed about it last night.

See, I traveled to Texas this weekend to address the Texas Pediatric Society and discuss parental vaccine hesitancy in the U.S.  After enduring 15 hours of torturous travel, only to enjoy a brief 20 hour visit, I was experienced another unfortunate airline debacle on my return flight. Having to unexpectedly stay another night away from my family, I sat frustrated in my lonely hotel room, upset that I would not be home for my daughter’s birthday.

As I thought about this milestone she would be celebrating without me, I thought about the incredible joy that she brings into my life.  I imagined her sweet voice, her precious smile, and the contagious giggles she would have made if I had been able to wake her with my crazy birthday antics. Like any mother, I simply can’t imagine my life without her in it.

And then my bitterness suddenly turned to appreciation, as I remembered what I’ve learned as a Shot@Life champion.

An estimated 1.5 million children die each year of a disease that could have been prevented by a vaccine.  

Their mothers may never have had the chance to see their children reach their seventh birthday.  And even though I may not be present to share in my daughter’s birthday, I realize how fortunate and privileged I am that she is here to experience it. Read more…