Thread: Whooping cough.

I find it interesting that this subject has not come up before. I was watching the news and there was talking of how much Whooping cough has been on the increase lately. They were advising adults to get a vaccine if they were going to be around babies. It makes me wonder what other childhood diseases are on the increase in diseases that are usually taken care of by shots given to babies and children. It made me think of all the infants and children of illegal immigrants who come into the country without the benefit of immunization shots. It is not there fault they cannot afford or because the shots are just not available. It is also a shame that children without these immunization shots can bring these kind of illness to our country. Now a well vaccinated child should be safe but not all American children are well vaccinated. Not all can afford the shots also part of the illegal immigrant population. Some may not even be aware of the need for their children to get these shots. Also there is a group of people who believe that immunization is a bad thing and refuse to have their children get these shots. I believe it leaves these children vulnerable to childhood diseases that in the past killed many children. Diseases like whooping cough and polio to begin with. I believe if something is illegal there should not be the need for special legislation to give teeth to the current laws. Why is it suddenly popular to make a fuss over those of us who want the laws governing immigration, laws that protect our border from people who want to come in the country illegally. The people who shout and cry that these laws are not fair would not shout that bank robbers should be let out of prison. They don't talk about the 80% of illegal immigrants that use stolen identities so they can get a social security number that suddenly they become legal. Most of the identities they steal are those of infants. After all who is going to buy protection from identity thieves for their infants. I just wish people would see the harm illegal immigrants have on the country. It is a sour spot between a friend of mine who thinks that profiling for illegal immigrants is a bad thing. There is no way we can catch all the immigrants who want to come into this country, many who have criminal backgrounds. I just loved the look on the face of this guy when he found out that he would spend his sentence for bringing drugs into America in a Mexican jail. That is because the jails in Mexico are some of the worst prisons in the world. I am also looking forward to a day when we won't have to press one for English.

These and many more diseaes articles on OTHER NEWS page.
http://www.alipac.us/f19/

05-16-2005
http://www.alipac.us/f12/illegals-br...-cooking-2396/

10-14-2006
http://www.alipac.us/f12/whooping-co...ack-u-s-40446/

June 28, 2010
http://www.alipac.us/f19/hepatitis-b...munity-212875/

http://www.alipac.us/f19/whooping-co...1959-a-261219/

http://www.alipac.us/f19/unvaccinate...s-risk-257828/

The press will not admit it, but CDC knows that the once vanquished Whooping cough is back because of illegal immigration.

Legal immigrants are checked for illness and required to have these vaccines.

How many American children are now dead from Whooping cough because BushObama leaves our borders wide opened and existing laws unenforced?

W

it not right we have to press one for English im not in another Country Im in USA was why should I press One for
English ? all of the Gov better get your head out of the sand . I said this befor the wh ha sto be clean out start with
Obama & work your way down .
No amnesty or Dream act

Originally Posted by southBronx

it not right we have to press one for English im not in another Country Im in USA was why should I press One for
English ? all of the Gov better get your head out of the sand . I said this befor the wh ha sto be clean out start with
Obama & work your way down .
No amnesty or Dream act

It is more than an inconvenient it cost this country billions of dollars to put print everything in Spanish and English as well as "press on for English. I have seen literature in a government places that is available in Spanish and English. How many times have you bought something and found the instructions in Spanish and English. It goes on and on. How many people are denied jobs because they don't speak Spanish, I have. I believe it is why jobs are in such short supply. If illegal immigrants we treated the same way any other criminal in this country we would be better off. This might sound cruel but remember that it starts with the word illegal after the word immigrant. If it was just immigrants there would not be a problem because there are limits to how many immigrants can enter the country, but we are talking about ILLEGAL immigrants!

Whooping cough cases approaching highest levels in half a century

July 19th, 2012
2012 might be a record year for whooping cough in the United States if midyear trends continue. Nearly 18,000 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so far this year - the highest rates in five years.
"That's more than twice as many as we had at the at the same time last year," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. "We may need to go back to 1959 to find a year with as many cases reported by this time so far, " she said Thursday.
Pertussis is a highly contagious illness caused by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis. It easily spreads from person to person when people cough or sneeze. It starts out with symptoms very similar to a cold, but a week or two later, a violent cough develops. It's better known as whooping cough because of the "whooping" sound those infected make when they are violently coughing over and over again and try to inhale.

Listen to what whooping cough sounds like
The cough can last for weeks, and children can cough so hard and rapidly that blood vessels can burst. They have difficulty eating, drinking and breathing.
Young children are particularly at high risk for serious complications. Schuchat says so far nine babies have died from pertussis this year. She adds that the highest rates of illness have been seen in babies younger than 1, and half of those cases have been infants younger than 3 months old.
Whooping cough is vaccine preventable, but newborns can't get the first dose of vaccine until they are 2 months. Then they need four more vaccinations before they turn 7 to get full protection. This is why young children are highly dependent on the people close to them to be vaccinated so they don't pass the disease on to them.
"We strongly urge pregnant women and all who will be around babies to be vaccinated. Infants often get pertussis from a family member or household member," said Schuchat. The latest CDC data suggest only 8% of adults get a booster vaccine against pertussis.
Schuchat says many states are seeing higher than expected cases of pertussis.
One of the states hit hard in this wave of disease is Washington. In April, the Washington State Department of Health declared an epidemic . The department is reporting 3,014 cases as of July 14 – a 1,300% increase compared with the same time in 2011, when they reported 219 cases. Health Secretary Mary Selecky said: "We are seeing the largest number of cases in our state since the early 1940s."
Wisconsin is reporting 3,022 confirmed and probable cases so far in 2012.
Schuchat says pertussis cases go up and down in waves. She says if the number of cases continue to grow, "we may be on track for record high pertussis rates this year." The last time whooping cough rates were climbing in the U.S. was in 2010, when 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported to the CDC.
In addition to high rates of illness among of babies, new data published Thursday in the CDC's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report," shows high rates of whooping cough among 13- to 14-year-old adolescents in Washington. Schuchat says this is something health officials are seeing nationwide as well and is different from previous pertussis outbreaks.
Why this is happening isn't entirely clear. Schuchat suggests waning of immunity or a weakening of the protection over time might be part of the what's contributing to these teens getting sick.
Health officials acknowledge that vaccines are not perfect, but they do provide the best protection against whooping cough. So the CDC is emphasizing the importance of young children getting their five pertussis vaccinations, then getting the recommended booster shots between 11 and 12 and that adults who will be around babies also getting vaccinated.
"In 2010, only 8% of adults had any history of receiving a Tdap booster," said Schuchat.
She suggests that clinicians who see patients with a persistent cough consider pertussis as a diagnosis. Then she says doctors should "be proactive with treatment, especially with pregnant women, infants and others who are around infants."

Whooping cough cases approaching highest levels in half a century – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs

They keep denying that the illegals are bringing this disease but the timing and the numbers speak for themselves. I wonder how much of this epidemic has been paid for by Medicaid..
2012 was worst year for whooping cough since 1955

By By MIKE STOBBE | Associated Press – 21 hrs ago

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.

Whooping cough cases approaching highest levels in half a century – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs
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