TDAP Drama

sheriot · March 2014

I talked to my OB about it yesterday. He didn't seem as wrapped around the axle about it as I'd anticipated. He said it was unrealistic to expect everyone around LO to get the vaccine, but that I should ask my mom to get it--because she has recently been to third world countries and hasn't been to the doctor in the past twenty years. I feel much more calm about it now but I'm still dealing with my mom who refuses to get it.

IBackBevo · March 2014

Kimbus22 said:

IBackBevo said:

I'm kind of surprised by the answers here! Sure you can ask but I don't think you have any right to expect them all to do it. But, I seem to have the unpopular opinion here (what day is it?) :P I guess I better go watch videos of babies with whooping cough so I can be fear mongered into demanding everyone around me show me their vaccination records before stepping in my house.
If your child ever gets a vaccine preventable illness (which I pray he/she doesn't) because he or she was too young to be fully vaccinated and other schmucks around you didn't vax, I am pretty sure you won't consider it fear mongering then. If you think pertussis isn't a legitimate safety concern for an infant then you seriously do need to watch some educational videos because you are horribly misinformed or uninformed. Personally, I am in favor of doing whatever it takes to keep my child safe...especially when you are talking about something so easy and simple as a shot you can get for a few bucks at cvs.

But the thing is if YOU get it while in your third trimester, the baby is protected until they get the shot. So while it is preferable to have everyone in contact with the baby vaccinated, I don't see it as an issue worth forbidding people to see your child over.

And I say this as someone with experience with pertussis and a staunch hater of the anti-vaxing trend.

No! That is NOT true. The baby is not fully protected by you getting the vaccination when you are pregnant. This is why they continue to get vaccines until they are several years old. My son had had one MMR shot (but not both because he was not old enough) and still got Rubella. The same is true of Whooping Cough. They have to get multiple rounds of it before they have full immunity.

At best, it is preliminarily thought they are only partially protected and even that has not been conclusively established since they have only been doing this since October 2012.

Edit: If you look at the CDC schedule, they do not get their final dose and have full immunity until 4-6 years of age. They get doses at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months and at 4-6 years. See: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html
They don't just get 1 dose and are magically protected...and any small immunity they get from you in utero isn't going to be nearly as strong as the straight vaccine. This is why babies who are 6 months, nine months, etc. who have already had 1 or 2 doses still get whooping cough and die.

IBackBevo · March 2014

Mittens14 said:

Kimbus22 said:

IBackBevo said:

I'm kind of surprised by the answers here! Sure you can ask but I don't think you have any right to expect them all to do it. But, I seem to have the unpopular opinion here (what day is it?) :P I guess I better go watch videos of babies with whooping cough so I can be fear mongered into demanding everyone around me show me their vaccination records before stepping in my house.
If your child ever gets a vaccine preventable illness (which I pray he/she doesn't) because he or she was too young to be fully vaccinated and other schmucks around you didn't vax, I am pretty sure you won't consider it fear mongering then. If you think pertussis isn't a legitimate safety concern for an infant then you seriously do need to watch some educational videos because you are horribly misinformed or uninformed. Personally, I am in favor of doing whatever it takes to keep my child safe...especially when you are talking about something so easy and simple as a shot you can get for a few bucks at cvs.

But the thing is if YOU get it while in your third trimester, the baby is protected until they get the shot. So while it is preferable to have everyone in contact with the baby vaccinated, I don't see it as an issue worth forbidding people to see your child over.

And I say this as someone with experience with pertussis and a staunch hater of the anti-vaxing trend.

THIS!!! If you had the shot during weeks 27-36 weeks of pregnancy your baby is covered!

NO! That is NOT the case at all. Please see above.

kshampeny · March 2014

IBackBevo said:

No! That is NOT true. The baby is not fully protected by you getting the vaccination when you are pregnant. This is why they continue to get vaccines until they are several years old. My son had had one MMR shot (but not both because he was not old enough) and still got Rubella. The same is true of Whooping Cough. They have to get multiple rounds of it before they have full immunity.

At best, it is preliminarily thought they are only partially protected and even that has not been conclusively established since they have only been doing this since October 2012.

Edit: If you look at the CDC schedule, they do not get their final dose and have full immunity until 4-6 years of age. They get doses at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months and at 4-6 years. See: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html
They don't just get 1 dose and are magically protected...and any small immunity they get from you in utero isn't going to be nearly as strong as the straight vaccine. This is why babies who are 6 months, nine months, etc. who have already had 1 or 2 doses still get whooping cough and die.

Exactly! I'm a former infectious disease researcher, and this is absolutely true.

sheriot · March 2014

Thanks for the information, @IBackBevo and @kshampeny!

Mittens14 · March 2014

IBackBevo said:

Kimbus22 said:

IBackBevo said:

I'm kind of surprised by the answers here! Sure you can ask but I don't think you have any right to expect them all to do it. But, I seem to have the unpopular opinion here (what day is it?) :P I guess I better go watch videos of babies with whooping cough so I can be fear mongered into demanding everyone around me show me their vaccination records before stepping in my house.
If your child ever gets a vaccine preventable illness (which I pray he/she doesn't) because he or she was too young to be fully vaccinated and other schmucks around you didn't vax, I am pretty sure you won't consider it fear mongering then. If you think pertussis isn't a legitimate safety concern for an infant then you seriously do need to watch some educational videos because you are horribly misinformed or uninformed. Personally, I am in favor of doing whatever it takes to keep my child safe...especially when you are talking about something so easy and simple as a shot you can get for a few bucks at cvs.

But the thing is if YOU get it while in your third trimester, the baby is protected until they get the shot. So while it is preferable to have everyone in contact with the baby vaccinated, I don't see it as an issue worth forbidding people to see your child over.

And I say this as someone with experience with pertussis and a staunch hater of the anti-vaxing trend.

No! That is NOT true. The baby is not fully protected by you getting the vaccination when you are pregnant. This is why they continue to get vaccines until they are several years old. My son had had one MMR shot (but not both because he was not old enough) and still got Rubella. The same is true of Whooping Cough. They have to get multiple rounds of it before they have full immunity.

At best, it is preliminarily thought they are only partially protected and even that has not been conclusively established since they have only been doing this since October 2012.

Edit: If you look at the CDC schedule, they do not get their final dose and have full immunity until 4-6 years of age. They get doses at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months and at 4-6 years. See: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html
They don't just get 1 dose and are magically protected...and any small immunity they get from you in utero isn't going to be nearly as strong as the straight vaccine. This is why babies who are 6 months, nine months, etc. who have already had 1 or 2 doses still get whooping cough and die.

No one said they are magically protected... You pass the immunity along to the baby while in the womb, giving them enough of the immunity to get them through till they begin getting their shots at 2 months. It's the continued exposure over the years that keeps them covered, not that they aren't covered until they get their last shot when they turn 6 or however old.... I've spoken with both of my doctors about this and am confident with the information they as MD's have given to me.

ETA: Here's the link from the CDC stating the same thing as my doctors have told me... https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/adults/rec-vac/pregnant/whooping-cough/get-vaccinated.html

IBackBevo · March 2014

Mittens14 said:

IBackBevo said:

Kimbus22 said:

IBackBevo said:

Hallil said:
I'm kind of surprised by the answers here! Sure you can ask but I don't think you have any right to expect them all to do it. But, I seem to have the unpopular opinion here (what day is it?) :P I guess I better go watch videos of babies with whooping cough so I can be fear mongered into demanding everyone around me show me their vaccination records before stepping in my house.
If your child ever gets a vaccine preventable illness (which I pray he/she doesn't) because he or she was too young to be fully vaccinated and other schmucks around you didn't vax, I am pretty sure you won't consider it fear mongering then. If you think pertussis isn't a legitimate safety concern for an infant then you seriously do need to watch some educational videos because you are horribly misinformed or uninformed. Personally, I am in favor of doing whatever it takes to keep my child safe...especially when you are talking about something so easy and simple as a shot you can get for a few bucks at cvs.

But the thing is if YOU get it while in your third trimester, the baby is protected until they get the shot. So while it is preferable to have everyone in contact with the baby vaccinated, I don't see it as an issue worth forbidding people to see your child over.

And I say this as someone with experience with pertussis and a staunch hater of the anti-vaxing trend.

No! That is NOT true. The baby is not fully protected by you getting the vaccination when you are pregnant. This is why they continue to get vaccines until they are several years old. My son had had one MMR shot (but not both because he was not old enough) and still got Rubella. The same is true of Whooping Cough. They have to get multiple rounds of it before they have full immunity.

At best, it is preliminarily thought they are only partially protected and even that has not been conclusively established since they have only been doing this since October 2012.

Edit: If you look at the CDC schedule, they do not get their final dose and have full immunity until 4-6 years of age. They get doses at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months and at 4-6 years. See: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html
They don't just get 1 dose and are magically protected...and any small immunity they get from you in utero isn't going to be nearly as strong as the straight vaccine. This is why babies who are 6 months, nine months, etc. who have already had 1 or 2 doses still get whooping cough and die.

No one said they are magically protected... You pass the immunity along to the baby while in the womb, giving them enough of the immunity to get them through till they begin getting their shots at 2 months. It's the continued exposure over the years that keeps them covered, not that they aren't covered until they get their last6 shot when they turn 6 or however old.... I've spoken with both of my doctors about this and am confident with the information they as MD's have given to me.

ETA: Here's the link from the CDC stating the same thing as my doctors have told me... https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/adults/rec-vac/pregnant/whooping-cough/get-vaccinated.html

If your doctors are telling you that by getting the shot in utero that your baby has developed full immunity and that you don't need to worry about whether the people around them are vaccinated then your doctors are wrong. Yes, it is thought to pass some immunity -- although that has not even been conclusively established. Read the research. YOU clearly have not. I have.

Also, if you read the link that you posted to it says you pass some immunity to the baby in utero. It is not the same as getting the vaccine themselves and nowhere does it say that by you getting the vaccine while pregnant that it will prevent your child from getting whooping cough if they are exposed to it by an infected individual after birth. Hence, the best practice is still to require primary caregivers of the child to have the vaccine.

jjtyler · March 2014

Mittens14 said:

alphalyrae said:

jjtyler said:

Maybe I am living in an alternate universe, but this has not come up with me and my doctor. I vaguely remember a TV PSA talking about pertussis, but it is not something here in NY on Long Island that was even on my radar.

I'll ask at my next appointment, but I cannot force my family to do this as well.

Really? My midwives (Stonybrook) strongly encouraged it.

I'm on Long Island too and my doctor very strongly encouraged it as well.

Yes. Like I said, I will ask him next week, but he has not mentioned it and without TB, I would be COMPLETELY unaware. I am also a member of some local FB mommy groups.

serdaht · March 2014

My OB recommended and I agree with strongly encouraging anyone who's going to be spending an extended period of time with our newborn (namely my DH, Mom, MIL, FIL and SMIL) to be getting the TDAP. While getting the Tdap myself will pass some immunity on to our baby, the CDC still recommends that those in close contact be up to date with their Tdap vaccines as well (source: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/pertussis/tdap-pregnancy-hcp.htm#strategies)

jfletcher3113 · March 2014

Kimbus22 said:

But the thing is if YOU get it while in your third trimester, the baby is protected until they get the shot. So while it is preferable to have everyone in contact with the baby vaccinated, I don't see it as an issue worth forbidding people to see your child over.

And I say this as someone with experience with pertussis and a staunch hater of the anti-vaxing trend.

I hope this is the case but my doctor said something slightly different. She said it passes on some protections to LO but he won't be totally protected. She suggested anyone who is going to be around LO "often" should get it.

As it stands now, we're only asking grandparents to get it because both grandmas work at schools with kids. Most likely, they are already up-to-date but we're asking them to check.

OP I'm sorry you're dealing with so much resistance. In my opinion, whether people think it's fear mongering or just responsible parenting, it's your kid and your decision.

ETA: Oh, I just saw all the responses about it not being true. Should've kept reading.

softservecity · March 2014

Bliz1712 said:

kitchencolors said:

softservecity said:

I'm not saying that this isn't a huge health issue but I really feel that the government needs to air a PSA regularly if it is a big health issue. Then maybe we wouldn't have to fight our families, cause rifts, create family drama and or be called overprotective and/or insane for wanting people to get the shot. My mother feels all the Facebook posts about it are over dramatic and only shown to drive hype.

I'm all over hand-washing before baby holding (which I get laughed at about) but most all the people in the hospital visiting (you or others) and most all the people you'll have your baby around in the first 6 months won't have had this shot...

I'm pretty pro government, but I don't feel like this is a problem with the government not doing enough. If the government could fix stubborn ignorance we'd have so many fewer problems, but TV ads aren't going to fix people who ignore clear medical evidence because they feel like it.

Agree! It's not the governments fault that a bunch of idiots listened to an uneducated celebrity and are not vaccinating.

I'm not saying it's the governments fault at all. I'm saying there needs to be more exposure. People need to see it like they saw HIV/AIDs in the 90s and 2000s where it was on TV, billboards, EVERYWHERE. Then people started to get how serious it was. People thought that was hype too... Right now people see this as hype and worse case scenario.

dogsombrero · March 2014

DH & I have asked that any overnight/long term guests get it because they are going to be all over our home and of course baby. Anyone else I'm not as worried about, my city is under an outbreak and DH's parents are having an outbreak in their area so it wasn't a big thing to ask them and his mom already got hers. I figure I'm putting you up in my house so you can do me this favor or get a hotel room. Everyone I asked has either gotten it or said they would, there are 2 new LOs in DHs family so his family was okay with it anyway.

ETA spelling I gotz the fat fingerz yo.

fyafighterwife86 · March 2014

I think for me, I have no issues turning complete strangers away from touching baby. People ask all the time to peek behind the canopy cover and I will pull it back to BARELY be able to see inside. Typically at that point, they get it. It's not the random people that concern me, it's the closer family and friends who love and touch and kiss all over baby.
Thankfully, during my moms stay at her doctor being monitored, she did ask and found out TDAP has zero correlation with her MS and she has made arrangements, along with my dad, to have the shot well before May. MIL and FIL will check early next week to see if they've been immunized and if not, they will also have the vaccination. Thankfully my brother and SIL just had a baby a little over a year ago so they're both safe- so thankfully, I believe we have solved the issue.
Thank you to PP for all the information. It's mind blowing all the research that's been done on the topic and the controversy it's caused. I really, really hope every expectant mother considers having the vaccination for protection. Our babies deserve to be hearty and healthy.

iqwedding3 · March 2014

As a note, we have decided to draw the line at not allowing people to stay with us that are not vaccinated. My father has decided to raise a huge stink about TDAP . Telling him that he couldn't stay in the house was a serious enough signal to get him to pay attention to what's going on, after he got over the ultimatum.

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