#458 Disturbed Emma

Whopping Cough

The East Bay Waldorf School reportedly has an unusually high number of children who are not vaccinated against the infection, health officials said.

The vaccine, which is not mandatory under state law, would have prevented most children at the school from contracting the disease, Dr. Wendel Brunner, the county’s health services public health director, said.

Once thought to have been virtually wiped out in the United States, cases of whooping cough have been on the rise in California, in part because some people fear that the vaccine can cause seizures, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism.

Measles

Thanks for the links. This is insanity! We’ve worked hard here in the U.S. to eradicate horrific diseases, then pass laws wiping out mandatory immunizations? Makes no sense.

Because these vaccines weren’t available when I was growing up, I had chicken pox and measles as a young child, then when I was 17 got the mumps. Will never ever forget how painful that was, which is one reason I didn’t blink about vaccinating my own kids.