Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
>> ARE THERE ANY RISKS, AND ARE THEY SAFE?
>> I THINK THE HEART OF THIS, I THINK WHY WE'RE HERE TONIGHT,
IN SOME WAYS, IS AN ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION,
"ARE VACCINES SAFE?"
ALL VACCINES HAVE MILD SIDE EFFECTS LIKE PAIN OR REDNESS
OR TENDERNESS WHERE THE SHOT IS GIVEN,
AND SOME VACCINES HAVE MORE SEVERE SIDE EFFECTS.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE NEW PERTUSSIS VACCINE, OR WHOOPING COUGH VACCINE,
IS A VERY, VERY, RARE CAUSE OF PERSISTENT, INCONSOLABLE CRYING,
LISTLESSNESS, LETHARGY, HIGH FEVER.
AND SO I THINK, ANY PARENT COULD REASONABLY ASK,
"WHY NOT JUST AVOID THE RISK AND NOT GET A VACCINE?"
>> PERTUSSIS IN ITS CLINICAL FORM IS REALLY AN AWFUL DISEASE
AND A DEVASTATING DISEASES TO WATCH BECAUSE THERE'S REALLY
VERY LITTLE THAT YOU CAN DO.
IN INFANTS, SPECIFICALLY, YOU KNOW, A YOUNG CHILD IS COUGHING;
AND WE ALWAYS THINK OF IT AS A WHOOPING COUGH.
YOUNG CHILDREN CANNOT CREATE A WHOOP, AND SO THEY BASICALLY BECOME APNEIC.
THEY STOP BREATHING AND TURN BLUE.
AND THIS CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME.
>> PERTUSSIS IS VERY COMMON IN ADULTS.
IN FACT, IT'S A RELATIVELY COMMON CAUSE OF AN ILLNESS
WITH PROLONGED COUGH IN ADULTS.
AND ADULTS MAY NOT SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION OR BE AWARE OF WHAT
THEIR INFECTION IS.
THEY CAN THEN PASS PERTUSSIS ONTO YOUNGER MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY.
>> HER TWO-MONTH-OLD CAME IN, WASN'T BREATHING FOR A TIME,
NEEDED A BREATHING TUBE, WAS IN THE INTENSIVE CARE NURSERY.
THE TWO-YEAR-OLD WAS COUGHING AND VOMITING,
UNABLE TO EAT FOR A WEEK.
THE FOUR-YEAR-OLD WAS COUGHING SO HORRIBLY THAT SHE WOULD ASK
FOR HELP BEFORE GOING INTO HER COUGHING SPASMS.
THERE WAS A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD AND A 17-YEAR-OLD,
AND EACH OF THOSE CHILDREN REALLY MISSED SCHOOL FOR SEVERAL WEEKS.
THE WHOLE FAMILY WAS REALLY ADVERSELY AFFECTED FROM
SOMETHING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.
IT'S REALLY HARD AS A CARETAKER TO SEE THE EFFECT OF CHOOSING
NOT TO IMMUNIZE.
>> FOR EXAMPLE, IN JAPAN IN THE MID 1970S WHAT HAPPENED WHEN
PEOPLE STOPPED GETTING THE PERTUSSIS VACCINE IS THERE WAS
A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF HOSPITALIZATIONS
AND DEATHS FROM PERTUSSIS.
>> THE LAST THING I WANT TO BE DOING IS SEEING A LOT OF MEASLES
CASES OR LOTS OF POLIO CASES OR LOTS OF CASES OF PERTUSSIS
BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO BE GOOD AT THOSE DISEASES.
I WANT TO SEE THEM REALLY JUST IN THE TEXTBOOKS.
>> WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT VACCINES CERTAINLY DO HAVE RISKS,
BUT THEY'RE SMALL.
AND IF WE CHOOSE NOT TO GET VACCINES, THEN WE'RE EXCHANGING THESE
SMALL RISKS FOR MUCH, MUCH LARGER RISKS.