Hib Outbreak Kills Unvaccinated Child

[mzteris]

Hib Outbreak Kills Unvaccinated Child
Vaccine Refusers, Vaccine Shortage Combine in Hib Resurgence

Jan. 23, 2009 - A Hib meningitis outbreak has killed one Minnesota infant and sickened four others, prompting the CDC to warn parents to make sure their kids have had their basic Hib vaccinations.

Hib is Haemophilus influenzae type B. Before a vaccine became available in 1992, some 20,000 U.S. children under age 5 got severe Hib infections every year, resulting in about 1,000 deaths.

Minnesota hadn't had a Hib death since 1991. Now the state is facing it's biggest outbreak since 1992 -- and it may not be just that one state, warns Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

"The situation in Minnesota might be isolated, or it might be the beginning of a trend in other places," Schuchat said at a news conference. "We are working hard to determine which of these stories is the right one."

-more-

http://children.webmd.com/vaccines/news/20090123/hib-outbreak-kills-unvaccinated-child

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Poor little sweetie. :^(

[Spider Jerusalem]

2. Couldn't have anything to do with paranoid conspiracist fearmongering by anti-vaccine nutters...

could it?

THIS is what happens when ignorant fuckwits (like RFK Jr and Jenny McCarthy, to name two of the more prominent examples) spread misinformation about the nonexistent risks of vaccination by touting a discredited and debunked link between vaccination and autism; children DIE of things vaccines would have saved them from.

[AlCzervik]

3. did you read the article?

Why is there a Hib outbreak now? Minnesota data suggest that the Hib vaccine shortage is playing a role. A quick study shows that 18% of 7-month-old Minnesota kids who got other vaccines did not complete their primary Hib vaccination.

"We interpret this as a shortage of vaccine. Providers did not have the vaccine in their offices," Minnesota state epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield, MD, said at the news conference.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. Did you?

The other three cases -- including the death -- were in infants whose parents refused to vaccinate them. Parents of two children objected to vaccines; the parents of the third child were waiting to vaccinate until the child was 5 years old.

"We had a death from a child who was unvaccinated. We want to encourage parents who have delayed or refused vaccination to reconsider," Kristen Ehresmann, RN, MPH, of the Minnesota Department of Health, said at the news conference. "Hib vaccine not only protects your child, but also protects babies who have not completed their primary series or those who have immune compromise."

[AlCzervik]

6. the 2 that refused were idiots, one wanted to wait until their child was five but the

other 2, one was vaccinated and the other hadn't finished the series. I'm not anti vaccine but there is a shortage which was mentioned as one of the reasons for the outbreak.

[Ms. Toad]

7. The ones who wanted to wait until five

did not do their research. HiB is only really serious for young children, generally under age 2. It is less frequent (although still serious - potentially deadly) between 2 and 5, and almost never is found in anyone over age 5. It is really pointless to get the vaccination at that point - either for self-protection or herd immunity, since it provides neither.

It is also an illness strongly associated with group child care. It is most prevalent when lots of young children are cared for together - so it is a reasonable decision for parents who are not putting their child in child care to avoid the vaccination (little risk of exposure/not part of the "herd").

Parents who choose not to vaccinate according to the recommended schedule, however, really need to do their homework as to what populations are at risk, what age groups, and make rational decisions. Delaying until 5 reaps none of the benefits, and still takes on all of the risks associated with vaccination.

[mzteris]

9. while it's "A" factor, unvaccinated children are at risk. Period.

And they put OTHERS at risk.


also from the article:

"Parents who wondered whether Hib vaccination is really necessary need to know the disease is still around," Schuchat said. "It is a very dangerous disease and we have a vaccine that can protect children. The situation where community protection kept unimmunized kids at low risk of disease does not appear to be holding." . . .

That (vaccine shortage) has probably created a pool of children vulnerable to Hib infections. Before the shortage, widespread Hib vaccination kept infection rates low enough to protect even unvaccinated kids -- a phenomenon called "herd immunity."

But now that protection has ebbed below the level needed to maintain herd immunity, unvaccinated kids pose a threat to kids whose age or immune status make them extremely vulnerable to serious Hib complications."

[AlCzervik]

11. i am not anti vaccine.

just to be clear, i have a kid and yes she's been vaccinated.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Oh how sad

[xchrom]

8. recommend -- these deaths -- sad beyond measure -- were avoidable.

and please note those who didn't want their child vaccinated are responsible for that child's passing.

more there should not be shortages. it just shouldn't happen.

[woo me with science]

10. Disgusting.

It is not just the vaccination fearmongering. You walk down a drugstore aisle today, and half of the "medications" are wax pills or "homeopathic" bottles of water. The average consumer cannot tell them from the real medications, and they pay big money for nothing. Then they go home to their unvaccinated children, stick on their Kinoki foot pads, and make appointments to have their auras straightened or recover more repressed memories.

The woos are getting out of control in this country. It is time for them to be smacked down, hard.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

12. You said it. The woos are out of control.

It is unbelievable to me that a media icon like Oprah is pushing bullshit like The Secret on her viewers. I'd regard stuff like that as harmless except for the fact that they tell people that they bring cancer and other diseases on themselves with "negativity".