Re: “Add whooping cough to the list of preventable diseases that are back” (Might 1, Opinion):
I can solely echo the pleas for vaccination made by Donna A. Gaffney and Teri Mills, and share a private story.
I used to be unknowingly uncovered to pertussis at work in 1997 earlier than boosters had been advisable for pregnant girls, began coughing shortly after I delivered my child and knew she was contaminated when she began coughing at 2 weeks of age. It was the toughest interval our household underwent regardless of having two doctor dad and mom, a grown-up skilled nanny and my mom at residence to assist. Ellie coughed till she was blue or vomited. There have been coughing spells each 20 minutes across the clock. It was troublesome to feed her. We may do nothing however help her. We had an open invitation on the hospital to carry her in after we couldn’t take it any longer, a degree we by no means reached.
Pertussis lasts 100 days. Airway blockages, mind harm and loss of life are, in fact, the worst outcomes, however even a comparatively delicate case the place a child can keep at house is a horrible expertise for a household.
I wouldn’t want that have on anybody, and the disgrace is that it’s preventable by a vaccine.
Karin Madwed, M.D., Seattle
