Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting. In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance. - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Comments
-HS Parent
If you cough like you never remember coughing go to the doctor.
Are you sure the vaccinations did not help? A few (<5) DTaP immunizations can project against the most serious symptoms. Did you get all FIVE DTaP shots? That is completely effective in 70% of people. If you get all 5 shots on the right schedule that effectiveness rises to 98% for children.
Glad you got through it OK.
-HardcoreVaccinator
Like the flu vaccine, it's imperfect, but it is all we have. So yes, we all need to be cautious - esp. with those with small babies.
-lilliput
HP
How many kids were enrolled in the low vaccination rate school -vs- the high vaccination rate school? Can you give us an idea of the percentages of kids who came down with whooping cough at the two schools?
- reality check
There are MANY viruses that cause big time coughs - just like there are many stomach bugs, many bugs that cause 'flu-like symptoms' but are not "the flu". (I know - hubby has been in ER with flu-like symptoms leading to fainting and it wasn't "the flu", astounding everyone. "Just a bug".)
So - you can see a heck of a lot of coughing at a school, and it doesn't mean it's pertussis. Pertussis can kill babies and elderly in a way that most of the other 'coughs,' unpleasant and loud and noticeable as they are, don't.
Hey, my new robot foiler captcha was a Japanese word! That's cool!
Signed: Vaccinate
I am assuming that those who say they got whooping cough had it definitively diagnosed. If not, they are doing everyone an extreme disservice.
I had a lingering cough so bad I broke a rib coughing. Went to the doctor and got he swab up the nose, and guess what - it was NOT pertussis.
-HardcoreVaccinator
Go ahead and use your scare tactics, but why stop at Ingraham? why not North Seattle.
Really MW sometimes you come off like a box of nails.
--Michael
The pertussis vaccines have been demonstrated to be highly effective; thus, the medical community and people who trust in science, research, and their doctors highly recommend the vaccines.
So, what did Melissa say that came off as a scare tactic? Her post came off as pretty straightforward.
--- swk
My GOD what should I do? Why wasn't the entire school roped off!
Whooping cough is highly contagious and is spread among people by direct contact with fluids from the nose or mouth of infected people. People contaminate their hands with respiratory secretions from an infected person and then touch their own mouth or nose.
--Michael
Let's suffice it to say that whooping cough can be deadly to infants and that may be why Melissa wisely cautioned pregnant women and people with infants to avoid IHS.
--- swk
The virus will travel from Ingraham by whomever gets in contact with it. That person can pass it on to a infant or pregnant women by contact miles away. Thus, they could become infected and never set foot in Ingraham. Furthermore the person who passed it on could have be vaccinated, but it MAKES NO DIFFERENCE.
The school could have been infected by a vaccinated visitor
,so stop your un-vaccinated witch hunt, because it shows you know nothing about viruses.
--Michael
Digging deeper
HP
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory disease. It is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.
Its highly unlikely to stop a bacterium with a shot. It can be everywhere. Wash your hands and dont touch your eyes, nose and mouth is about all you can do.
Ever wonder why the Japaneses where face mask during flue season, when they could just take a shot?
--Michael
Not sure how many yet, but this morning it was about 25%.
NBP
Actually a number of vaccines are directed at bacteria - heard of diphtheria? Well, you won't nowadays but prior to widespread immunization against the bacteria causing it (Corynebacterium) it cause thousands of deaths. In the 1920s for instance, there were an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 cases of diphtheria per year in the United States, causing 13,000 to 15,000 deaths per year. The vaccine against it is given along with tetanus, and pertussis (TDaP). Contrast to pre vaccine figures, there were 53 reported cases of diphtheria between 1980 and 2000 in the US. So very effective - no?
Another bacteria we vaccinate against, also successfully, is tetanus (caused by the bacteria Clostridium Tetani). We also vaccinate against HiB (the hemophilus influenzae b bacteria) which causes pneumonia and meningitis in young children, Neisseria meningitidis which causes meningitis in college-aged kids, Strep pneumoniae which causes pneumonia.
Just because the acellular pertussis vaccine has somewhat lower efficacy than most other vaccines is not due to pertussis being a bacterial infection, nor does it mean it is not worthwhile being vaccinated. In fact it means it is even more important to get boosters on time as the immunity it confers is more likely to wane with time.
Getting immunized and having on-time boosters not only protects you, but protects any infants, pregnant women that may suffer very severe/fatal disease and are can't be immunized themselves.
And Melissa's advice is prudent - if you know there is an outbreak of a disease (i.e. a number of cases) in a particular location and you are unimmunized, pregnant, or have an infant, you would be wise to avoid exposure by avoiding that location at present. Of course you can't avoid every potential source of exposure out in public (and as Michael says - the folks exposed at Ingraham will likely be out and about in our community) but you can avoid the ones you know about.
MD
There seems to be a lot of anti-absenteeism pressure, especially in high school, for fear of falling behind. Perhaps kids went to school who were sick, not knowing what they had until they finally saw a doctor?
Just speculation on my part.
- North-end Mom
And what do Tetanus and diphtheria have in common?
Tetanus, commonly called lockjaw, is caused by a bacterium that is mostly present in soil, manure, and in the digestive tracts of animals and humans. Tetanus is not contagious and cannot be transmitted from person to person. The bacteria often enter the body through a puncture wound, which can be a small as a pin prick, or wounds made rusty nails or dirty knives;
Tetanus bacteria do not survive in the presence of oxygen, which is why puncture wounds, which do not bleed very much and are protected by tissue and skin from direct exposure to the air, are a perfect environment for tetanus bacteria to multiply and cause infection.
I think the facts show there's still a large chance you will contract Pertussis if it makes its way into your body. The same is true for most other diseases whether viral or bacterium sourced.
I have NEVER had vaccines for diphtheria, Pertussis or Tetanus and have never contracted any of them. These vaccines are minimally effective, but I suppose if I dug around in horse manure containing sharp objects then it might make sense.
Remember doctors are NEVER wrong -Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, Killing 225,000 People Every Year
Just Saying
For that reason, I wholeheartedly support efforts to rescind the personal belief exemption on vaccines for attendance in public schools.
--- swk
Good luck with that , hey I think they are looking for you in Italy.
There no way that would work. Since it's the States' paramount duty to provide FAPE WA state would have to pay for compensatory education if students where barred from the schools over vaccines.
So lets see someone try and FORCE students to have vaccines shot in to them against their free will. Never going to happen!
Just Saying.
When people are "healthy" it is because of what they eat...when you eat healthy, you stay healthy and illnesses seem to disappear. However, due to the heavy arm of financial ($$$) influences from the Pharmaceuticals upon too many of our elected U.S. government officials, these elected officials have sold the American people out in favor of "Agendas"($$$) of entities such as, the Pharmaceuticals.
Vaccines are not the answer for the problems we face in Education, Finance, poor housing, hopelessly polluted environment and our food and energy crisis'. And, vaccines are certainly not a solution to our morally corrupt ways......Become INFORMED and learn how you can turn down "MANDATED" vaccines...IT is YOUR Right!!! if that's what you chose...but be fully informed FIRST...THIS is good advice...don't you agree....
Yours Truly
MBA
You are totally wrong. People can eat well AND exercise regularly and still get diseases. Come tell us about it when you or someone you love gets cancer and you plan to "eat" your way out of it.
Healthy living will not protect you from disease. Eating well, getting enough sleep, and exercising will not keep you safe from polio. Or meningitis. Or measles. Or HIV. It might diminish your risk of cancer, but it will hardly eliminate it. It will probably protect you from the common cold, but that's about it.
Anti-vaxxers should remember that a little learning is a dangerous thing. Those who only learn a little rarely realize how much they don't know. Reading a few articles on vaccines will not make someone more knowledgeable about vaccines than a doctor who actually went through medical school and took years of chemistry and biochemistry classes. Here's an explanation by a medical doctor of why you shouldn't panic when you read the list of ingredients to a vaccine.
I agree with MBA about laying off the hand sanitizer unless you're around contagious people. Most bacteria will not hurt you. Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are a serious public health threat.
No one has put it more succinctly than James Cherry, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles, who told the New York Times, "There are some pretty dumb people out there."
I think high schools could make it easier to recover academically if they really want sick kids to stay home.
-HS Parent
LONDON Polio, the dreaded paralyzing disease stamped out in the industrialized world, is spreading in Nigeria. And health officials say in some cases, it's caused by the vaccine used to fight it.
In July, the World Health Organization issued a warning that this vaccine-spread virus might extend beyond Africa. So far, 124 Nigerian children have been paralyzed this year - about twice those afflicted in 2008.
The polio problem is just the latest challenge to global health authorities trying to convince wary citizens that vaccines can save them from dreaded disease. For years, myths have abounded about vaccines - that they were the Western world's plan to sterilize Africans or give them AIDS. The sad polio reality fuels misguided fears and underscores the challenges authorities face using a flawed vaccine.
Nigeria and most other poor nations use an oral polio vaccine because it's cheaper, easier, and protects entire communities.
But it is made from a live polio virus - albeit weakened - which carries a small risk of causing polio for every million or so doses given. In even rarer instances, the virus in the vaccine can mutate into a deadlier version that ignites new outbreaks.
Scare Tactics
Again, you are wrong. My sister had polio. Real polio and paralysis and then, a lifelong weaken state. If she (and her friends) had a polio vaccine, it is beyond impeachment that many more would have lived and been helped than hurt.
You are the one using scare tactics.