I have a baby girl in the hospital who has never seen her mom or dad's face. She has never been kissed by her parents. She has yet to meet her big brother and sister. She is perfectly healthy right now......but who knows how long that will last. She is an unfortunate victim of the recent Measles outbreak in my community.
Her mom decided to take her 18 month old big sister to an urgent care with a bad diaper rash. She wanted to make sure the rash was treated before she went into labor....and she was due any day. The next day, she received a phone call from the hospital affiliated with the urgent care that informed her that she and her two children were exposed to Measles by another child who came in at the same time. She took her 3 year old and 18 month old to get a second measles booster...as recommended by the infectious disease expert....but with her due date just days away it was too late for her to get the vaccine again.
She was placed in isolation with a mask the minute she hit the door in labor. I have been in labor can only imagine the stress of contractions and delivery while wearing a face mask. No one has been allowed to visit her but her husband. Her children are not even allowed in the waiting room. No grandparents can visit and nurses have to follow strict isolation precautions to prevent the spread of the disease to other families.
Compound that with the fact that she isn't sure when or if the baby will get Measles. If mom gets the disease or one of the siblings....then the baby will likely get it as well and it could be life threatening in a newborn.
This is a family who believes in vaccines and has their children fully vaccinated, and rely on "herd immunity" to protect their precious baby girl.....but "herd immunity" has been weakened by families who choose not to vaccinate.
In our community, the first patient with Measles was a baby less than a year old who traveled with family out of the country. That child was exposed just days prior to flying home and broke out here. All 16 confirmed cases in the last few weeks have been linked back to contact with that first baby. Although that child was vaccinated, he/she was too young to get a Measles vaccine. Subsequent cases have been in children who's parents decided not to vaccinate.
In my opinion, the parents who opted not to vaccinate are responsible for my patient having not met her siblings, and not seen her mommy and daddy's faces, or been kissed. Those anti-vaccine parents are responsible for the spread of disease to children who cannot be vaccinated due to age or other health issues. 1 in 1,000 children who get Measles die. Our grandparents knew this.
When vaccines were first invented and used, parents would line up and wait hours for the chance to get their child protected. They had seen first hand the risks of the diseases, the deaths, the disabilities. Everyone knew someone or some family that had lost a child to Measles, or Polio, or Chicken Pox. They had seen children with permanent hearing loss as a result of meningitis. They didn't want their child to suffer. They knew the odds....1 in 1 million are at risk from the vaccine...but 1 in 1,000 die from Measles. That was a risk they were willing to take. Parents who are choosing not to vaccinate now have never known anyone with the illnesses we vaccinate for...BECAUSE vaccines WORK! I have watched a healthy 8 year old girl die from Chicken Pox and countless children die from Meningitis.
There is a REASON pediatricians vaccinate our children and it sure the HELL isn't that we are brainwashed by the "vaccine companies". We have seen first hand the danger in these diseases and want to make sure our children are protected. Would I willing choose to give my own precious baby something that would likely harm them....absolutely not! Are there children who have had an adverse issue with a vaccine...yes...but it is a very small number when compared to the people who had devastating adverse issues with the disease itself. I agree with my grandma. It's a risk I am willing to take! I'll stand in line if I have to....I want my child protected!
For more information on Measles....see the link below.
http://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/overview.html
http://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/photos.html
If you are planning to travel outside the country....see this link.
http://www.cdc.gov/measles/travelers.html
What to do if you are exposed to Measles.
http://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/index.html
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Thursday, June 19, 2014
The View From Your Doctors Eyes....
I am your child's pediatrician. I am also a mom. I know what it is like to hold your newborn in your arms...and now I am watching you with your new beautiful boy or girl. Yes, I admit...some babies are cuter than others....if I tell you your baby is the cutest one in the nursery...I mean it. I will always look for something to compliment. Every baby is special and unique and they need to be told that from the beginning. I watch you learn how to change a diaper and struggle with nursing. I hug you when breast feeding isn't working and convince you that those people that say your baby won't grow or develop well on formula are lying. I diagnose their colds and ear infections and have to be the meanie that orders the nurse to give their shots. We sit and have conversations about vaccines and the risks and benefits. I help you decide what is best for your child. I answer my page at 2 am when your son has croup and in the middle of my son's baseball game because your daughter has an ear infection. I watch your baby grow and develop.....
And then I notice something I don't like. I can't put my finger on it but it rings an alarm bell. Is this baby not looking at me as much? Is this 18 mo who still isn't saying anything just a late bloomer or is it a big concern? Your son has a big head...it raises a flag for me....I tell you he's just like my son...but I am still worried. I feel a knot I don't like or a cough that just doesn't sound right....or a murmur in the heart. I listen to your fears...and sometimes I don't see what you see, but sometimes I am seeing what you miss. It may be nothing, but it may be something. I wonder when to bring up the issues. Sometimes, I mention it and give you some "assignments" to work on before the next well child exam and see if it will self correct. Sometimes I do a referral....just to reassure myself nothing is wrong. Sometimes, I do the referral knowing what they will find. Then there are those times when I am sure something is wrong, but you don't want to hear it yet. Grandma said you were a late talker too. He is "just being a boy". How do I beg you to realize that your child has something when I am not even sure myself?
You take your children home with you...but so do I. I lie awake at night...wondering if your son's speech should have been referred. I second guess myself about whether to have given your daughter a steroid along with the antibiotic for the cough. Sometimes, I change my mind and call you and change the plan after I have thought about it. I care about your kids as much as you do because each and every one of them is mine.
I get the letter from the specialist and sometimes I feel grateful that you went or vindicated that I was right and you were wrong. Most of the time, I am relieved that my worries were for naught and it is not as bad as I was afraid of. But then there are the times it is bad news.....
I cry with you, sometimes over the phone or in person....mostly by myself. It hurts me to know what you are facing...because at that point I know even better than you what lies ahead. I pray it isn't as bad as they think....then....I get to work and figure out the best treatment possible. I make phone calls on your behalf, I look for specialist. Your child is never far from my mind and if I see something out and about or online or at a meeting that applies....I will let you know.
I celebrate each triumph, and each success....every milestone...but even more the ones that were hard to achieve or we were told would never be achieved. I am amazed by every birthday that goes by and how big your child is growing. I am proud when he learns to write his name...whether it is 3 or 13! I am impressed with your daughters dance moves....whether it is a ballet recital or just the fact that she can stand up to dance!
Sometimes, bad things happen. Accidents, illnesses that happen out of the blue. Diseases that just can't be overcome. I fight to the death for your child....but I can't save them all.....
And then I cry....and I still cry....because your child is always in my heart and I will never forget.
And then I notice something I don't like. I can't put my finger on it but it rings an alarm bell. Is this baby not looking at me as much? Is this 18 mo who still isn't saying anything just a late bloomer or is it a big concern? Your son has a big head...it raises a flag for me....I tell you he's just like my son...but I am still worried. I feel a knot I don't like or a cough that just doesn't sound right....or a murmur in the heart. I listen to your fears...and sometimes I don't see what you see, but sometimes I am seeing what you miss. It may be nothing, but it may be something. I wonder when to bring up the issues. Sometimes, I mention it and give you some "assignments" to work on before the next well child exam and see if it will self correct. Sometimes I do a referral....just to reassure myself nothing is wrong. Sometimes, I do the referral knowing what they will find. Then there are those times when I am sure something is wrong, but you don't want to hear it yet. Grandma said you were a late talker too. He is "just being a boy". How do I beg you to realize that your child has something when I am not even sure myself?
You take your children home with you...but so do I. I lie awake at night...wondering if your son's speech should have been referred. I second guess myself about whether to have given your daughter a steroid along with the antibiotic for the cough. Sometimes, I change my mind and call you and change the plan after I have thought about it. I care about your kids as much as you do because each and every one of them is mine.
I get the letter from the specialist and sometimes I feel grateful that you went or vindicated that I was right and you were wrong. Most of the time, I am relieved that my worries were for naught and it is not as bad as I was afraid of. But then there are the times it is bad news.....
I cry with you, sometimes over the phone or in person....mostly by myself. It hurts me to know what you are facing...because at that point I know even better than you what lies ahead. I pray it isn't as bad as they think....then....I get to work and figure out the best treatment possible. I make phone calls on your behalf, I look for specialist. Your child is never far from my mind and if I see something out and about or online or at a meeting that applies....I will let you know.
I celebrate each triumph, and each success....every milestone...but even more the ones that were hard to achieve or we were told would never be achieved. I am amazed by every birthday that goes by and how big your child is growing. I am proud when he learns to write his name...whether it is 3 or 13! I am impressed with your daughters dance moves....whether it is a ballet recital or just the fact that she can stand up to dance!
Sometimes, bad things happen. Accidents, illnesses that happen out of the blue. Diseases that just can't be overcome. I fight to the death for your child....but I can't save them all.....
And then I cry....and I still cry....because your child is always in my heart and I will never forget.
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