Facilitated Communication ruins another family

[essentialsaltes]

It was bad enough when FC was just emerging as a new 'therapy', but you'd think that decades after it had been exploded, things like this wouldn't have to happen.

What am I saying? Jenny McCarthy is already sticking up for the vaccine/autism fraud -- "this hoopla made us a little stronger, and even more determined to fight for the truth about what's happening to our kids" -- and twenty years from now it'll still be the same.

PS The final 2010 infant death toll for whooping cough in California was 10.

Comments

[zorker.livejournal.com]

So the pertussis deaths are lousy, but the issue seems a bit complicated to me, even beyond the anti-vaccine people. Right now, the schedule for infants to receive a Dtap vaccine doesn't start till 2 months. And there are about 4 different shots of it over the first year and a half of life. I'm unclear from CDC material if the infant is fully immune after each of these shots or if it requires the entire run.
Regardless, so the doctors then advise anyone who is going to be a caretaker of the infant to get a Tdap booster. Now that shouldn't be too hard, you can get it from your doctor or even at a Walgreen's. But here's the thing - it's an expensive shot. I saw it prices at Walgreen's for $65. I paid $75 at my doctor's even with the very comprehensive insurance plan I'm on. And my parents, who were told at Walgreen's that they couldn't receive the shot there because they were over 65, ended up paying $100 per shot to have it done by their GP's office.

If you're going to try to sell people on the necessity of vaccinations (since the baby is still going to be susceptible till 2 months old at the very least), then you have to make it both accessible and affordable. Because I can see a lot of lower income people just deciding to try their luck rather than shell out that kind of money for a vaccination.

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

I'm sympathetic to parents that can't afford it, though there are providers of free or low-cost vaccinations to the uninsured. I don't think access is the primary problem.

It appears that one of the areas that has the lowest vaccination rates is Marin County, where money should not be an issue.

Public health officials in Marin County, which is by many measures the wealthiest and healthiest county in the state, said this kind of attitude toward vaccinations might be one reason that the county, with a population of just 250,000, currently accounts for about 15 percent of all reported whooping cough cases in California.

[zorker.livejournal.com]

Wow, it's nice to know there are so many free/low-cost options on immunizations for parents. I have to say that even though it makes sense to do that, both from a health and health care cost point of view, I get awfully cynical about the US health care system making the right choices sometimes.

Doesn't really surprise me about Marin. If you're going to pick a wealthy county where the residents are more likely to cling to the idea that something like a vaccination is messing with your natural state of being, it's Marin. :)

I will say that I think one thing that freaks parents out is the sheer number and frequency of immunizations on the recommended schedule. It feels on just a reactionary level that you sure are giving your baby a lot of doses of things very quickly. Like getting the hepatitis B shot before you leave the hospital. (That said, random first link I followed also informs me that since it was introduced to the immunization schedule in 1991, the incidence among kids has dropped by 95%, which is an awesome statistic.)

One thing I am curious about though, is how the CDC's vaccination schedules compare to schedules in other developed countries and what the comparable incidence levels are.

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

I will say that I think one thing that freaks parents out is the sheer number and frequency of immunizations on the recommended schedule.

It does seem like a lot, though it seems roughly comparable to Australia and the UK's recommendations (Wiki.

[freudinshade.livejournal.com]

It is a lot. Some Pediatricians will work with you to figure out what your risks are and put off some of the lowest risk ones, so you can spread them out further. We didn't have any problem with LB keeping him on the schedule, I think, but could have postponed some of them.

[ladyeuthanasia.livejournal.com]

Jenny McCarthy: promoting practices that take innocent lives so that she can continue to sell books.

Nice.