A classmate of my 5 year old girl has come
down with whooping cough. I received a
letter on Friday urging me to contact the
health department and put my child on
anti-biotics for prophylaxis, even if my
child had her vaccinations. ANyone have
experience with this? I tried to contact
the pediatrician, but this was late friday
afternoon, so I have not heard back. Is
it possible that she can get it, even
though she was vaccinated? Can she be a
carrier and infect my baby daughter? Can
she infect adults? I hate giving
anti-biotics unless they are truly needed,
so I wondered if anybody else has been in
this situation. If she did get this, is
it a dangerous illness or just a nuisance.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks.
vaccines are not 100% guaranteed. no
vaccine is. there are plenty of vaccinated
kids that get the illnesses they are
vaccinated against. whooping cough
generally isnt too serious unless it
affects an infant under 6 months or
someone with a compromised immune system.
and antibiotics can really be helpful if
you catch the pertussis immediately. i
would call the ped tomorrow morning.
