When you are a parent of a little baby there are so many things you have to worry about. Are they eating right, are they sleeping enough, are all their needs being met and most importantly how do you keep them happy and healthy. Rock was a Preemie and in the NICO unit for one week and we were terrified that he would pick up a cold or a virus from his loving family that he could not fight off. Eddy and I probably drove everyone crazy with the hand washing. X was born exactly when expected and he looked so big and robust compared to his older brother we worried less. Until the Hospital staff mentioned the alarming rise of Pertussis most commonly known as the whooping cough.
The entire family including Eddy and myself got our boosters the minute we heard that! We were not the only parents who were unaware Jeff Gordon and Felicia Dube real life parents answered my questions on the Sound of Pertussis and how to get the word out.
ABOUT PERTUSSIS:
Immunity from childhood pertussis vaccination wanes after five to 10 years.7
Recently, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that all adults and adolescents receive a single dose of a Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis) booster vaccine, if they have not previously.
For the ACIP provisional recommendations, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/provisional/Tdap-feb2012.htm.8
Researchers found that when the source of a baby’s pertussis can be identified, family members were responsible for spreading the disease to the baby in up to 80 percent of cases; more specifically, parents were the source 50 percent of the time.5,6 Only 8 percent of adults reported receiving the adult pertussis booster vaccination from 2005 through 2010, according to the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey.9
You read correctly, loving parents without the Pertussis Booster are putting their children at risk!
Like Gordon and Felicia, Eddy and I urge you to Help Stop the Spread of this Preventable Disease by helping Sounds of Pertussis® Campaign, a joint initiative from Sanofi Pasteur and March of Dimes, especially if you have small children. Sanofi Pasteur is donating $1 to the March of Dimes (up to $10,000) for every family who uploads a family photo on the Campaign’s Facebook page [www.facebook.com/SoundsofPertussis].
References 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Violence-Related Firearm Deaths Among Residents of Metropolitan Areas and Cities — United States, 2006–2007. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2011;60(18):597. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm6018.pdf. Accessed May 11, 2012. 2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sunburn and Sun Protective Behaviors Among Adults Aged 18–29 Years —United States, 2000–2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2012;61(18):ND-249. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm6118md.pdf. Accessed May 11, 2012. 3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Disease Information: Pertussis: Signs & Symptoms. http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/about/signs-symptoms.html. Accessed April 16, 2012. 4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Disease Information: Complications. http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/about/complications.html. Accessed April 16, 2012. 5 Bisgard KM, Pascual FB, Ehresmann KR et al. Infant pertussis: who was the source? Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2004;23(11):985-989. 6 Wendelboe AM, Njamkempo E, Bourillon A et al. Transmission of Bordetella pertussis to young infants. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2007; 26(4):293-299. 7 Kretsinger K, Broder KR, Cortese MM et al. Preventing tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis among adults: use of tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and recommendation of ACIP, supported by the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), for use of Tdap among health-care personnel. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2006;55(RR-17):1-37. 8 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ACIP Provisional Tdap Recommendations, March 22, 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/provisional/Tdap-feb2012.htm. Accessed April 23, 2012. 9 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Adult Vaccination Coverage — United States, 2010. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2012;61(04);66-72. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6104a2.htm. Accessed April 27, 2012.
About Divina Rodriguez
Divina is a wife, a Mami of 2 boys under the age of four and a full fledged social media butterfly with a Masters in Communications. She writes along with her husband, Eddy, about entertainment, technology, family products as well as their life in CT. In addition to DancingHotdogs.com, Divina unlocks the magic on www.TheDisneyFiles.com and is a founding mother & partner at Trumpeting Media, a social media consulting company that is dedicated to using social media for social good.
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