A Preventable Epidemic

When my nine-year-old daughter and I walked into the pediatrics waiting room, we noticed most of the patients wore yellow surgical masks. When they coughed, I did not need to ask why they needed medical attention.

One might think that my daughter and I were in Africa, Mexico, or a very impoverished part of Los Angeles. Afterall, children in the United States have been vaccinated for whooping cough (also known as pertussis) for decades.

But we were at Kaiser Terra Linda, which is located in wealthy, educated Marin County. One of the county’s biggest outbreaks of whooping cough is occurring at my children’s schools located in Fairfax and San Anselmo. In 2009, 7.1 percent of Marin County’s parents exempted their children from kindergarten immunizations. Vaccine programs rely on herd immunity, and when a sizeable proportion of the population does not protect themselves, everyone is at risk.

My children were immunized for whooping cough and all the other childhood diseases recommended by our healthcare provider. When I first heard about the outbreak, I thought we were protected, even when my daughter began to cough. Then, I found out she was four years from her last booster and that many of the current cases of whooping cough were in vaccinated kids. My daughter suffers from asthma, and I know she is at high risk for complications.

A masked nurse took my daughter to the exam room. Our pediatrician stuck a cotton swab up my daughter’s nose. He said we would know the result by tomorrow. If she had whooping cough, she would have to stay out of public places for five days after she started antibiotics. Elena cried, because her nose still stung, and because she might miss her end-of-the-school-year picnic.

The next morning, I found out the results of Elena’s test. She did not have whooping cough. The late season rain must have exacerbated her asthma.

When I ask non-vaccinating parents about how they came to their decision, they invariably say, “Well, I heard something about a link between autism and vaccines.” As a high school biology teacher, I was always tempted to remind them of the countless children lost over the centuries lost to diphtheria, whooping cough and measles, but I used to bite my tongue. Not any more.

We are seeing resurgence in certain childhood diseases that are in part caused by changing attitudes towards vaccination. I beg the parents entering our public schools this fall to look beyond their ungrounded fears and think about protecting all the children in their community, including mine.