Father said
whooping cough victims had their shots
10/02/2002
By
REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA-TV
Monday night, News 8 reported on two children in Lewisville that
were diagnosed with whooping cough.
Health officials issued an alert and encouraged all parents to
get their children immunized.
But in both cases, the sick children had all their shots.
One of the victims was a 10-year-old boy. His parents told News 8
that his doctors encouraged him to continue to play on his football
team, because they didn't realize the child had whooping cough.
They said since the beginning of August, doctors thought he had
asthma.
"My frustration was that we specifically kept asking about
whooping cough, and it was discounted," said the boy's father, who
did not want to be identified.
The father also says the child was fully immunized, but still got
sick.
"There are cases where children who recieve the full compliment
are not protected. The vaccine is not 100 percent effective for all
children," said Suzy Hancock of the Denton County Health Department.
But how effective are the vaccinations? According to some medical
experts, the primary vaccine for pertussis - or whooping cough - is
about 80 percent effective.
"I would like parents to be calm but to realize that even if your
child is immunized there's a chance they could get sick," the boy's
father said.
"The immunity will wane and sometimes by the time five years has
passed since the last immunization that vaccine has lost its
effectiveness," Hancock said.
Still, health experts said that not vaccinating your children
would be worse, because for smaller children, the disease can be
deadly.
"We have more children who don't get the illness, so it's really
still a good idea to get your children all the vaccines," Hancock
said.
So while the vaccine isn't 100 percent effective, it still
prevents thousands of children from getting ill.
