Have You Gotten Your Pertussis Shot?
I just got my pertussis vaccination!
Showing off my post-immunization band-aid!
In case you haven’t heard, there’s an outbreak of pertussis – a.k.a., whooping cough – going on the Lower Mainland of Vancouver. And, in case you didn’t know it, pertussis vaccination is one of the vaccinations you need to get a booster shot of if you haven’t had one since you were a kid. Which I hadn’t. But I rectified that today!
Also, might I add, I absolutely hate needles. They make me queasy. Even ones like this one, which is just a little poke in the arm that didn’t even hurt at all. But I felt it was really important, because pertussis can be quite a dangerous disease to little kids and how bad would I feel if I caught pertussis and passed it along to a baby?
In case you think that pertussis is not a big deal:
About 1 infant out of every 170 who gets pertussis (whooping cough) will die from it. Most deaths (4 out of 5) are babies under a year old.
-From the ImmunizeBC website
One out of every 170! That’s a lot of babies. And the thing is, pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease. And the best way to prevent outbreaks is for everyone to get vaccinated! When enough people in the population are vaccinated, the disease can’t spread – we call that “herd immunity.” So today, I’m happily part of the herd!
Comments |7|
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brave Beth! good for you!
Beth,
Not really a comment about getting this shot, but just wondering if they have an anti-chocking in the first round of the playoffs shot, the Canucks can try next year!
Uncle Hack
Uncle Harry, you win the award for first family member to taunt me about the Canucks going out in the first round! (Of course, it’s not like Greg (Chicago – out in the first round), Eliza (Pittsburgh – out in the first round) or Wendy (Leafs – never even made it) could say anything!
Beth,
Just to correct you Wendy (Boston, still out in the first round) could say anything.
Uncle Hack
P.S. No chocking in the first round for my Rangers, but I do need a defibrilator.
Wendy is a Boston fan?????
Beth,
Yes since way back in the Bobby Orr days or as I call it the Cenozoic period of hockey.
Uncle Hack
But remember Boston (Still out in the first round)
Only a million years late reading this post, but I just got my pertussis shot this morning! I finally got in to the nurse practitioner’s clinic here, and I went in this morning to get all my immunizations up to date – so pertussis, rhubella, tetanus and something else (the serum that will at last grant me those mutant superpowers I’ve always wanted?)