This didn’t have to happen. You can help stop it. Get your pertussis booster.
We organized a vaccine clinic. If you’re anywhere near Dragon*Con this weekend, you can get your shot for free at the Mall at Peachtree Center. Just go.
If you need me, I’ll be hugging my babies.
If you missed it:Â Part 1
This sort of story makes me just -so- angry and frustrated. I want to personally kick the asses of every antivaxxer out there.
Great going, you jerks. Great job. Just wonderful. I’m sure you’re so bloody proud of yourselves.
I started crying before I could even click the play button. Couldn’t watch. Even if you told me that vid has a happy ending (and I suspect it doesn’t) the thought of babies suffering while their parents helplessly watch is too much to bear.
I’ll be at D*C. I’m getting my booster. And I’m hugging everyone else who does.
I got my booster a year ago (I think it was). It was offered to me by our PA when she was doing a tetanus booster after I got scratched by some rusty barbed wire. I didn’t even think anything other than “Oh, you need boosters? Ok!” :)
Watch out for Mike Adams, the “Health Ranger”! Read about his madness here:
http://circleh.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/the-health-ranger-attacks-vaccines/
This is just one more reason I’ll be getting my pertussis booster at Dragon*Con. It just makes me sick to know that it is preventable and yet people are fighting against doing it!
I got my booster last year, before coming to CA. My doctor just said I’d get the TDaP instead of the Tetanus shot because it had been a while. She gave me the information sheet, and it acted like it was only for adults who had not gotten a DaPT as a baby. They really need to revise that sheet, if they haven’t already, so that people understand how important it is to get a booster! I had to look up the reason for the shot online. I’m glad I got it, and I hope everyone who can gets it as well!
I’m kind of disappointed in you guys. Yes, that poor child’s death is far and above tragic, but a video like that meant to provoke an emotional response with a “get your booster” message … ?
:/
(I am a vaxing mom of two who made everyone who came in extended contact with my babies get their booster, so no ulterior motive here.)
@tralala:
This child’s death was preventable.
And like it or not, people will remember that THIS is the reason to get their boosters. They will not remember that some study mentioned .
We’re not forced to choose between emotional anecdotes OR science-based information. We need to choose anecdotes that SUPPORT the science based information.
The absolutely only criticism I have for this video is about the end credits. It ends with “Please vaccinate your children.” That should have been followed by “And yourself.”
Which I shall be doing shortly again. (my last tetanus booster was over five years ago, just before the Tdap came out for adults, and I just read that I can boost my booster sooner than ten years)
I can’t make it down to Dragon*Con but I’m going to get my booster on Friday :)
I know a lot of people going to Dragon*Con so I’m making sure to get all of this info to them.
i couldn’t even make it through the whole thing. i was bawling 30 seconds into it
The “no emotional appeals” thing came up with the Jennifer Lopez PSA and you know what? I don’t give a shit. The word “pertussis” doesn’t mean anything to most people. Watching babies and their parents suffer helplessly does. The science is sound (which is the most important part) and if this is what it takes to get people off their asses, brav-fucking-o.
@ZenMonkey:
Agreed.
There are REAL cases out there. All of these could have been prevented.
And these are real people. Real babies. Real families. Not statistics.
With outreach, I think it is important to humanize the problem. Put it into terms that people understand. “(P=0.35)” doesn’t mean shit.
Carter. Carter means something. He still means something.
I think emotional appeals are not only appropriate, but necessary. Avoiding the very emotional reality of vaccine-preventable illnesses doesn’t help our cause. In fact, it might just make people see our “side” as cold and rational, even uncaring. It’s important to let people know that we support vaccines because we care about children. We’re not emotionless zombies who only care about facts and evidence; we are also parents (and grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc) of children who we need to protect from diseases like pertussis. There’s no reason to shy away from emotional appeals, if that is what is going to get through to others.
@lexicakes: Thank you for saying that so eloquently. The video made me cry.
I was bawling my eyes out halfway through the video. The song sort of gives the ending away. My little girl has all of her vaccinations up to date. We adopted her in China and had her immunities tested, so we knew which vaccinations she needed. We didn’t trust the previous paperwork. We and the doctor wanted evidence of which diseases she needed vaccinations for.