While it’s pretty stupid to turn down a tetanus shot even after getting tetanus, much information is missing from the article - is tetanus a required immunization, and is it generally even given to school-aged kids? I remember getting it at a little older than he is (because it hurt significantly more than the others I received for some reason), but don’t recall getting any boosters for it as a child. I think I was in my early twenties when I got another.
It also doesn’t say what the other recommended vaccines were, or if he was otherwise up-to-date.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be “anti” in any way here, I’m just trying to understand what actually happened here.
DPT (also DTP and DTwP) is a class of combination vaccines against three infectious diseases in humans: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus.
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The usual course of childhood immunization in the USA is five doses between 2 months and 15 years. For adults, Td boosters are recommended every 10 years.
At least where I live, Tetanus is one of many "required" immunizations if you are going to school or participating in some sort of childcare system. If you home-school, you are not technically required to vaccinate.
I remember getting boosters and if I'm not mistaken for adults the recommendation is every 10 years, though I could be wrong.
I got a booster before going on a mission trip to a 3rd-world country, though Tetanus was one of the _many_ vaccinations we got.
I suspect not a lot of adults know that booster is needed every 10 years - everybody kind of assumes that most of vaccines are "one, maybe 2 times deal".
can it be anything that has tetanus vaccine in it? Sometimes it is combined with other things, that's why I'm asking. Tetanus scares me, I don't live in a city and get cut many times a month while doing stuff.
As you say, there are several tetanus vaccines. The recommended 10-year booster is the Td (just tetanus and diptheria) or the Tdap (tetanus, diptheria, and pertussis) if you haven't gotten it before. (The Tdap is also recommended during each pregnancy.) Any tetanus-containing vaccine would do though. I believe the amount of tetanus toxoid is the same in all of them.
One of the vaccines you want to get first, is against tetanus. It's a horrible disease. Also, speaking as a German, who is going to pay the bill? Is there any health insurance in the US, which is covering such a case?
Hospital bills in the US are a scam, they give huge discounts to insurance companies, expecting to make a profit on any remaining amount, then insurance companies charge patients only a part of that while covering the rest.
Still 8 weeks in hospital, airlift and therapy is gonna bite. A lot. I feel bad for the child--a victim of his (you know what) parents--but the parents deserve to suffer a bit, financially too.
>Excluding the costs of air transportation, inpatient rehabilitation and ambulatory follow-ups, inpatient charges for the boy totaled $811,929.
>But despite “extensive review of the risks and benefits of tetanus vaccination by physicians,” the boy’s parents declined a second dose of the tetanus-fighting medication and “any other recommended immunizations.”
I really wish the ACA had some provision that said "Failure to administer the following list of vaccines allows insurance companies to drop you or only offer plans with insanely high deductibles (or none)". Parents who don't vaccinate their children... you are bad parents, plain and simple. That alone doesn't really bother me, if you are ok with killing your own kid I'm not going to waste my time. Now when you endanger other children or run up insane bills for no good reason then I'm going to sit up and take notice.
Stupidity, in this form, shouldn't be a preexisting condition we cover.
I sympathize, but the problem with this is that you'd inevitably end up punishing the child, who is then more likely to grow up feeling like he was victimized by "the system" rather than his parents.
This is a hostage situation unfortunately. Anti-vax parents are holding their kids hostage, and we as a society are on the hook for the consequences when the hostage gets hurt. There's no good way around it.
Are you willing to apply that logic to all other directives from your doctor? Like exercise more, eat less, cut out booze and smoking, lose weight, etc?
Vaccines should be free, wherever they aren't. It takes a few hours combined, to get them all. Not getting them hurts your child and others. It should be seen as child abuse, because it is. Your child can suffer and/or die.
Alcohol, exercise etc are a lifetime struggle. So they are way too different.
I honestly don't see what this has to do with vaccination? The title has a bias written right into it. I grew up in the South (U.S.) and it is culturally normal in some rural areas for kids to run around bare footed. Don't curl your lip at it, it's a normal thing for some boys. I did too, and I made of mistake of stepping on a rusty nail in a board once. I had to go to the doctor and get a tetanus shot. You get the shot after stepping on a nail. Not before it.
Actually, the TDAP (the T is for Tetanus) is generally given every 10 years AND after possible exposure. In theory, if you are up-to-date, the post exposure vaccine is redundant, but why risk it?
Just for completeness, the recommendation (in the US at least) is for the Td every 10 years, and the Tdap only once (preferably in adolescence) or during pregnancy.
This is child abuse. Why aren't these parents in jail? The stupidity and danger that the government allows in America based on the idea of "personal belief", religion, and other nonsense is simply unbelievable. In this case, it led to two months worth of suffering and almost a million dollars worth of care (a price I'm sure was heavily inflated, but still). We need to dictate this at the federal level because states are clearly too incompetent to do it themselves. These children should be vaccinated and the parents should be educated and stopped from abusing their kids. It's fucking disgusting what's happening. This was completely avoidable. The parents are monsters.
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[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 59.5 ms ] threadIt also doesn’t say what the other recommended vaccines were, or if he was otherwise up-to-date.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be “anti” in any way here, I’m just trying to understand what actually happened here.
DPT (also DTP and DTwP) is a class of combination vaccines against three infectious diseases in humans: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus.
... The usual course of childhood immunization in the USA is five doses between 2 months and 15 years. For adults, Td boosters are recommended every 10 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DPT_vaccine
I remember getting boosters and if I'm not mistaken for adults the recommendation is every 10 years, though I could be wrong.
I got a booster before going on a mission trip to a 3rd-world country, though Tetanus was one of the _many_ vaccinations we got.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine#Timeline
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_vaccines
>But despite “extensive review of the risks and benefits of tetanus vaccination by physicians,” the boy’s parents declined a second dose of the tetanus-fighting medication and “any other recommended immunizations.”
I really wish the ACA had some provision that said "Failure to administer the following list of vaccines allows insurance companies to drop you or only offer plans with insanely high deductibles (or none)". Parents who don't vaccinate their children... you are bad parents, plain and simple. That alone doesn't really bother me, if you are ok with killing your own kid I'm not going to waste my time. Now when you endanger other children or run up insane bills for no good reason then I'm going to sit up and take notice.
Stupidity, in this form, shouldn't be a preexisting condition we cover.
This is a hostage situation unfortunately. Anti-vax parents are holding their kids hostage, and we as a society are on the hook for the consequences when the hostage gets hurt. There's no good way around it.
Alcohol, exercise etc are a lifetime struggle. So they are way too different.
Doing their best to remove the genes that they have already placed in the human gene pool.
Or you do it twice as /when doctors recommend and don't worry about the slightest cut to kill you.
Barefooted is more than normal in a lot of places.
The last time I did it, I came up with an invention while waiting in the emergency room: pneumatic coil nails with the Tetanus booster coating.