Vaccines, what we should all know

When I was in my twenties, and spent many a night out partying at fundraisers for Magen David Adom, I never imagined it would be my kid sitting in the back of one of those donated ambulances. I supported those events wholeheartedly, partly because I always thought a [as a fundraiser myself] that a houseparty was a very cost-effective event, and partly because a night out is all the better when you know you might actually be helping someone at the same time.

Yesterday morning I took little Roni along for a booster vaccination. I always check what they vaccinate against here because they give kids vaccines for absolutely everything [including many things which are not offered in the UK] and I like to know what they are shooting into his bloodstream. The nurse did warn me, as last time, that he could have a fever, but she said just tonight and tomorrow and didnt mention anything else. When his fever came on, I decided to give him ibuprofen. I usually prefer to let my kids sweat out the fevers for a bit as it is, after all, the bodies natural way of fighting disease. But as it was simply a reaction to the immunisation I chose not to let him suffer.

He woke up after a few hours, wanting me as normal, but didn’t really settle so he stayed in our bed, as he usually does. Suddenly, I felt something was not right and when we checked him he appeared not to be breathing, had gone a bit blue, was floppy and non-responsive. Then his eyes started rolling around and he was shaking for a bit and I have to say at this point I believed the worst. And everything was a bit of a blur after that. Husband had called an ambulance, then promptly threw the phone at me, and the most awful thing was being given instructions in ivrit and not being 100% sure that I had understood them. My ivrit is about 95% fluent in understanding, but 95% is not enough when you are holding a blue baby. We ended up banging on our neighbours door to make sure we were sure of instructions. And to flag down the ambulance that had managed to get lost [the longest few minutes of my life]. The ambulance people were lovely, asked us which hospital we wanted. Hence began mine and Roni’s second uncomfortable journey up to Ziv hospital, Tsfat. We think its the nearest and that place does have something of a homey atmosphere, they offer food to the person accompanying the patient also [usually chicken] in true jewish style and it’s small and personal.

Turns out Roni is one of those [less than 1 per thousand] kids that suffered febrile convulsions as a result of a vaccine [in this case Diptheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio and influenza]. Thats basically 5 illnesses rammed into his body at once, not surprised he had a reaction. I suspect the nurse didn’t give me the full info partly because they are strapped for time, but also because she knows I am always cautious of all medical interventions and she probably thought I wouldn’t give it to him if I knew the risks. He had a reaction to his last one, and according to NHS info, he is not supposed to be given this one if that happens. I already opted not to vaccinate against swine flu, and another stomach bug which I felt as a healthy baby he would be able to weather out without any major risk as Jojo did.

Where I come from, women who don’t vaccinate are often thought of as a bit loopy, overly concerned, uninformed and just not grasping the epidemiological statistics. I, however, never completely disregarded their concerns, as in my experience, when you put something foreign into your body, there is always a consequence of some sort. As an ex-public health/epidemiology student, I still believe there is a strong case for vaccinating children, but I believe there is an equally strong case for informing parents of exactly what can happen and WHAT TO DO. Let me stress at this point, he was basically ok before it started, no major fever [even though ibuprofen I gave him had worn off] and he was a bit miserable but sleeping no worse than normal. The only reason that I noticed something was wrong, was because he was asleep with us.

Tomorrow I will be giving this information to my tipat chalav. There may be less than 1 kid in a thousand who reacts to this injection, but if people don’t come forward then the data will not be accurate. I would also like to make sure all parents are given a lowdown, either verbally or in a fact sheet, on what precautions to take, and how to handle adverse reactions. Apparently febrile convulsions are not dangerous unless they go on for a while [though how you are supposed to know whether this will happen or not seems like russian roulette to me]. Its all very well for doctors to say its “not usually dangerous” and fairly common in kids up to age 6, but I am pretty sure anyone whose kid turns blue and appears to stop breathing would panic somewhat. Although only one of the doctors admitted to doing that! I had heard of this happening to the child of a friend of mine, didn’t help. Still horrifying.

According to the rather jolly Australian doctor who checked on Roni the next morning, more kids die from their parents manic driving to the hospital than from the actual condition. That does not surprise me about this country. All I can say is it if it happens to your kids, stay calm and if you are sure they are suffering from this the correct procedure is to put them on their front and move their head to one side. They may say its not dangerous but if its still happening after 10 minutes and you are havent checked its not something serious, thats a bit of a risk in my opinion.