December 26, 2007
Ounce of prevention update
I went to the doctor for a follow-up to my recent close encounter of the cardiac kind, and he asked me about my immunizations.
Working with the public, especially in the arraignment courts, where a large percentage of the defendants hack, cough, spit, snork and blargle in the audience, sending a D-Day-sized invasion fleet of viruses headed for the back of my neck, leaves many DAs and court personnel compulsive Purel hand scrubbers.
When a 30-year hype thief explains to the judge that she needs a stay on her jail time "Cause my Hepatitis is gettin' real bad!" I generally have two thoughts:
"You know, if I squint really hard, just before everything goes black, she kind of looks like a less used-up Pamela Anderson."
The other thought is, "I wonder if I can hold my breath for the next two hours."
Anyhow, the annual flu shot is absolutely necessary if any time is spent hanging out in packed, stuffy courtrooms.
My physician asked if I'd had it yet, and when I said, "No," he offered to have me jabbed in the shoulder.
He flipped through my charts and suggested I get a DTAP booster, too.
DTAP?
Diptheria, Tetanus (Lockjaw) and Pertussis -- Whooping Cough.
According to the good doctor, the childhood vaccinations we receive for Pertussis -- once thought to provide lifetime immunity -- are wearing off, and increasing numbers of adults are contracting the convulsive, body-contorting, coughing illness.
WILLMAR — Local medical providers are stepping up their efforts to fend off an old infectious enemy — whooping cough. Whooping cough, or pertussis, has traditionally been regarded as a childhood disease. But teenagers and adults can get sick from it too, and often they spread it to younger, more vulnerable children as well. That’s why booster doses of vaccine are now being recommended for teenagers — as well as for many adults, especially those who spend time around very young children or who have certain health risks such as asthma, emphysema or immune-system problems.
If you think whooping cough is a disease of the past, think again. The bacterium that causes it, Bordetella pertussis, has never been completely eradicated.
Bordetella, eh? I wonder if the vaccination Bogie gets for Kennel Cough is related to human whooping cough.
Slate recently took a look at which vaccinations were a good idea for an adult to consider getting, and DTAP was at the top of the list.
Here's some information from the CDC on the vaccine.
It's a painless, low-risk piece of prevention; ask your doctor if you need one, too.
Posted by Mike Lief at December 26, 2007 07:24 AM
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Comments
You might want also to check out the Menengitis shot.
You aren't old enough yet, but the Pneumonia shot only lasts about 10 years and a re-do after 8-10 is important also.
Posted by: andrewdb at December 26, 2007 10:41 PM