It Might Still Just Be Bronchitis.

[kungfuwaynewho]

Dear parents who have chosen not to vaccinate your children:

Thank you. No, really. Thank you for choosing to believe one single study, that has since been discredited and its author stripped of his medical license, over every other medical professional's opinion. Thank you for watching a segment on the Today Show and basing your decisions on that eight-minute stretch. Thank you for reading Jenny McCarthy's book and thinking, "Yeah, she's onto something."

Thank you for dragging your sick children out into public, as well. That's a vital part of this whole equation.

Thank you for all of that, because I probably have whooping cough. WHOOPING COUGH. A disease that was practically non-existent in this country because enough people were vaccinated against it, keeping those who weren't (me, as a baby, because I had a horrific reaction to the shot) safe through herd immunity. Thank you for destroying the entire concept of herd immunity. Thank you for making idiotic decisions that not only threaten the life of your own children, but also the lives of all the people your children come into contact with.

XOXwlejiafo;eiji;eoa

Sorry.  Just had a coughing fit. At least this time I didn't run out of breath or start wheezing or get dizzy or vomit because of it.

Anyway, XOXO. Yeah.

Comments

[hollywobbles.livejournal.com]

*look of absolute horror*

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Yeah, man. I've had a cough for about ten days now, and I should have gone to the doctor last week, but I kept thinking, "I'm almost over it by now, surely." Today was really bad. At one point a patron's like, wow, you sound like I did! When I had the whooping cough! And I was like, lol no I don't have that, that's silly. No one gets that anymore.

I go to the doctor, she's like, "hopefully it's just bronchitis." *talks for thirty minutes about managing symptoms of whooping cough* I have two different inhalers, steroids, ~special cough syrup, and some antibiotics just in case.

Because if it is whooping cough? I'll be coughing for another four to five weeks. ://///

[hollywobbles.livejournal.com]

That. Is horrifying. I don't even know anything about whooping cough, except that it sounds quaintly old fashioned in a this-disease-probably-killed-ppl-in-the-victorian-era sort of way.

I don't really get people who stop vaccinating their children or, say, drinking pasteurized milk because some article says there's some minor downside to doing it. Like, are your memories and comprehension of history so fuzzy that you do not realize we do those things because people were dying before we started doing them?

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

No kidding. There's polio outbreaks again. Jesus.

HAHA my sister was totally like "it's so exciting that you probably have a 19th century disease, pls don't cough on me thx." It's really not that awful, it's just a very persistent cough I can't shake; really, the only people at actual risk are babies, the elderly, and those with depressed immune systems. I am none of those things, so it's okay. But yeah, still. There's no reason for this disease to even still exist!

There's a website called Jenny McCarthy Bodycount and it is so true.

[nenya_kanadka]

Seriously. Did they not get history in school? How much of a big f'ing deal it was when vaccines were invented and OMG, suddenly we were less vulnerable to these horrible diseases that used to kill/harm people at great rates?

Same thing with pasteurizing milk. Google Louis Pasteur, man.

[ghanimasun]

That sounds terrible :( I'm sorry you're having to deal with that shit. Also I agree with you totally on the idiocy that is anti-vaxxers.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that the antibiotics clear it up and it's just bronchitis and everything's okay, but IDK. I used both inhalers tonight and just took some cough syrup and it's not helped a whole lot. :/

[icepixie]

There should be two choices for anti-vaxxers: Vaccinate, or quarantine your entire family until the children are old enough to assent to getting shots on their own.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Heh, that sounds about right. These are probably the same people who invite their kids' friends over for chicken pox parties. Zero common sense.

[dref22.livejournal.com]

THISSSSS. These clueless people have no idea how vaccination is extremely crucial especially in the 3rd world countries.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there's so much ignorance involved that it's almost hard to believe.

[naushika.livejournal.com]

Ughhhh that's terrible. :(

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

:(((

I'm still holding out hope it's something else and the antibiotics will knock it out.

[nhpw.livejournal.com]

OH NO!! :(( I really, really hope you don't have it - and am so glad you finally went to the doctor. That's nothing to be messing around with :(

I've always been of the opinion that anti-vax people are idiots, but I have a new RAGE!HATE against them now because I have a child who's too young to be vaccinated against most things - she's only had her first round of shots. So when we arrived at her daycare a couple weeks back and there was a sign on the door that said "one confirmed case of pertussis" and she happened to wake up the next morning with (what turned out to be) her very first cold, I COMPLETELY LOST MY SHIT. I have a new appreciation for the decisions parents make and try to cut people some slack, but I put on my JUDGING YOU hat when it comes to the anti-vax movement. Jenni McCarthy is not a doctor. She's an idiot, and if you listen to her, then you're an idiot too. And a bad parent. And have no sense of social responsibility. Etc. RAGE.

I'm sorry you have so many meds but I'm glad they were able to put you on something to help, and that you haven't had to be hospitalized. I assume you have to stay home from work?

*HUUUUUGS* Please take care of yourself. I'll say "get well soon!" even though it might be a long recovery road - because we can always hope for 4 weeks instead of the outside of 5, right?

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

I really hope I don't have it, too! I do feel better this morning, but that may be because I'm pumped full of steroids, LOL.

God, there is absolutely NO REASON for babies in this country to be getting whooping cough. Jesus Christ, that's absolutely ridiculous.

I'm staying home today just to rest up completely. I'll be back Wednesday; if I do have pertussis, I'm not contagious anymore anyway, so there's really no need for me to stay home other than being exhausted from coughing, which is where I ended up yesterday.

[ufgator1977.livejournal.com]

One of the things that absolutely drives me nuts is how *one* study gets published and people immediately take it as gospel. Especially if some famous fool gets on the bandwagon.

I'm almost 60 and I had all those vaccinations, so did my 30 year old son and we're just fine. As a matter of fact, he had to have the MMR before they would let him into school. I had measles, rubella, mumps(twice) and chicken pox as a child. It was touch and go when I had rubella I almost didn't make it(I was 4) so I had no compunction about vaccinating my son.

This is in line with all the "antibacterial" products out there that are created super bugs and compromising our immune systems.

Sending positive vibes; hang in there and feel better soon.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

What really froths up my rage is that Wakefield knew he didn't have any connection between vaccinations and autism, he knew he cooked the books, he knew he did it for the most selfish, money-grubbing reasons, and he published that article and promoted the shit out of it anyway. Jenny McCarthy, at least, did legit think she was right when she was out pounding the pavement. I still hate her, but I don't think she's evil the way I think Wakefield is evil. You STILL have parents not vaccinating their kids and not even because of the autism scare, just because they've vaguely heard "they're not safe."

ARGHHHH.

I've switched to non-antibacterial soap in my house for that very reason. It's also why I ended up not going to the doctor for so long, because I knew I'd be put on antibiotics, and I've been trying to let my immune system deal with the small stuff, because when I do use antibiotics, I want them to actually work.

[jerusha]

Gah. I hope you feel better soon.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm already feeling a bit better, but I am absolutely chock full of steroids at the moment, which is always going to help. And, in fact, it's time to pump some more down into my lungs...

[dizzyknee.livejournal.com]

I hope you're feeling better soon. It makes me so mad that idiot adults would put their own children and other people in danger by not getting them vaccinated. There's nothing proven about vaccinations causing autism. Any child where a connection exists likely already had a predisposition anyway. And as someone who is studying to become a developmental therapist and will work with many autistic children this makes me especially mad. Who in their right mind would think that risk of death or serious illness is worse than the child being autistic?

Also Jenny McCarthy's son being "cured" by following a certain diet? Grrr this whole topic makes me so angry.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Don't even get me started on Jenny McCarthy. Her son was apparently given the proper diagnosis the first two doctors she saw, she didn't like it, so she took him around until she got the autism diagnosis she wanted. Then she claimed to have cured it. Now she seems to have backtracked even more and says that he was never autistic at all, though she still cured him. Or something, I don't know, she's an absolute charlatan and every major media outlet that gave her a platform should have to answer for the people who died of diseases that should have been eradicated.

[vjs2259.livejournal.com]

With one family member on anti-rejection drugs and another with a delinquent immune system, I hear you about the anti-vaxxers. Be careful around your father. Be careful with yourself; whooping cough is no joke.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Thankfully Dad just had his booster a few years ago! I'm still hoping it's something else, but three days of antibiotics and steroids later and I'm not really feeling much better, so I don't know. :/

I did take a day and a half off of work, which helped a lot. But now I have to work the weekend, boo.

I looooooove that you have such an appropriate icon for this situation, LOL.

[openended.livejournal.com]

I seriously can't deal with people who don't do immunizations because of the "but it causes autism" nonsense.

Thank you for making idiotic decisions that not only threaten the life of your own children, but also the lives of all the people your children come into contact with.

Yes. It's not only putting their own kids at risk (which I guess is their prerogative though really doesn't sound like excellent parenting), but OTHER PEOPLE AT RISK AS WELL. At best, they've massively inconvenienced a relatively healthy individual (and possibly screwed them out of pay, depending on how their employment works). At worst, they've sent someone to the hospital. And at extreme worst, they've indirectly sent someone to their death (I don't know; elderly person comes in contact with whooping cough, goes to the hospital, develops pneumonia, never recovers; something like that).

And I just...everyone gets so uppity when a kid with a runny nose shows up at kindergarten. Runny noses are comparatively cake when put up against WHOOPING COUGH.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Man, I feel so guilty already for having been at work all last week when I first got the cough, and worrying that I might have exposed someone. But it sucks, because it's hard for an adult to have any idea they might have anything more than just allergies or a summer cold (which is exactly what I thought).

Although I did have someone tell me today that people have to vaccinate their kids so they can send their kids to school, so there isn't any problem at all which people not being vaccinated. And I didn't have the information at my fingertips to refute that, and it was very frustrating. It is a problem! A real problem! Grr.

[nenya_kanadka]

Ulp! Scary shit. I hope it's one of the lesser coughing diseases!

My cousins on the one side of the family are all "raw milk" and "FDA sucks", but I don't know about their position on vaccinations. A cousin on the other side had whooping cough as a baby, and I'm pretty sure hearing that story from our parents when we were small terrified us all into wanting to be sure we gave our kids shots when the time came.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Me too! Though I'm losing hope each day I continue to cough like a motherfucker.

All I ever had to do was read about an iron lung or quarantine wards, and that's all I needed as a kid to know that vaccinations are the best thing ever. I so don't get it.

[nenya_kanadka]

My piano teacher's husband when I was a kid was blind because he'd had polio as an infant. That kind of drove home the history class lessons. I get that if you think it's making your kids sick to get the vax, you'd worry. But...these diseases are real, y'know? It's like people forget that.

Anyway good luck. <3

(Oh and I am reccing B5 fic on crack_van for the month of July, and at least one of your fics is on the list. :D)

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

:DDD And a new comm to watch, yay!

[nenya_kanadka]

What's the best place to link to for "More fic by this author"? FFN? Your LJ?

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Probably LJ, I have everything posted here. Even though I long ago meant to have everything up on AO3...

[nenya_kanadka]

Like so?

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Won't let me see it... :( I'm just watching the community, I didn't join it.

[nenya_kanadka]

Aaaand that would be because I accidentally f-locked it. What.

Fixed! Try again?

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Aw! I think I'd actually kind of forgotten about that one. I really do need to write more gen; I had such a fun time with that.

Thank you! I don't really get rec'd much since it's such a bitty old fandom, so I'm all asquee right now. You totally made my night. :DDD

[nenya_kanadka]

I read that one for the first time at Christmas last year, and it made me grin a lot, so when I got approved to rec things it was near the top of my list. :D I think I've got one of your J/D fics somewhere further down this list too.

I know! Wee fandom, but so much love. ♥

[indigoviolet.livejournal.com]

Huh, I missed this. Hope you're OK!

I was reading through some anti-vax blathering once, and came across 'the flu vaccine contains such and such evil chemicals blah blah etc INCLUDING THE FLU VIRUS ITSELF'

YOU DON'T SAY