My 3 y/o nieces DTaP reaction

preciousgiftsmama · #1 July 14th, 2011, 09:45 PM

My sister and I do not vax our little ones except for the DTaP, and that we dont start until they are 2 y/o. (well she no longer vaxes at all now)

Last week my sister decided to get her 3 y/o dd her second vax of the DTaP. My sisters 5 y/o has had 2 doses and got a 104 fever for 5 days after her last dose, so she was worried with getting her 3 y/o her second dose. But the 3 y/o had done great with her first vax of it so we figured she would be ok. Within 24 hours of her shot, her upper thigh swelled up all over and turned red. Much more than would be expected but we just watched it. (my sister and her kids stayed over night at our house just in case of an emergency because we live near a hospital and she doesnt) then the next day it also got a huge bruise. We called the doctor and they said to watch it and bring her in thinking it might be an infection if it got worse. It did not get worse until the following day, when she then developed a rash of welts that were bright red all over on her thigh. My sister rushed her to ER, and thankfully she did because my niece was having an allergic reaction so bad to something in the DTaP that they gave her Benedryl and we had to keep her on it round the clock for 3 days, and also she got 2 Epi Pens in case she swelled up and couldnt breathe

It was very scarey for us, and my sister was a mess with worry. Thankfully she is ok, but needless to say, my sister was told my niece can never have another vax or it could kill her. This is one reason of many we delay and select vax's. Though she no longer will vax her girls, I am still selecting and delaying for Julia and Ty. Just my personal choice and I know what to watch for now.

Here is my niece in the ER

and these are the rash photos before they got bad

mommytokem · #2 July 15th, 2011, 05:35 AM

Wow that is scary glad she is ok.

Jule'sMomInOR · #3 July 15th, 2011, 07:00 AM

Poor baby! We are delaying Juliana's vaxes as well but not by much because I do plan to put her in pre-school at 2 1/2. I would actually skip some except that DH and I travel to exotic places (at least we used to) and probably will eventually take her. Otherwise, I wouldn't see the need to vax her for Polio and a few others. So far she's had no reactions (knock on wood).

starrsgirl · #4 July 15th, 2011, 01:12 PM

Glad she is OK!!! As much as the reactions are scary, I'm definitely one who falls into the category of "the diseases are MUCH worse than the reactions"! So we take the risk over here but it still makes me nervous.

preciousgiftsmama · #5 July 15th, 2011, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starrsgirl

Glad she is OK!!! As much as the reactions are scary, I'm definitely one who falls into the category of "the diseases are MUCH worse than the reactions"! So we take the risk over here but it still makes me nervous.

Its extremely rare for a child have a true allergic reaction to vaccines but it can and does happen. And like anything, it doesnt matter how rare it is when it happens to your child. But even though its my niece, I am still vaxing Ty and Julia the ones that I feel are important. We have whooping cough outbreaks in our area every year so the DTaP is important for me to get them. Plus I dont want to worry about Tetanus. Its just too bad for my niece that any vax she may need in life could risk her life

Hollybear · #6 July 15th, 2011, 02:33 PM

OMG Tyla, that is so scary. I was so scared to do the DTaP shot because of all the reactions kids had. We did do it, but bless her little heart!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jule'sMomInOR

Poor baby! We are delaying Juliana's vaxes as well but not by much because I do plan to put her in pre-school at 2 1/2. I would actually skip some except that DH and I travel to exotic places (at least we used to) and probably will eventually take her. Otherwise, I wouldn't see the need to vax her for Polio and a few others. So far she's had no reactions (knock on wood).

Yeah, we haven't done polio yet either, and I don't think we're doing chickenpox. I never had chickenpox and was totally exposed to it so I would actually like her and I to be tested for a natural immunity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by preciousgiftsmama

Its extremely rare for a child have a true allergic reaction to vaccines but it can and does happen. And like anything, it doesnt matter how rare it is when it happens to your child. But even though its my niece, I am still vaxing Ty and Julia the ones that I feel are important. We have whooping cough outbreaks in our area every year so the DTaP is important for me to get them. Plus I dont want to worry about Tetanus. Its just too bad for my niece that any vax she may need in life could risk her life

Did you and your DH get the adult form of the vaccine? I made my parents get it, we got it too LOL --- I think DH actually had a reaction because his arm was SO swollen.

Jule'sMomInOR · #7 July 15th, 2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hollybear

Yeah, we haven't done polio yet either, and I don't think we're doing chickenpox. I never had chickenpox and was totally exposed to it so I would actually like her and I to be tested for a natural immunity.

Did you and your DH get the adult form of the vaccine? I made my parents get it, we got it too LOL --- I think DH actually had a reaction because his arm was SO swollen.

In this video Dr. Gordon said that if there's one vaccine kids should absolutely not get it's chicken pox. The reason is that if you get chicken pox as a baby, you'll probably be immune for life. However, the vaccine does not provide as strong of immunities as actually getting chicken pox, so it often wears off when you're older and then you can get shingles, which is so much worse than chicken pox. I guess maybe you could avoid that by getting the adult version of the vaccine. He didn't mention that in the video.

Hollybear · #8 July 15th, 2011, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jule'sMomInOR

In this video Dr. Gordon said that if there's one vaccine kids should absolutely not get it's chicken pox. The reason is that if you get chicken pox as a baby, you'll probably be immune for life. However, the vaccine does not provide as strong of immunities as actually getting chicken pox, so it often wears off when you're older and then you can get shingles, which is so much worse than chicken pox. I guess maybe you could avoid that by getting the adult version of the vaccine. He didn't mention that in the video.

Yeah, I never had them---I mean my mom totally tried to get me to get it too, lol.
I did get the vaccine at 12, the vaccine had JUST came out and I asked for it....I was totally at that age where it would have been the end of the world to have spots all over my face. I think the vaccine was good for 10 years, but I never got a booster and still have yet to get it. I still believe I have (or had) a natural immunity.

I am pretty sure in order to get shingles you have to have chicken pox first (Shingles: Hope Through Research: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)) and that's why I am leary about the vaccine...because if you never get chicken pox then you technically couldn't get shingles, right?

Jule'sMomInOR · #9 July 15th, 2011, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hollybear

Yeah, I never had them---I mean my mom totally tried to get me to get it too, lol.
I did get the vaccine at 12, the vaccine had JUST came out and I asked for it....I was totally at that age where it would have been the end of the world to have spots all over my face. I think the vaccine was good for 10 years, but I never got a booster and still have yet to get it. I still believe I have (or had) a natural immunity.

I am pretty sure in order to get shingles you have to have chicken pox first (Shingles: Hope Through Research: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)) and that's why I am leary about the vaccine...because if you never get chicken pox then you technically couldn't get shingles, right?

Huh. I had to look it up again. I guess it's that chicken pox is worse if you get it as an adult. And then it goes on to say that the chickenpox vaccine is causing a shingles epidemic. I guess your theory is right.

Why the Chickenpox Vaccine is Nuts!

"Chickenpox is a highly contagious infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus. There is a 10 to 21 day incubation period. In children over the age of 10 the very first symptoms are headache, fever and malaise. Younger children usually DON'T have these symptoms. But in adults, the symptoms are generally worse. That is why it is important to contract this disease before the age of 10, since infection with the varicella-zoster virus is believed to create a lifetime immunity to chickenpox. "

preciousgiftsmama · #10 July 15th, 2011, 09:14 PM

I would never vax Ty or Julia for Chickenpox. My twins had it when they were 8 years old and Nicole did ok, but Amber was very very sick, ran 105 degree fever off and on for a week, I had her to ER 3 times, and she had some rare reaction to where the pox didnt itch as bad as they caused some nerve issue that actually caused her horrible pain instead. It was absolutely horrible

BUT that was the 2nd time they had had the Chickenpox. They had gotten a light case of it when they were 3 y/o. My dh (now exdh) somehow got the Chickenpox as an adult. We were 24 y/o at the time. I remember being so worried about him, but we took 2 weeks leave from the Army, went to Louisana to his parents, and he and the twins got it but he was just fine and it hardly affected him at all!! He had never gotten it as a child.

I got the Chickenpox from my little sister when I was 13 and it was horrible!! I had never been so sick up until then. I missed the last week of school because of it. It actually made me throw up. I will never forget how bad it was on me. (but when I get sick with anything it seems to always be extreme and Amber is the same way).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hollybear

Did you and your DH get the adult form of the vaccine? I made my parents get it, we got it too LOL --- I think DH actually had a reaction because his arm was SO swollen.

Myself, dh and my twins had already gotten the Tetanus with Whooping cough vaccine before Ty was born because it came in our Tetanus boosters we all got. We are outside a lot and need the Tetanus protection so we keep up to date, hence why I will make sure Julia and Ty are fully vaxed for it also. We all had no reactions to the vax, not even swelling or pain.

Jule'sMomInOR · #11 July 16th, 2011, 09:22 AM

I've heard of parents hosting chicken pox parties to try to get the LO's infected w/ it. I guess this is to get it over with early when they supposedly don't get it as bad and to get it over with before school?

ElizabethS · #12 July 16th, 2011, 07:16 PM

Ethan had a bad reaction to his first Dtap. He had the Dtap scream where he screamed for hours and hours and could not be consoled. Turns out his brain was swelling. Super scary! He still gets a large lump/red spot everytime he gets a vax, and it sucks because he now has two permanant red blotches on one of this thighs. Not all of them do this, but only the Dtap.