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April 17, 2001 By Katharhynn Heidelberg "Fear the disease, not the vaccination." This advice comes straight from a woman who has seen first-hand the ravages of diseases such as polio that are now preventable with the proper inoculations. For that reason, retired registered nurse Ellen Melsness of Cortez does not believe in excuses. And she is concerned about a low rate of vaccinations in Montezuma County. Melsness’ opinions were forged in the heat of epidemic polio outbreaks when she worked as a student nurse. "When I started (grade) school, we only got a smallpox vaccine, but there were a lot of diseases that killed children," Melsness said. "I was at university when the Salk vaccine (for polio) came out." That’s when she remembers immunization starting to attract more awareness. The awareness was too late for many of the children she treated, however. In 1951, while receiving her contagious-disease training at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Melsness was assigned to the polio ward. Fifty years have not diminished her memories of children and adults confined to "iron lungs" — airtight, all-encompassing respirators — of paralyzed children, patients crying with extreme muscle pain, "Sister Kenny heat packs," and heavy braces. She particularly remembers two sick children and their devastated mother and father, who left the hospital with only one of the children alive. "It was not a very pleasant thing, to see a child die," Melsness said. "Unless you’ve seen it, it’s hard to realize how bad it was." Polio, a contagious viral disease, killed 6,000 Americans in 1916 and paralyzed 27,000. The 1950s saw an average of 20,000 cases each year. The polio vaccine led to much lower incidences, dropping the numbers down to around 10 cases in 1979. Today, polio is extremely rare in the United States. "When I look back on the deaths that are now preventable, what I want to tell people is to fear the disease, not the vaccine," she said. "I’ve seen what these diseases can do. If parents aren’t getting children vaccinated, we’re going to see more of this." Complacency among today’s parents, who have not seen diseases like polio ravage a child, is Melsness’ biggest fear. She also worries that progressively younger crops of doctors might not be as prepared to handle an outbreak as their older counterparts, who have seen deadly infectious diseases first-hand. Disease has never confined itself to any particular decade. Melsness also remembers the diphtheria outbreak in Montezuma County in 1976 — less than 30 years ago. That outbreak claimed lives. An aggressive vaccination campaign mitigated the danger, and Melsness attributes the county’s relative freedom from this disease now to that campaign. Today, Montezuma County lags behind the state — which in turn lags behind the nation — in childhood vaccinations, according to health-department statistics. Colorado’s rate for children immunized by age 2 is currently 74.8 percent, according to the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition. This makes the state 42nd nationwide. "We’re getting worse instead of better. Our local rate doesn’t meet the state rate," said Montezuma County Health Department nurse Opal Stalker, an immunization specialist with the CCIC. It’s memories and statistics like these that have led Melsness and Stalker to urge parents to vaccinate their children. They have applied their efforts to the county chapter of the CCIC, which is funded by a grant from the Colorado Trust. Stalker said their goals include identifying both strengths and weaknesses when it comes to immunizing children. The CCIC also strives to identify areas of need and under-immunized populations. Most of all, the CCIC wants to overcome barriers that prevent full immunization of children. "Increased awareness is our number-one goal," Stalker said. But some parents don’t perceive their reticence to vaccinate as a "barrier." Worried by studies suggesting a link between childhood immunizations and disorders such as autism, or severe complications such as brain damage, they choose not to immunize. Stalker said recent research shows no link between autism and immunizations. Some children do react badly to vaccines, she said, but it’s very rare. Stalker said suspected bad reactions need to be reported. That way, risks can be better determined, and, if deemed necessary, the vaccine can be pulled. But for both Stalker and Melsness, the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks. For instance, 1 in 200 children who contract whooping cough (pertussis) will die from the disease, while it has never been proven that anyone has died from receiving a DTaP shot. Stalker also worries that parental complacency might one day lead to new outbreaks, and agreed that deadly, infectious disease is hardly a thing of the past. "Unfortunately, the diseases are still out there. Children who haven’t developed antibodies can pick up the disease from an adult carrier." Too, other diseases common to childhood, such as measles, are "nowhere near as harmless as younger parents may think," Melsness said, explaining that the severe external rash accompanying the disease also affects internal lung functions. Rubella, or "German measles," is thought to take less toll on the body, but can affect an unborn fetus, causing blindness and retardation, when the mother is exposed to the virus. Although respectful of concerns, Melsness and Stalker both have very simple advice for parents: "If you can protect your child, do it." Shot led to permanent damage in granddaughter, local woman says
By Katharhynn Heidelberg Some parents and caregivers become leery of vaccines following a child’s bad reaction. Nina Adams of Dolores believes her granddaughter Cherisa was a victim of both what she sees as a high-risk vaccine and bad medical advice, following the baby’s severe reaction to a DTP shot administered in 1989 in Longmont, Colo. Moderate to serious reactions from vaccines such as DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) include nonstop crying for more than 3 hours in 100 of every 10,000 doses; or seizures in 6 of every 10,000 doses, according to health-department literature. DTaP is now favored over the DTP vaccine because its pertussis component is attenuated and causes fewer reactions. An attenuated vaccine is one in which a live virus is subjected to chemical or other processes to weaken the virus, so that it will produce an adequate immune response without causing the serious effects of infection. For Adams and Perri Beard, Cherisa’s mother, notification of risks came too late. "They give you warning papers after they’ve already given the shot," said Beard. The day after receiving her DTP shot (not DTaP), Cherisa stopped breathing, beginning a medical ordeal that lasted for years. "They never did figure out why" she had episodes of apnea, Beard said. When she asked doctors if the episodes might be a result of the vaccine, "They said ‘not a possibility’ even though the warning papers state DTP can cause respiratory ailments. . . they flatly denied it." At the age of six months, doctors at Denver’s Children Hospital put Cherisa on phenobarbital, a harsh narcotic that Beard later found out was not to be used on children. Cherisa began having seizures — something that had not shown up in EEGs or MRIs until after phenobarbital was administered. "She would have a seizure, and they would give her more (phenobarbital). . .until, eight months later, they decided it had caused brain damage," Beard recounted. Beard also remembers that Cherisa was born a "healthy, happy baby girl until she had her first vaccination. Then, my child stopped breathing in my arms." Today, Cherisa has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, usually defined as "an unknown brain injury caused at birth," Beard said. "Hers is an unknown brain injury caused after birth. It was drug-induced brain damage." Cherisa’s breathing episodes, however, "were never admittedly diagnosed. . . I actually wish I had just taken her home and accepted no diagnosis, because with what they’ve done with her, they’ve destroyed her life." Her advice to parents? "I urge them to question doctors. We’ve just had such poor luck with them. They treat you like you’re ignorant because they have the education and you don’t." However, Beard does not advise other parents to skip vaccines altogether. "It’s not a question of whether children should be vaccinated, but pharmaceuticals in general need to be tested more fully. . . and doctors should heed warnings printed in their own journals. "I’m not saying don’t have children vaccinated — that’s dangerous too — but if waiting until age 2 will save children’s lives, then why not?" Beard said. Cherisa continues to receive vaccines — just not pertussis. "We’re aiming to get the word out," said Adams. "If we can save one child from what Cherisa has been subjected to, that will help."
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez Journal.
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