Sunday, April 19, 2009

Case Study – Vaccination as a Choice

Amy Roehl


Amy Roehl is a 22 year old senior at Michigan State University who will be graduating with a degree in communicative disorders and sciences this May. She grew up in Beverly Hills, Michigan with her Mother, Father, and brother Craig. Amy is also one of the many people who have not had childhood as well as adult vaccinations and who remains an objector to the practice along with her mother. However this has not always been the case. When Amy was born her mother saw no objection to the regular vaccinations and she received the first immunization in a series of shots for Hepatitis B. Her mother, like many parents saw little to no harm in vaccinating her children and knew she was only helping them. The minimum age for some other child vaccinations are around 2-6 months of age and it was around this time when Amy’s mother took her to get these recommended routine vaccinations, which included the DPT vaccination. DPT protects against Diptheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus. According to the CDC it is given at 2, 4, 6, and 15-18 months of age with a booster between ages 4-6. In childhood vaccines it is known as DTap and the adolescent and adult booster is known as Tdap. After Amy was given a dose of the DPT vaccine she had a very serious adverse reaction. Amy started to convulse and display seizure-like symptoms. The cause for the significant negative reaction was the pertussis part of the vaccine. According to the FDA, “the pertussis component of DTP causes more adverse reactions than any other vaccine. Most common are fever, soreness at the site of the shot, and irritability. In rare cases, the vaccine causes very high fever and convulsions.” After this experience Amy’s mother wasn’t taking any more chances and Amy never completed any other vaccinations with the exception of the Hepatitis B. This means Amy has never had a tetanus booster shot, a flu shot, or even the highly recommended meningitis vaccination when coming to college. As a child Amy’s mother said she had some difficulty with after school or day care places that wouldn’t let Amy enroll there because she had not had the recommended vaccinations. However her elementary school as well as high school just asked her mother sign a waiver saying she had not had them. Because of the negative side effects she experienced after the DPT shot, she decided against the recommended but not mandatory Meningococcal Meningitis vaccine. I asked Amy if the university gave her any trouble when she objected to the immunization and how she went about doing that. She said they just made her sign a waiver, as she had to do in previous schools, saying this was her choice not to get the vaccine. The university registrar and health center also kept sending her emails and contacting her about getting the shot but that was pretty much the extent of it. It has now been four years since she decided against the meningitis vaccination and she says if presented with the situation again, she would make the same choice.

2 comments:

  1. So Amy is one of the people who benefit from DPT herd immunity because she can not be vaccinated for it. I think this type of case is the reason why herd immunity is necessary. Is it really fair for those who cannot be vaccinated to be exposed to deadly diseases because those who can be vaccinated simply won't?

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  2. When Amy went on study abroad did she have any trouble because of her not being vaccinated?

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