The Turnstone: talking about vaccines #22

Other vaccines need a boost too (3 minute read)

Welcome to The Turnstone: talking about vaccines. Here, I share resources to help you have kind and non-judgemental conversations with people who are uncertain about, or opposed to, vaccination. I send The Turnstone out every Sunday - if you’d like them emailed to you directly, you can sign up to my mailing list.

This month, I take a break from Covid-19 to talk about three other vaccines that need boosters or catch-up doses.

Clostridium tetani bacteria: photo credit Kateryna Kon/ Getty Images

Whooping cough

Whooping cough is also known as pertussis. It isn't usually dangerous for adults, but can still cause serious illness and last for months. And adults can pass on the disease to young children and babies, who can die from it. Immunity from the vaccine wanes, so boosters are recommended for adults to protect young children. It is particularly important for pregnant women to get vaccinated.

New Zealand is currently at the early stages of a whooping cough outbreak, and it's likely to get worse (2 minute read, 5 minute video)

Expert warns whooping cough outbreak due, more likely once borders open | Newshub

Account from a mother whose baby caught whooping cough (3 minute video)

Get yourself immunised to protect your baby: video | Ministry of Health NZ

Ministry of health advice on whooping cough vaccination (3 minute read)

Whooping cough | Ministry of Health NZ

I got my whooping cough booster a few years ago when one of my friends was pregnant. If you are likely to have contact with a newborn baby, talk to you doctor about a whooping cough booster.

Measles

Measles is the most infectious disease known, although the Omicron variant is mounting a serious challenge. New Zealand's low vaccination rate meant that our last outbreak spread to Samoa, where more than 70 people, mostly children under five, died.

Fortunately, the measles vaccine is highly effective. But, if you were born during the 1970s and 1980s, you probably received only one dose, which means you're not fully protected. New Zealand also had low vaccination rates during the 1990s and into the 2000s. Basically, if you were born from 1969 onwards, you should check whether you've been vaccinated and, if so, how many doses you had. Catch-up doses are available.

Article about measles in Samoa (5 minute read)

Measles 2019 Samoa: Why a tiny island has nearly 5,000 measles cases - Vox (5 minute read)

Interview with a New Zealand doctor helping during the Samoan outbreak (5 minute video, also available on audio)

Samoa measles patients 'deteriorating before our eyes' - doctor | RNZ

Article about measles in New Zealand, including a teenager who nearly died from it (15 minute read)

Joining the dots: What’s really causing New Zealand’s measles epidemics | RNZ News

Official advice from the Ministry of Health (2 minute read for the section on catch-up vaccination)

12. Measles – Immunisation Handbook 2020 | Ministry of Health NZ

I got my second dose of the measles vaccine a few years ago now, when I was becoming a foster parent.

Tetanus

Tetanus is rare in New Zealand these days, but that's not because the bug isn't around. It's picked up from soil, through wounds, not spread person-to-person. So we can't rely on herd immunity or the fact that most people are vaccinated, to protect us.

Articles on tetanus in New Zealand (both 4 minute reads)

These two stories (both about the same case) aren't an easy read, even though the child survives. It's horrible thinking about what the child, and his parents, went through, but it's a powerful reminder of what an awful disease tetanus is.

'It was hideous' - family's tetanus agony - NZ Herald

Son's ordeal was our fault, say parents - NZ Herald

Plain English advice on tetanus and tetanus vaccination, including when you should get a booster (4 minute read)

Tetanus | Immunisation Advisory Centre (immune.org.nz)

Official tetanus vaccination advice from the Ministry of Health (6 minute read for the section on tetanus vaccination)

20. Tetanus – Immunisation Handbook 2020 | Ministry of Health NZ

I last got my tetanus booster when I got my whooping cough booster – both vaccines are combined. So if you’ve had a whooping cough booster, you’re also protected against tetanus, and if you’ve had the tetanus booster, you’re protected against whooping cough.

So there you have it – three more vaccines to talk about with your friends and family.

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