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CNN Live Today

'Daily Dose'

Aired October 08, 2003 - 11:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A whooping cough outbreak in New York has revived the controversy surrounding vaccines.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with details in our Daily Dose of health news.

Good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, and the controversy, of course, is, should kids get vaccinations or not, because there's a relatively group of people that are a very vocal group of people, who feel that children should not get vaccinated, and that makes some people angry, because not only do those kids often get sick, but they can often get other kids sick, but the parents say they have the right not to vaccinate.

Let's look at this latest outbreak in New York. It's one of many outbreaks that happen across the United States. In this outbreak, 17 children, ages 3 weeks to 14 years, have become ill, as well as two adults. Four of the children were never immunized, because their parents chose not to, and it's believed that that to at least some extent is responsible for this outbreak; 4,400 people in the U.S. get whooping cough every year.

Let's take a look at this disease. It's very serious. One in 10 small children who get this disease will go on to get pneumonia. One in 50 will go on to get convulsions, and 1 in 250 will get a encephalopathy (ph), which is a brain condition, and whooping causes about 10 to 15 deaths per year, many of those are little babies, and that's why the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics says children should be immunized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOSHUA LIPSMAN, WESTCHESTER CO. HEALTH COMM.: It's pretty contagious. If you haven't been immunized, if you haven't gotten the vaccine and you're exposed to somebody, who has whooping cough, you're almost guaranteed to catch it. That's why the vaccine is so important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: And again, that's why the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics urges that children be vaccinated.

KAGAN: And what about the other side, the parents that are concerned that they don't want their kids to get the vaccination? COHEN: Right, the parents say that the vaccination, first of all, isn't a great vaccine, which is true. It has a relatively high ineffectiveness rate. It only protects you against serious side effects about 85 percent, so you can still get sick even if you get the vaccine.

And in addition, parents are concerned about some of the side effects. First of all, they're concerned the vaccine could cause convulsions, which in a small number of cases it can, and also they're concerned that there have been no long term studies about whether vaccines in general cause SIDS, autism, and even death. Many of these parents say we don't know that it causes those last three things, but they're concerned that possibly it could.

KAGAN: A lot of concern there. Now for kids who do get the vaccination, how long does that protection last?

COHEN: Unfortunately, it doesn't last forever. The protection lasts only about 5 to 15 years, and you can't get the vaccine after age 7, because it's considered to have too many side effects for people older than age 7. So you get vaccinated between babyhood and about age 4, and then it wears off, which is why then when there's a whooping cough outbreak, parents get sick, because they hadn't been vaccinated for years, so parents and older children get sick.

KAGAN: Did we have that when we were kids? Did we get that?

COHEN: If you attended school, you probably got it.

KAGAN: OK, last I checked, I did.

COHEN: Right, you got a vaccination, unless if your parents felt that you, as some parents do, that they really just did not want vaccinations, you can apply for a religious or philosophical waiver, as they call it.

KAGAN: Oh, no, the Kagan kids we got shot up with everything.

COHEN: You remember?

KAGAN: Stick the kid, they didn't care. Thank you, Elizabeth. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 8, 2003 - 11:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A whooping cough outbreak in New York has revived the controversy surrounding vaccines.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with details in our Daily Dose of health news.

Good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, and the controversy, of course, is, should kids get vaccinations or not, because there's a relatively group of people that are a very vocal group of people, who feel that children should not get vaccinated, and that makes some people angry, because not only do those kids often get sick, but they can often get other kids sick, but the parents say they have the right not to vaccinate.

Let's look at this latest outbreak in New York. It's one of many outbreaks that happen across the United States. In this outbreak, 17 children, ages 3 weeks to 14 years, have become ill, as well as two adults. Four of the children were never immunized, because their parents chose not to, and it's believed that that to at least some extent is responsible for this outbreak; 4,400 people in the U.S. get whooping cough every year.

Let's take a look at this disease. It's very serious. One in 10 small children who get this disease will go on to get pneumonia. One in 50 will go on to get convulsions, and 1 in 250 will get a encephalopathy (ph), which is a brain condition, and whooping causes about 10 to 15 deaths per year, many of those are little babies, and that's why the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics says children should be immunized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOSHUA LIPSMAN, WESTCHESTER CO. HEALTH COMM.: It's pretty contagious. If you haven't been immunized, if you haven't gotten the vaccine and you're exposed to somebody, who has whooping cough, you're almost guaranteed to catch it. That's why the vaccine is so important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: And again, that's why the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics urges that children be vaccinated.

KAGAN: And what about the other side, the parents that are concerned that they don't want their kids to get the vaccination? COHEN: Right, the parents say that the vaccination, first of all, isn't a great vaccine, which is true. It has a relatively high ineffectiveness rate. It only protects you against serious side effects about 85 percent, so you can still get sick even if you get the vaccine.

And in addition, parents are concerned about some of the side effects. First of all, they're concerned the vaccine could cause convulsions, which in a small number of cases it can, and also they're concerned that there have been no long term studies about whether vaccines in general cause SIDS, autism, and even death. Many of these parents say we don't know that it causes those last three things, but they're concerned that possibly it could.

KAGAN: A lot of concern there. Now for kids who do get the vaccination, how long does that protection last?

COHEN: Unfortunately, it doesn't last forever. The protection lasts only about 5 to 15 years, and you can't get the vaccine after age 7, because it's considered to have too many side effects for people older than age 7. So you get vaccinated between babyhood and about age 4, and then it wears off, which is why then when there's a whooping cough outbreak, parents get sick, because they hadn't been vaccinated for years, so parents and older children get sick.

KAGAN: Did we have that when we were kids? Did we get that?

COHEN: If you attended school, you probably got it.

KAGAN: OK, last I checked, I did.

COHEN: Right, you got a vaccination, unless if your parents felt that you, as some parents do, that they really just did not want vaccinations, you can apply for a religious or philosophical waiver, as they call it.

KAGAN: Oh, no, the Kagan kids we got shot up with everything.

COHEN: You remember?

KAGAN: Stick the kid, they didn't care. Thank you, Elizabeth. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com