
Unvaccinated 6-year-old boy was Oregon's first tetanus case in almost 30 years - onetimemanytime
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/433160-unvaccinated-6-year-old-boy-from-oregon-was-states-first-tetanus-case-in
======
joshstrange
>Excluding the costs of air transportation, inpatient rehabilitation and
ambulatory follow-ups, inpatient charges for the boy totaled $811,929.

>But despite “extensive review of the risks and benefits of tetanus
vaccination by physicians,” the boy’s parents declined a second dose of the
tetanus-fighting medication and “any other recommended immunizations.”

I really wish the ACA had some provision that said "Failure to administer the
following list of vaccines allows insurance companies to drop you or only
offer plans with insanely high deductibles (or none)". Parents who don't
vaccinate their children... you are bad parents, plain and simple. That alone
doesn't really bother me, if you are ok with killing your own kid I'm not
going to waste my time. Now when you endanger other children or run up insane
bills for no good reason then I'm going to sit up and take notice.

Stupidity, in this form, shouldn't be a preexisting condition we cover.

~~~
stmfreak
Are you willing to apply that logic to all other directives from your doctor?
Like exercise more, eat less, cut out booze and smoking, lose weight, etc?

~~~
onetimemanytime
Vaccines should be free, wherever they aren't. It takes a few hours combined,
to get them all. Not getting them hurts your child and others. It should be
seen as child abuse, because it is. Your child can suffer and/or die.

Alcohol, exercise etc are a lifetime struggle. So they are way too different.

------
Fjolsvith
My business is building sheds, and I've shot myself with my nail gun twice now
in the 9 years I've been building.

The last time I did it, I came up with an invention while waiting in the
emergency room: pneumatic coil nails with the Tetanus booster coating.

------
wuschb
I feel anti-vaxxers deserve a new Darwin Award by Proxy category...

~~~
simonblack
I tend to call them "Retropective Darwin Awards Contestants".

Doing their best to remove the genes that they have _already_ placed in the
human gene pool.

------
mnm1
This is child abuse. Why aren't these parents in jail? The stupidity and
danger that the government allows in America based on the idea of "personal
belief", religion, and other nonsense is simply unbelievable. In this case, it
led to two months worth of suffering and almost a million dollars worth of
care (a price I'm sure was heavily inflated, but still). We need to dictate
this at the federal level because states are clearly too incompetent to do it
themselves. These children should be vaccinated and the parents should be
educated and stopped from abusing their kids. It's fucking disgusting what's
happening. This was completely avoidable. The parents are monsters.

------
blastbeat
One of the vaccines you want to get first, is against tetanus. It's a horrible
disease. Also, speaking as a German, who is going to pay the bill? Is there
any health insurance in the US, which is covering such a case?

~~~
jarfil
Hospital bills in the US are a scam, they give huge discounts to insurance
companies, expecting to make a profit on any remaining amount, then insurance
companies charge patients only a part of that while covering the rest.

~~~
onetimemanytime
Still 8 weeks in hospital, airlift and therapy is gonna bite. A lot. I feel
bad for the child--a victim of his (you know what) parents--but the parents
deserve to suffer a bit, financially too.

------
freedman1611
I honestly don't see what this has to do with vaccination? The title has a
bias written right into it. I grew up in the South (U.S.) and it is culturally
normal in some rural areas for kids to run around bare footed. Don't curl your
lip at it, it's a normal thing for some boys. I did too, and I made of mistake
of stepping on a rusty nail in a board once. I had to go to the doctor and get
a tetanus shot. You get the shot after stepping on a nail. Not before it.

~~~
Volundr
Actually, the TDAP (the T is for Tetanus) is generally given every 10 years
AND after possible exposure. In theory, if you are up-to-date, the post
exposure vaccine is redundant, but why risk it?

~~~
unclenoriega
Just for completeness, the recommendation (in the US at least) is for the Td
every 10 years, and the Tdap only once (preferably in adolescence) or during
pregnancy.

------
LyndsySimon
While it’s pretty stupid to turn down a tetanus shot even after getting
tetanus, much information is missing from the article - is tetanus a required
immunization, and is it generally even given to school-aged kids? I remember
getting it at a little older than he is (because it hurt significantly more
than the others I received for some reason), but don’t recall getting any
boosters for it as a child. I think I was in my early twenties when I got
another.

It also doesn’t say what the other recommended vaccines were, or if he was
otherwise up-to-date.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be “anti” in any way here, I’m just
trying to understand what actually happened here.

~~~
nvahalik
At least where I live, Tetanus is one of many "required" immunizations if you
are going to school or participating in some sort of childcare system. If you
home-school, you are not technically required to vaccinate.

I remember getting boosters and if I'm not mistaken for adults the
recommendation is every 10 years, though I could be wrong.

I got a booster before going on a mission trip to a 3rd-world country, though
Tetanus was one of the _many_ vaccinations we got.

~~~
tandr
I suspect not a lot of adults know that booster is needed every 10 years -
everybody kind of assumes that most of vaccines are "one, maybe 2 times deal".

~~~
onetimemanytime
can it be anything that has tetanus vaccine in it? Sometimes it is combined
with other things, that's why I'm asking. Tetanus scares me, I don't live in a
city and get cut many times a month while doing stuff.

~~~
unclenoriega
As you say, there are several tetanus vaccines. The recommended 10-year
booster is the Td (just tetanus and diptheria) or the Tdap (tetanus,
diptheria, and pertussis) if you haven't gotten it before. (The Tdap is also
recommended during each pregnancy.) Any tetanus-containing vaccine would do
though. I believe the amount of tetanus toxoid is the same in all of them.

