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Rolla, ND | Well, if she got a DPT shot she wasn't exposed through the shot. The pertussis component is noncellular, that is it is only selected proteins, the organism is not present in the vaccine.
She probably got it the old fashioned way, by coming into contact with an infected person. Might have gotten it when you went to get the shot, normal would be some cold like symptoms in a week, with full blown disease several days latter but two weeks is certainly inside the possibilities.
Since the disease lasts so long with a long contagious period, it's possible for one person to infect a lot of people. Plus, you can have a person who isn't that sick, especially people in their prime, so they keep going thinking it's just a bad cold.
Many adults who haven't had a shot for years can and do come down with pertussis, it is often is not diagnosed or incorrectly diagnosed. You can figure immunity for 5 to 10 years after the last shot is pretty good and after that declines. That's a big reason why children are given a schedule of DPT shots and not just one or two.
It's really a tough one for both the child and the parents. | |
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