In a message dated 3/28/2002 4:21:50 PM Eastern Standard Time, writes: > >The only reason I give them is because they work! > > > That's my bottom line, too. I remember the days before we had the HIB > vaccine. I had 8-10 kids/ year in hospital with H. flu meningitis and > 2-3/year with periorbital cellulitis and about 1 every 2 years with > epiglottitis. After the vaccine came out and began to be used, I only > saw 2 more epiglottitis patients (both unvaccinated) and no more H. flu > meningitis. I certainly do not miss sitting next to an ICU bed, trach > tray in hand, waiting for the ENT to show up. > That's what I tell parents who ask whether their kids should really get all these vaccines. I tell them about kids with meningitis, and seizures and brain damage and deaths that occurred even though it was caught fairly early. I tell them that I don't see much meningitis any more, and I really don't want to. Moshe Adler, MD