>Umm, what makes you think there isn't a lot of very good data?

Because there isn't. Good data on vaccine outcomes would mean that blood samples would be taken and used to assess the effectiveness of vaccines. Good data would require a follow-up tests post vaccination. Good data means I'd get a report in the mail, and maybe every once in a while the report might say to come and get another X because the test indicates that the last X vaccination was ineffective. Thanks, I've been all over the FDA's and the CDC's websites.

>To report a problem, go to http://vaers.hhs.gov/index , which is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

Yes, VAERS is voluntary reporting system that is sporadically used by practitioners, and may also be filled with reports from randoms, some of which may be junk. It has some value, it is better than nothing; but, we certainly aren't going to draw many conclusions from it. I was very dissatisfied with baby's first pediatrician for failing to mention VAERS when I asked, as anyone should be.

>Did you get any paperwork about the immunization?

Of course, parents are showered with CDC pamphlets; and showered with them again every time you tick a box on forms that say your child isn't up to date on ALL vaccinations.

>There should be no infectious material that could cause a bad cough a week later.

I know there shouldn't! I described an experience as I remembered it. I did not draw a conclusion, I cannot. I do not have my own immunology lab. But, neither can I dismiss the possibility that the cough was related to the vaccination (maybe baby was exposed in the waiting room). Nobody else should draw a conclusion from a secondhand anecdote, either. Baby could have been exposed several other ways, either to Pertussis or something else.

>I don't know what to say to you, other than that I, some anonymous person on the internet, agrees with your doctor that "it probably wasn't Pertussis."

Nor do I know what to say to you other than, you're probably right. You'll probably always be right because both Pertussis infection, and vaccine adverse reactions are fortunately rare.

I didn't ask the ped to make a VAERS report over the visit. I asked what would happen in the event of a serious problem, following a vaccination. If you're my child's pediatrician, and your response to my question indicates a lack of knowledge, or possible willingness to mislead me for your own convenience; then you probably aren't going to be my child's pediatrician much longer.

> The severe cases seem to happen in 1:1 million cases or rarer for the vaccinations I looked at. Even across all of the vaccinations, it's unlikely that your doctor's office would have had that happen to one of their patients.

Unless death is the only thing you qualify as serious, you are mistaken. Even with the shabby state of data collection, and the even shabbier state of medical studies, severe adverse reactions are evidently more common than 1:1e6. Look at pretty much any vaccine label for evidence to support that. I haven't access to our former ped's books, but I would expect them to have given tens maybe hundreds of thousands of vaccinations per decade as a conservative estimate. Consider the number of vaccines recommended by the CDC schedule http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/downloads/parent-ver-sch...

>What should the doctor have done to improve your sense of confidence? Run a test for pertussis even though your child didn't have the symptoms for the disease?

The child did have the symptoms of the disease[1][2].

Additionally, as I stated, about that time, there was a "Massive Pertussis (fear mongering) Outbreak" in the news, with periodic reporting and shaming of vaccine refuseniks. Yes, absolutely, the ped. should have run a test. But the main thing that any ped. can do to inspire confidence is not to be dismissive of parents' concerns or questions. If instead of waving more CDC pamphlets at us, she had mentioned VAERS, or anything resembling even a vague and non-specific something like VAERS she would probably still be our ped.

Is it not enough that I vaccinate my kids for infectious diseases, despite my suspicions that all may not be right in the world of vaccines[3], but you expect me to do so with unreserved faith in the manufacturers of vaccines, and the government?

[1] http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/about/signs-symptoms.html

[2] Pertussis symptoms are quite like the symptoms of Influenza, and many other childhood ailments.

[3] I don't question the science of immunology or epidemiology. I question the claim that in practice, vaccines are manufactured, distributed, and administered with a near miraculous failure rate.