If you don't immunize... What about college?

[Michelle My Bell]

My oldest daughter is heading off to college this fall. She will still be living at home but I am unsure what to do here. We don't immunize our children and all information I have received said she had to be immunized for MMR. Actually, she probably was immunized for this when she was little because I did immunize until my second daughter was born but I can't find my records for this and we have moved around a lot in the past. So I have to figure out what to do for her. My bigger concern is for my other children who have not been immunized. What would you do?

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Well, I went off to college in 1987, so things may have changed since then, but my boyfriend at the time had not been immunized as a child for anything. The college made him get immunizations before he could attend classes. That was before it was more commonplace to NOT immunize, so things could be very different these days. I'd check with the college to see what their policy is.

[nmoira]

Never mind.

[Orthodox6]

Do you qualify for a religious exemption? That is possible here in TX, and we have used it because there are specific vaccinations that we do not support.

 

I would have guessed the greater problem would be with the meningitis vaccination, now required by colleges.

[stripe]

If you want to see if you can get a record of her prior immunization, see if your state has a registry or if you can find any documentation, but they probably would want a booster anyway for that to count.

 

I received two boosters for MMR, one as a teen before college, and one after giving birth, as it is not safe to give to a pregnant woman.

[zoobie]

She needs to call the college and ask or research on their website. At this point, it's her choice not to be vaccinated, so she will need to find out what the exemptions are and whether they apply to her.

[celticmom]

All states except Mississippi and West Virginia have either religious or philosophical exemptions so I would look into those for the states your target colleges are in.

[Michelle My Bell]

OK we contacted the school and they have an exemption. Thanks so much! I didn't think it would be so easy.

[Swimtaxi234]

When I was in graduate school, I couldn't prove that I had gotten all of my shots as a child because the clinic had been wiped out by a hurricane. The school wanted me to get all of the shots again, but when I balked, they let me have a blood titer test done.

[Trish]

All states except Mississippi and West Virginia have either religious or philosophical exemptions so I would look into those for the states your target colleges are in.

 

 

If it's truly a public health issue, how can they justify religious/philosophical exemptions? And if it isn't a public health issue, why are they otherwise requiring it? It seems to me the people chiefly at risk are the non-imunees themselves. (that's assuming there are no babies around, however)

[Tita Gidge]

If it's truly a public health issue, how can they justify religious/philosophical exemptions? And if it isn't a public health issue, why are they otherwise requiring it? It seems to me the people chiefly at risk are the non-imunees themselves. (that's assuming there are no babies around, however)

 

At the university I'm familiar with, the exemption form includes a second, separate paper.

 

This second paper requires a signature stating that in the event of an outbreak, the student will remain off-campus.

 

Or something similar to that.

 

An exemption is an exemption - legally, even during an outbreak, all state-offered exemptions are equally justified.

 

"Public health issue" covers a range, not one specific dot on the spectrum. MMR diseases are a "public health issue" so updated shots are pro-actively required for incoming students. The unvaccinated who come into contact with the disease(s) are also a "public health issue," so their exemptions require the student self-quarantine during outbreaks. In this way, people are protected as best as possible with regard to their respective choices on vaccination.

[mommymilkies]

When my kids are in upper high school, I will offer to get my girls rubella titers done, and any others. Then I will let them decide to do an exemption or get some of the required shots. At my college, only mmr is required.