Vaccinations and college..what have you done?

[Samiam]

As we prepare for DS17 to head off to college (living in dorms) in August, one of the things we have to take care of is the medical forms and vaccination records.

 

A bit of history...when he was a baby and toddler, we did all vaccinations by the Dr. recommended schedule (he was our first and we had no idea we had a choice, or should even MAKE a choice...very mainstream).  By the time he was age 6, we were homeschooling and had met some "crunchy mama's" and we had our eyes opened up about vaccinations.   We also were able to get a Pediatrician who was open-minded about whether families vaccinated.   We stopped vaccinations at that point.  When he was about 10 and started playing tackle football, we did get a Tetanus vaccination because it can be transmitted through soil and well, one is laying on the ground alot in football.

 

He's been in public school for high school and we just used the state exemption form.  No trouble there.

 

We've also not really done well checks since about age 12 or so.  He's rarely sick and overall we are a pretty healthy family (though he did get annual physicals for sports).  My point is we've moved to a different state about 6 years ago, and haven't really been to a real Dr. since.   I can only assume the last pediatrician in the last state may have his shot records....but at this point, I honestly have no idea what he has or hasn't had in terms of vaccinations.

 

So now college.  They want proof of certain vaccinations or titers...OR an exemption form signed.   On one hand, I wonder if we should get titers done so HE knows what he's had done, as he moves into adulthood.   Or if we should just do the exemption form, and let him deal with his own vaccination choices down the road when/if it comes up.  Then there is the meningitis vaccination...I almost think that should be a YES because of the living conditions in dorms...and I know that the handful of times there have been "epidemics" in recent years have been in college dorm situations.   But then my other anti-vaccination brain is still all like NO WAY, DANGER, etc.   But how horrible if he did get meningitis and I knew we could have prevented that. 

 

If you've been more of a anti-vaccination type of parent in the past and your child went off to college, how did you handle the vaccination issue?

[maize]

Yes to meningitis, I knew a kid who died from meningitis--went to bed feeling a little ill and mom found her dead in the morning.

 

You can get titers for the others, though if he hasn't had a pertussis booster I'd get him one, that is a miserable sickness and spreads easily among college kids.

Edited May 10, 2016 by maize

[maize]

Has he had chicken pox? If not, or if he had just an initial vaccine and no booster since, I'd get him that one as well. Complications from the disease are much more common and problematic after adolescence.

[Starr]

Can't you call and send a note for a copy of his vaccinations from the doctor of long ago? Didn't Harvard just have an outbreak of the mumps? 

[mysticmomma]

Draw titters for information purposes. Officially sign exemption. Make sure he knows how to minimize risk for meningitis.

[mamakelly]

I'm a "crunchy" delayed vaccinating mom. I did have my son do the meningitis vaccine and measles before going to college. The only vaccine his school requires proof of was measles.

[bettyandbob]

There are two meningitis vaccines now. I believe one is a serious of two and the other as series of three.

 

You need to decide quickly because some vaccines you decide on may be series and may need to be given one month apart. You need time to get them in.

[Pawz4me]

We did all the recommended vaccines, although once the boys turned 15 or so I started letting them have a lot of control over it.  The boys have been with the same doctor since they were born, he has six boys of his own and we fully trust him, so DH and I felt very comfortable allowing the boys to (mostly) make their decisions with his guidance.  Meningitis would have been an exception to that, had for some unfathomable reason he advised against it (which of course he didn't).  Barring some kind of very serious risk of reaction, there is no way on earth I'd allow one of them to live in a dorm w/o being fully immunized for meningitis.

[kewb]

There are now 2 meningitis vaccines. Thr original and the new one for menegitis b. Both a series of two.. Ds just got the first set and he goes back in a couple of months for round 2. If your child had the first shot for meningitis in 6th grade then they would just need the 2nd shot of the original and then 2 shots for menegitis b.

[creekland]

Meningitis, DPT, Measles, Mumps, Flu... I'd really hate to be a college student dealing with any of those if I knew I could avoid them, or at least give my body an advantage with avoiding them.

 

Since your guy handled vaccines fine as a youngster, I see no reason to even remotely expect that his body couldn't handle them now.

 

Add me in to someone who had a cousin who literally almost died from meningitis while in college.  Fortunately, he felt sick enough to get medical help rather than trying to sleep it off.  If he'd have waited a couple more hours he was told he wouldn't have made it.

 

My guys got pretty much everything recommended.  We skipped Chicken Pox because they had them in their youth and we skipped HPV.

 

Middle son had a few more due to a summer medical missions trip to Africa his sophomore year.

 

No problems with any vaccine with my three boys.

 

If you're thinking of just a few, I put them in the order I'd go with above, though I might move Flu a couple spaces toward the front.  It's just not really needed (IMO) until fall, so could wait.  My order is based upon their value for life if they get the disease and how common the disease can be around college campuses - then thoughts about how much I'd want to deal with that at college.

 

FWIW, hubby had chicken pox in his college years and was NOT a happy camper.  There was no vaccine back then though and he missed it during childhood.

[Carrie12345]

Not college, but dd is joining the fire department.  She has an appointment scheduled for Heps, meningitis, and DTap and we're doing MMR and pox titers.  If she needs everything, we're getting everything.  We've already been looking into updating all our kids, so it isn't a sudden change of position for us.  For this child, specifically, if I'm willing to send her into dangerous situations, I don't know how I can be unwilling to take the comparatively much, much smaller risks of rare vaccine reactions.  I suspect I would feel similar, even if on a smaller scale, about college.  Young adults in large groups can be quite... icky.

[GailV]

Can't you call and send a note for a copy of his vaccinations from the doctor of long ago? Didn't Harvard just have an outbreak of the mumps? 

 

Yeah, I'd start by calling the old doctor's office.  I doubt you're the first person to need records for college purposes; they should have a standard answer for this.

 

I'm a "crunchy" delayed vaccinating mom. I did have my son do the meningitis vaccine and measles before going to college. The only vaccine his school requires proof of was measles.

 

Dd goes to college in a state that requires mumps but not measles.  Interesting how it varies.  

[plansrme]

Your old ped may have reported vaccinations to a state database, so even if his office has closed or can't find records, the state may have them. I got one of my kid's records from the Georgia database (GRIS or something like that), and it was a completely painless process. Her ped who gave the vaccines is still around, but it was easier to go through the state than deal with the ped's front office staff, which surely would have insisted she go there for the couple she needed for college. In fact, they DID call after she got them from a Minute Clinic and ask why we didn't get them from their office. Ever the diplomat, I refrained from returning that call and saying, "Because you were jerks the last time I brought her in." But I wanted to.

[Ravin]

As we prepare for DS17 to head off to college (living in dorms) in August, one of the things we have to take care of is the medical forms and vaccination records.

 

A bit of history...when he was a baby and toddler, we did all vaccinations by the Dr. recommended schedule (he was our first and we had no idea we had a choice, or should even MAKE a choice...very mainstream).  By the time he was age 6, we were homeschooling and had met some "crunchy mama's" and we had our eyes opened up about vaccinations.   We also were able to get a Pediatrician who was open-minded about whether families vaccinated.   We stopped vaccinations at that point.  When he was about 10 and started playing tackle football, we did get a Tetanus vaccination because it can be transmitted through soil and well, one is laying on the ground alot in football.

 

He's been in public school for high school and we just used the state exemption form.  No trouble there.

 

We've also not really done well checks since about age 12 or so.  He's rarely sick and overall we are a pretty healthy family (though he did get annual physicals for sports).  My point is we've moved to a different state about 6 years ago, and haven't really been to a real Dr. since.   I can only assume the last pediatrician in the last state may have his shot records....but at this point, I honestly have no idea what he has or hasn't had in terms of vaccinations.

 

So now college.  They want proof of certain vaccinations or titers...OR an exemption form signed.   On one hand, I wonder if we should get titers done so HE knows what he's had done, as he moves into adulthood.   Or if we should just do the exemption form, and let him deal with his own vaccination choices down the road when/if it comes up.  Then there is the meningitis vaccination...I almost think that should be a YES because of the living conditions in dorms...and I know that the handful of times there have been "epidemics" in recent years have been in college dorm situations.   But then my other anti-vaccination brain is still all like NO WAY, DANGER, etc.   But how horrible if he did get meningitis and I knew we could have prevented that. 

 

If you've been more of a anti-vaccination type of parent in the past and your child went off to college, how did you handle the vaccination issue?

 

I suggest getting titers done and meningitis and varicella vaccines (if he isn't immune already). I would also seriously consider, Hep B, Hep A, and Gardasil. Hep A can be foodborne and may be an increased risk when someone eats in an institutional setting regularly--the risk is higher in certain states, check CDC for whether it's recommended. Hep B and Gardasil protect against sexually transmitted diseases; Hep B can also be blood-borne so that's pretty significant.

 

Better yet, provide him with factual information about each and let him decide for himself the risks and benefits. It's his health. Not to mention, even without getting ill, if there is an outbreak of something on campus (ex: measles), which some universities invoke with a low bar, such as when someone with the illness (or maybe just exposed to it) walked across campus and talked to three people and they found out about it, they can bar anyone not vaccinated (i.e. those with exemption  forms on file) from campus for the risk period (in the case of measles, I think it's 21 days), unless they provide proof of vaccination or titer. That can seriously derail a semester.

[Ravin]

Thought that I'd add that when I started college, I didn't have my vaccination records (I was in my mid-20's), and I knew I'd been vaccinated for everything under the sun by the Navy, so I showed proof of titers done for the ones they insisted on (rubella and measles I think; possibly also meningitis) rather than getting unnecessary shots.

[TranquilMind]

Can't you call and send a note for a copy of his vaccinations from the doctor of long ago? Didn't Harvard just have an outbreak of the mumps? 

 

Yep, and in a fully vaccinated population.  Perhaps that vaccine doesn't work.  

[TranquilMind]

Thought that I'd add that when I started college, I didn't have my vaccination records (I was in my mid-20's), and I knew I'd been vaccinated for everything under the sun by the Navy, so I showed proof of titers done for the ones they insisted on (rubella and measles I think; possibly also meningitis) rather than getting unnecessary shots.

 

That's good that you were able to, but I read that titers won't always show on some people unless they are actively fighting the disease so that the antibodies are "mobilized".   Those people can get titered regularly and never show immunity.

 

I was titered once when my kids got chicken pox when they were very young.  I'd never seen chicken pox since I never had it, so they titered me.  I was immune because the doctor said I had clearly been exposed in childhood and because I must have been actively fighting at the moment, since my kids were sick.  I never did get it, nor did my mom, and neither of us ever had an active case of chicken pox. 

 

It does bother me that we are potentially withholding lifelong immunity from those like me and like my mom, because we are insisting on dozens of vaccines for every single thing.  I think we are going in the wrong direction with that, but that's  another thread.  I just wanted to mention that one might be immune yet might not show titers, which would subject that person to unnecessary vaccines.  

 

[TranquilMind]

Your old ped may have reported vaccinations to a state database, so even if his office has closed or can't find records, the state may have them. I got one of my kid's records from the Georgia database (GRIS or something like that), and it was a completely painless process. Her ped who gave the vaccines is still around, but it was easier to go through the state than deal with the ped's front office staff, which surely would have insisted she go there for the couple she needed for college. In fact, they DID call after she got them from a Minute Clinic and ask why we didn't get them from their office. Ever the diplomat, I refrained from returning that call and saying, "Because you were jerks the last time I brought her in." But I wanted to.

I think you would do the other patients in that office a favor by speaking the truth, diplomatically, of course. 

 

I do realize that there are times when you just can't.  ;)

[Matryoshka]

Dd goes to college in a state that requires mumps but not measles.  Interesting how it varies.  

 

My kids are mostly vaccinated; I need to get things wrapped up before they head off to college in the fall.

 

One we'll have a problem with is mumps.  I would love to get them vaccinated for mumps - and rubella.  But apparently all you can get anymore is the MMR combined.  I managed to get them all vaxed for measles back when you could still order them separately, and sure enough, one of them had a bad reaction (multiple seizures) that required her to go back on anti-seizure meds for two years.  The other two have the same genetic condition, but didn't react that time.  But I don't want to give any of them the MMR now (fortunately according to their titers, at least the measles vax took in one go...).  Anyway, odd that some schools still require one but not the other...

 

They're not supposed to get the Pertussis vax either, but that's such a common one to avoid that they do make a DT vax that skips it, and they've gotten that.

 

I did recently have them get the meningitis vax.  Meningitis is scary.

Edited May 10, 2016 by Matryoshka

[Seasider]

Once the kids move to college, they've slowly gotten the "needed" vaccines, mostly because of the military. Well,all except my oldest, since she medically can't have anything. She can't even have a regular tetanus shot. Ds got caught up further for his next AF field training several weeks ago. Youngest will have to have a couple for AFA and USNA this summer.

 

Poor Navy girl--she's had smallpox, yellow fever, anthrax, dengue, etc. She said the yellow fever was the worst but she had to have it for a trip to Brazil. Her company got into a hot batch of smallpox, but she was the last one vaxed before lunch. She has a scar, but it's reasonable. The poor kids after lunch got the hot stuff and have HUGE scars, and were really sick. She was almost up-to-date before I Day at the academy, but we missed one.

 

Ds got the mumps from his MMR. He chose to get the meningitis vax though I wasn't for it. My youngest is still under an exemption as we can still take a personal exemption in CO. However, we'll probably lose that in the next few years.

 

My kids have always had tetanus, except for my oldest. We still don't know if it's the tetanus or the thimerosal that she reacts to.

Yellow fever was the worst for me, too! Big ugly reaction at the injection site, which I was told was "not uncommon."

 

OP, if your son is sharing community bathroom space and eating in a dining hall that employs student workers, I'd be sure to have him get what he needs for mumps, hepatitis and meningitis. There's a reason the universities request those.

[Seasider]

Yep, and in a fully vaccinated population. Perhaps that vaccine doesn't work.

How do we know it was a fully vaccinated population?

[maize]

Yellow fever was the worst for me, too! Big ugly reaction at the injection site, which I was told was "not uncommon."

 

OP, if your son is sharing community bathroom space and eating in a dining hall that employs student workers, I'd be sure to have him get what he needs for mumps, hepatitis and meningitis. There's a reason the universities request those.

Interesting; I don't remember a reaction to the yellow fever vax. I got so many vaccinations though that they mostly don't stand out in my mind. When I went into the military they looked at my miles-long-record and had to consult over the ones they didn't recognize before deciding I didn't need anything.

 

Side benefit of having lived in some out of the way places I guess :D

[JFSinIL]

Get titers drawn, then if needed a booster for anything like measles, mumps (you do want grandkids, correct?) etc. I vote YES for the meningitis. My MIL picked up on the fact that my teen niece had it when my SIL mentioned how Becky had such a stiff neck and awful headache. MIL had them go to er STAT and it was meningitis. Oh, and a flu shot. Flu goes through the college population like a hot knife through butter. Can still get flu with the shot, but it will be much milder.

Edited May 10, 2016 by JFSinIL

[katilac]

Yep, and in a fully vaccinated population.  Perhaps that vaccine doesn't work.  

 

It works in about 88% of individuals.  

 

That's why, when you see an outbreak, it is usually going to be in a campus situation. Most of the time, the 12% of people for whom it does not work are spread out enough that it stays contained. 

 

The mumps vaccine came out in 1967, which was also the year of the last big outbreak in America.  It works. 

Edited May 10, 2016 by katilac

[TranquilMind]

How do we know it was a fully vaccinated population?

 

It was reported in several places though one actually says 99% now (though that could mean vaccinated but not second vaccine).   I saw it on TV. 

 

 http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/3/7/university-quarantines-students-mumps/

 

 

 

 

[Katy]

I think every state has a vaccine database.

 

I personally react to several vaccines and ended up hospitalized after first dose of MMR when I was young. I went to a college in a state where it's illegal to live in dorms without 2 doses of MMR.  I took it again and had no problem whatsoever.   All of my siblings had similar reactions. As a result we delay vaccines here.

 

Honestly I'd send him to the county health department office and get caught up on everything he hasn't taken and also get the meningitis vaccine.

 

The Hep vaccines, the HPV, and the flu shot I'd let him decide. We don't do flu shots at my house, and I'm from a nursing background.  We do get the others, but slowly and delayed, when the immune system is more mature.

[StephanieZ]

How do we know it was a fully vaccinated population?

 

Exactly. I am sure that there are some students who satisfied the vaccine record requirements with either fake records (I know of at least one family of modest means who acquired fake records to satisfy our local public high school when their homeschooled child enrolled, and I know that their source of the fake records was used by other families in the area as well), or medical exemptions (whether or not actually due to true medical need or provided by a doctor sympathetic to the parental preference), or other means to qualify the school requirement without actually getting vaccinated.

 

I wouldn't expect an Ivy League school to have a fully vaccinated population. Statistically, wealthy families are more apt to skip vaccines, IIRC. Makes sense to me as the "special snowflake" mentality supports parents to pick and choose . . . what they think is best for THEIR individual child, not considering the "herd immunity" issue (i.e., public health, protecting those too young or too sick to get vaccinated, etc.) 

Also, that vaccine is only 80-90% effective (depending on 1 or 2 doses), so even with a fully vaccinated population, there are 10-20% of people who WERE fully vaccinated who are, nevertheless, not immune. Many vaccines have this low (or lower) effectiveness rates. Additionally, there are people who "catch it" and are infectious but do not show symptoms . . . True protection relies on everyone being fully vaccinated and other good public health measures, thus providing "herd immunity" . . . i.e., the majority of people who are immune to mumps provide a wall of protection, reducing transmission enough that the occasional case doesn't spread. We are losing herd immunity to many diseases because of our failure to fully vaccinate (and because of travel, immigration, etc.)

 

IMHO, I was cautious about vaccine schedules when my kids were tiny -- spreading out vaccines, skipping chicken pox initially, etc, but I eventually fully vaccinated my kids.

[Miss Peregrine]

Dd an adult now and is deciding for herself. She has researched and is choosing to get them.

[plansrme]

I think you would do the other patients in that office a favor by speaking the truth, diplomatically, of course. 

 

I do realize that there are times when you just can't.  ;)

 

And that is typically my approach--I assume people WANT to know that they've done wrong.  Usually, however, and most definitely in this case, they do not.

[Pam in CT]

I can't imagine sending a kid to college without being vaccinated for meningitis.  That is one scary FAST onset/progression disease.  (Another one with a cousin who would be dead, but for a roommate who did the right thing.)

[maize]

I would do flu as well; it can be hit or miss (sometimes they don't guess correctly which strains will circulate widely in a given year) but it works much more often than it doesn't. Last time I had influenza it had me flat in bed for most of a week and then took months to fully recover. That would wreak havoc with a college semester.

[Bluegoat]

I would be very disinclined to send my kids to a place where they were living in dorm conditions, and likely to have a lifestyle which leads to poor resistence, without doing pretty much all of the basic ones.  I'd probably even include the HPV one, boys may not get cervical cancer but they can sure get things like cancer of the throat.  Measles, mumps, and meningitis can all be very serious, and the former two are becoming more common.  I would do chicken pox more to avoid shingles.

 

But then, I vaccinated my kids more or less on the normal Canadian schedule anyway.

 

 

[TranquilMind]

And that is typically my approach--I assume people WANT to know that they've done wrong.  Usually, however, and most definitely in this case, they do not.

 

That's not my point.  It isn't about what the doctor's office employees want; of course they don't want to hear anything negative.   It is about protecting the next victim of their rudeness. 

 

[Bluegoat]

It's interesting though, I've never heard of a university here asking for vaccination records of any kind.

[TranquilMind]

Exactly. I am sure that there are some students who satisfied the vaccine record requirements with either fake records (I know of at least one family of modest means who acquired fake records to satisfy our local public high school when their homeschooled child enrolled, and I know that their source of the fake records was used by other families in the area as well), or medical exemptions (whether or not actually due to true medical need or provided by a doctor sympathetic to the parental preference), or other means to qualify the school requirement without actually getting vaccinated.

 

I wouldn't expect an Ivy League school to have a fully vaccinated population. Statistically, wealthy families are more apt to skip vaccines, IIRC. Makes sense to me as the "special snowflake" mentality supports parents to pick and choose . . . what they think is best for THEIR individual child, not considering the "herd immunity" issue (i.e., public health, protecting those too young or too sick to get vaccinated, etc.) 

Also, that vaccine is only 80-90% effective (depending on 1 or 2 doses), so even with a fully vaccinated population, there are 10-20% of people who WERE fully vaccinated who are, nevertheless, not immune. Many vaccines have this low (or lower) effectiveness rates. Additionally, there are people who "catch it" and are infectious but do not show symptoms . . . True protection relies on everyone being fully vaccinated and other good public health measures, thus providing "herd immunity" . . . i.e., the majority of people who are immune to mumps provide a wall of protection, reducing transmission enough that the occasional case doesn't spread. We are losing herd immunity to many diseases because of our failure to fully vaccinate (and because of travel, immigration, etc.)

 

IMHO, I was cautious about vaccine schedules when my kids were tiny -- spreading out vaccines, skipping chicken pox initially, etc, but I eventually fully vaccinated my kids.

So they are faking it at Ivy Leagues?  Ok.

 

At any rate, it is contradictory to state that true protection relies on everyone being fully vaccinated, yet also state that 10-20% aren't immune anyway, vaccinated or not (and presumably some are immune, vaccinated or not). 

 

So then there isn't "true protection" in relying on vaccines, is there?  There are just better or worse odds.  Maybe. 

 

 

[Amira]

I think that adults should be able to choose whether are vaccinated so I would leave the decision up to my child and provide balanced information about it.

 

I think it is particularly important to understand how not vaccinating can limit an adult's options. It's one thing for parents to not vaccinate a child in an area with good medical care and where the child isn't interacting with a very diverse group of people, but an adult who doesn't vaccinate will not be able to take certain jobs, travel to many countries, volunteer with certain populations, etc. The consequences are different for an adult.

 

I'd go with titers rather than trying to track down old records. Then you're sure and you don't end up doubling up on vaccines because you couldn't find the record.

[Matryoshka]

It's interesting though, I've never heard of a university here asking for vaccination records of any kind.

You must not live in the US?

 

I sent my dd to school in Germany for a month when she was staying with relatives, and I was stunned that they required no kind of paperwork at all...

[Bluegoat]

So they are faking it at Ivy Leagues?  Ok.

 

At any rate, it is contradictory to state that true protection relies on everyone being fully vaccinated, yet also state that 10-20% aren't immune anyway, vaccinated or not (and presumably some are immune, vaccinated or not). 

 

So then there isn't "true protection" in relying on vaccines, is there?  There are just better or worse odds.  Maybe. 

 

No, it isn't contradictory.

 

Ther eis a level of vaccination required in the population in order to give herd immunity.  If I recall correctly it is somewhere between 80 - 90%, though it differes for different diseases.  Essentially, it is the number of people who need to be immune so that it isn't easy for it to spread quickly from one person or another.

 

With most of the common vaccines, that level is reached, even accounting for people who for some reason do not gain immunity, and those who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons, so long as almost everyone who can be vaccinated is.

 

But it doesn't necessarily take that many others suddenly being unvaccinated to lose herd immunity, to bring the number of immune down below 85% or whatever the number is.  In a place like a dorm or prison, it can be even less because the conditions are amenable to the spread of disease.

[Bluegoat]

You must not live in the US?

 

I sent my dd to school in Germany for a month when she was staying with relatives, and I was stunned that they required no kind of paperwork at all...

 

I am in Canada.

 

I guess we see this as a public health thing - it is the job of public health to make sure people are being vaccinated and identify issues, so why would universities do it as well.

 

There are exceptions during outbreaks at a university, they will find out people's status so they can make sure to limit exposure and such.

[MegP]

My local university has a list  of recommended vaccinations for students, but does not require any.

[plansrme]

That's not my point. It isn't about what the doctor's office employees want; of course they don't want to hear anything negative. It is about protecting the next victim of their rudeness.

 

It was not the front office--it was the senior pediatrician in the practice. If you still want to insist that I can make the office better for the next patient, knock yourself out, but nothing I could do would change anything. He knows he was a jerk; he just doesn't care.

[hornblower]

It's interesting though, I've never heard of a university here asking for vaccination records of any kind.

 

Some faculties do however. You can't get into the health faculties (nursing, pharmacy, med school etc) without proof of vaccinations. If you don't have proof, you have to redo your shots. 

[Bluegoat]

Some faculties do however. You can't get into the health faculties (nursing, pharmacy, med school etc) without proof of vaccinations. If you don't have proof, you have to redo your shots. 

 

Yes, and that makes sense because really it is a job requirement.  There are food service programs that are similar as well.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

So they are faking it at Ivy Leagues?  Ok.

 

At any rate, it is contradictory to state that true protection relies on everyone being fully vaccinated, yet also state that 10-20% aren't immune anyway, vaccinated or not (and presumably some are immune, vaccinated or not). 

 

So then there isn't "true protection" in relying on vaccines, is there?  There are just better or worse odds.  Maybe. 

 

I suggest you actually review what is meant and intended by herd immunity.

[brehon]

Regardless of what your personal feelings are toward vaccines, if I were you I'd ensure that my son definitely had the meningitis vaccine series, TDaP, and MMR. Meningitis is just scary how quickly it progresses from feeling a little out of sorts to dead. I wouldn't fool around with that at all.

 

Pertussis is again gaining ground, at least where I live, and a person can take months before they feel somewhat normal. It is also fairly easily spread. Measles and mumps are just hell to deal with in addition to having increased morbidity issues.

 

If your ds hasn't had any issues in the past, it's highly doubtful that he would now. If it were my son, I'd start vaccinating him now so that I had time to (1) get the full series in for vaccines which require a series and (2) spread out the vaccines a bit if I were worries about reactions. You can certainly have titers drawn as a first step. Just be aware that a certain percentage of people will be non-responders which means that their bodies won't show evidence of having had a vaccine in the normal course of events. I'm a known non-responder for Hep B, for instance. To be safe I'd still have my kid get the three aforementioned vaccines as a bare minimum, if the uni doesn't have specific ones they want.

 

Remember dorm living and attending college classes heighten the chance that any disease can spread like wildfire.

[Acadie]

Oldest is going to high school next year, not college, so our situation is a little different.

 

I would definitely get all titers possible, both for filling in the form and your son's and your knowledge of his medical record. Also, I am not a fan of getting several vaccines at once. If you have titers, then you can look at the risk/benefit ratio for the ones he actually needs and prioritize them. I agree that teens should be part of the decision process. Although the risks of side effects are much less for teens and adults than for babies, I'm still more comfortable limiting the number given at one time and only going ahead with it when my child is in excellent health. We'd cancel a shot appointment for a minor cold, and wouldn't give more than a couple at a time. We also have her take vitamin C and probiotics, and hydrate and get lots of sleep for a few days around when she gets the shot.

 

Our ped has supported our extremely delayed vax schedule due to family history of environmental illness, and she's also up front with me about how she sees the risk/benefit ratio for each vaccine. She's encouraging us to get meningitis before high school (I hadn't heard about the new vaccine, so we'll need to look at that), and we plan to do that this summer.

 

Before international travel, our ped recommends polio (dd had one MMR shot as a baby, and her titers showed immunity). Not sure what she'd would say about college, but the arguments here for Hep A in a food service environment make sense to me.

 

My kids will never get Gardasil as long as I have any say about it. Way too many life-altering vaccine injuries with that one, and I believe some of the original researchers have publicly stated they don't think it's safe.

 

Amy

 

 

[lllll]

nm

Edited May 16, 2016 by _ ?^..

[mamakelly]

Oh and FYI, the older they are, they less vaccinations they need. After age 8, they only need 1 DtaP shot not 4 (and it's a different type, not the same one as they give babies). There are also some vaccines that are only given to children under 2, rotavirus and another whose name I don't remember. Check the CDC website for thecatch up immunization schedule. I printed it all out and read through it very carefully to determine the number of shots and which type my kiddo would need. Our dr turned out to be quite knowledgeable in catch up schedules, but not all of them are.

[Matryoshka]

Oh and FYI, the older they are, they less vaccinations they need. After age 8, they only need 1 DtaP shot not 4 (and it's a different type, not the same one as they give babies). There are also some vaccines that are only given to children under 2, rotavirus and another whose name I don't remember. Check the CDC website for thecatch up immunization schedule. I printed it all out and read through it very carefully to determine the number of shots and which type my kiddo would need. Our dr turned out to be quite knowledgeable in catch up schedules, but not all of them are.

 

I just checked with one of dd's universities, and ironically she doesn't need a lot of the ones she's had (like polio, HiB).  Oh, and also ironically she's had rabies vax because we have a bat problem - but no one cares about that one... :lol:

 

But she's not going to have had a bunch of the ones they want.  (mumps, rubella, pertussis - and maybe HepB, I'm going to talk to the doctor about that one again).  They've got to accept a medical exemption, though, no?  She had a documented case of chicken pox and has positive titers for measles, so those boxes can be checked...

[lllll]

nm

Edited May 16, 2016 by _ ?^..