<p>chocoholic -- you do have an alternative to getting booster shots. You can have your D's titer level checked for MMR and DTP. It isn't that unusual and that is what many people who want to avoid the boosters do. When checking the titer levels in the blood, they verify that the antibodies are still present to protect the individual. It they are not, they may advise a booster. This way -- if your D is only low on the titer level for Rubella, she could just consider getting a booster for Rubella is that disease is a concern where she is going.</p>
<p>Be aware that some foreign schools or places of employment may require vaccination records, including boosters -- so check it out.</p>
<p>This is what the website says.
[quote]
We strongly recommend that everyone studying in Shanghai be vaccinated against:
Typhoid,
Hepatitis A,
Hepatitis B,
Meningococcal Meningitis, </p>
<p>and to have boosters against:
Tetanus-Diphtheria,
Measles
Polio.
[/quote]
Our doctor's office does not want to give us any answers that may compromise them, I suppose, they want us to go to Passport Health.</p>
<p>chocoholic: My daughter is in China now, and will actually be in Shanghai next week. She had done a study abroad there before, so most of her shots were up-to-date. She did have the Typhoid and Tetanus (both of which she received a couple of years before), Hep A and B, not sure about the Meningitis, though she did get that before she started school (don't know how long they last?). </p>
<p>She did not do a booster for either Measles or Polio; however, we went to China 3 years ago, and I was encouraged to get a booster for Polio, which really surprised me. Since my original polio shots were in the 1950's, like everyone else my age, they really wanted me to have the booster--but not her. She was around 16 at the time. I went ahead and did it, but not sure it was at all necessary. I think a booster for Measles and Polio is really overkill (in my non-medical-trained opinion), unless you're, perhaps, going to a very rural area without indoor plumbing, and maybe sleeping in a tent. (Come to think of it, maybe that's a good idea for camping in the U.S.) ;)</p>
<p>I will just add here that 3 years ago, we all trooped off to Passport Health, too. I think they really try to scare you there and get you to take every shot known to man.</p>
<p>I too feel as if some of this is overkill. </p>
<p>DTP boosters are given every 10 years, so she should be good from her 12-year-old shots.</p>
<p>I don't think she is going to do Malaria. We have travelled to China, India, Brazil, and never taken it. Malaria meds often cause more irritations than worth.</p>
<p>Typhoid I am concerned about, but then the vaccine is not carried by the normal doctors, and one has to go to Passport Health.</p>
<p>I amazed to read that 200 people per month are dying of rabies in China !!!(on the Passport Health website). But we are not doing the pretreatment that they are recommending.</p>
<p>My son is currently finishing up a term in Brazil. He did do the Typhoid (his measles and Hep B were done in middle school), his tetanus was current because he had worked at the zoo, and he did not do the anti-malarial because he would not be working or visiting areas of Brazil where that was needed.</p>
<p>I think I was more worried about intestinal parasites. :(</p>
<p>That's interesting about the rabies; no one ever suggested those shots, or even mentioned rabies as a problem. I'd probably say no to that, too! 200 people a month sounds like a lot, but when you figure how many people live in China (2 billion?), then that number is put into better perspective. Of course, I think the U.S. has only 1 or 2 deaths reported per year . . . </p>
<p>Our daughter is traveling to Vietnam, after China, and although malaria shots are recommended for travel there, her doctor advised against taking the shot (must be a bad shot!). Instead, she gave her some pills she can take when she's going anywhere rural, which is supposed to be protective (I hope), and also some lotion with 30% Deet--the recommended level (which you can get anywhere).</p>
<p>We thought typhoid was overkill, too, but I'd just seen a movie where someone had died of typhoid, and it wasn't pretty--long and lingering and painful, it seemed to me. So . . . we buckled under and got it, and I'm still here to tell the tale. :)</p>
<p>D's school (Miami Ohio) asks for meningitis vaccine or signed statement of refusal, required by Ohio law for those living in dorms. They can provide it at the health center for $100. Is this a typical fee?</p>
<p>Binx, that vaccine is usually carried by your primary health provider, and covered by insurance at 100%. I have found vaccines at college to be pricey versus free at home.</p>
<p>Binx, I think we paid about $75 in 2004 when S1 got his meningitis shot at UF. At that time, our local physician didn't have the vaccine and referred us to the public health office. We decided to just wait and have it done at UF and I submitted the bill to Blue Cross and got reimbursement. </p>
<p>I was planning to have S1 get his meningitis shot at the health center once he gets to college, but found out that our physician DOES have it available now, so he went this morning to get it. I feel better knowing it's taken care of.</p>
<p>I would like to proudly say that I had my DD get these 3 shots...for her safety...I have a friend that has lost 2 friends to HPV causing cervical cancer...it's a good thing that Elvis took his polio shot on TV so that Americans would not be afraid to get theirs...the disease was wiped out...and for you moms that think your DD wouldn't have sex...think back to your youth!</p>
<p>The meningitis shot is required for living in son's dorm, but local doctors and county health dept don't keep it in stock (they all said it is a live virus and aren't able to keep it because of shelf life). So, the college gave him the shot on Wednesday at their health center. They keep it in stock since they require it.</p>
<p>So... if you have the same problem of finding the shot, call your university's health center.</p>
<p>I don't have a D so the whole HPV issue is not mine.... but .... I don't like the commercials -- they make it sound like you can get HPV from a cold when they say, "do you know you can get cancer from a virus?" </p>
<p>No where in the ads do they suggest that HPV is tied to sexual promiscuity - which it is! On one hand, I don't want girls to get HPV, on the other, I wouldn't want to send the message that I "expect" them to be promiscuous so here take this shot. I would rather tell girls that sexual promiscuity puts them at high risk for HPV so avoid that behavior. </p>
<p>(Would we give kids a shot to avoid lung cancer and then expect them not to smoke??? Or give them a shot for cirrhosis of the liver and not expect them to drink excessively?) I know, the whole thing is a quandary... I'm glad I don't have a daughter .... BUT I do tell my boys not to be promiscuous and they agreed.</p>
<p>So we were at the doctor this afternoon for my D to get her DTP and Hep.A shots, and I asked the doctor about Gardasil. She said,"Sorry, not in my office. I will not be giving that vaccine for a whole year. We don't know enough about it"</p>
<p>jlauer
You can get HPV from sex with your one and only boyfriend, if he has been with a few girls. It is not a disease that attacks the promiscuous only, just like AIDS isn't.</p>
<p>spot on chocoholic...or your one and only husband, or your date rapist, or if you are attacked and molested as a child...it's not tied to one sexual encounter, but rather the sum of the sexual encounters.</p>
<p>chocoholic: My daughter's doctor here said pretty much the same thing. I'm inclined to agree, and now that there have been some deaths reported, seems like that was a good idea. </p>
<p>I agree that the ads are misleading. I guess they don't want to say sex on TV (??). I have no idea, but they need to be more explicit. Just saying "virus" does make it sound as though someone could sneeze, and you might "catch" this cancer. I think they're meant to be somewhat alarmist, encouraging women to rush off to get the vaccination, without asking too many questions.</p>
<p>I have a friend who has a pretty high up position in Merck (not in R&D though), and I called her to ask if she was having her 2 D's get the vaccine, and she said she was going to wait for a year.</p>