Meningitis Vaccination Pros & Cons

Parents Forum
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<p>Thanks, corranged. I found some data on the CDC site that are consistent with your post. I will have to check to see whether my 14-year-old has had this vaccine.</p>

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<p>I agree that we used to have more acute diseases like Measels and mumps but perhaps fewer chronic diseases like asthma & fatal reactions to allergens
I had chicken pox and some kind of measles-my brother had the mumps.
My parents were both hospitalized for meningitis when they were kids-
Whooping couch was pretty common too.
We also used to routinely have our tonsils out, now they don't do that so much.
Formula used to be "better" than breast milk, now we are incredulous that we believed that.
Everything is antibiotic & it is biting us in the butt with superbugs.
There are many shots that they are finding it is important to have boosters of- if you have questions about your immunity, your dr can either revaccinate or do a titer to check</p>

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<p>He probably has, but you should still check.</p>

<p>I somehow never got chicken pox, despite being in daycare, preschool, and then grade school with lots of other kids all the time, AND sharing a room with my sister when she had it (I was a baby and was checked very well for spots). I was vaccinated when I was about 12, which I believe was when my doctor's office first started giving it out. Your son would have been 8 at the time I had the shot, which should have been a target demographic for the vaccine. But all doctors' offices work differently, began using the vaccine at different times, and developed different policies for giving it out.</p>

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<p>NYMom, my daughter is at CTY Lancaster so I received the same email you did. I'm holding my breath just a little on this one because she was not immunized for chicken pox. She's 16 and the shot hadn't come out yet when she was a baby and when it did our pediatrician looked at it as optional. Her little sister had a full blown case in kindergarten, when older daughter was in second grade. They shared a room, bathed together, etc., and older daughter never broke out, leading us to believe she had developed immunity from a suspected case when she was younger. She had been exposed when she was three, had maybe two suspicious bumps and a runny nose, hopefully that was enough for life-long immunity.</p>

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<p>MomOFour, Your daughter was probably not exposed at CTY. The email implied that separate notifications were sent to the parents of students in the sick girl's class/dorm hall. From what I can tell, there is not a lot of interaction among students in different classes.</p>

<p>Will you be at the final ceremony on Friday? We CCers will have to wear corsages or something so that we can recognize one another!</p>

<p>corranged, My son was probably vaccinated; our pediatrician is very much up on these things. I'll have to dig out his form again to be sure, though.</p>

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<p>I have to say that I feel terrible for the girl with chicken pox. My son would have been terribly upset if he had to leave CTY prematurely.</p>

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<p>When S (who is now 19 ) was vaccinated for chicken pox, it was a relatively new vaccine and a controversial one among other mothers in my town, I'd guess that fewer than half of S's peers were vaccinated. So, no, it was not a requirement for kids who are now college aged.</p>

<p>On his Dr.'s recommendation, S received a booster this summer.</p>

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<p>MomofFour, you may want to discuss this with your pediatrician again. She is probably immune, but she may need a booster or a check for immunity.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
The chicken pox vaccine is pretty new, so some children who were expected to have had the chicken pox (by actual exposure) due to their age but never got it also never got the vaccine, since they were at the age were they were assumed to have gotten the actual disease. I don't think that sentence made much sense...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It not only makes sense, it's an important point.</p>

<p>My kids, who are now 17 and 21, never got the chickenpox disease as children, despite repeated exposure, and therefore had the shots in 1995. When the younger one went for her pre-college immunizations, they gave her a second shot. Apparently, this immunization does not last forever. I am now pestering the older one to go to his own college clinic and see whether he can get a second shot. (Unfortunately, he can't get it at the county health department at home where his sister did because they only deal with under-18s.) </p>

<p>People who are college-age or older today and who received the chickenpox vaccine rather than having the disease need to be proactive throughout their lives to mention this to doctors and find out whether and when they need booster shots. Doctors may not bring up the subject because they are the "wrong" age to have had the shot.</p>

<p>Another topic: Many prospective college students send in their health forms soon after they receive their acceptances (my daughter's had to be in by mid-June) but get additional immunizations later. In this instance, it is important to update the college health record. My daughter contacted the health service at her college and was told to send the new official immunization record by postal mail. Your instructions may differ.</p>

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<p>Just my opinions on the following:</p>

<p>Meningitis vaccine: Absolutely! Disease is too catastrophic not to get it and I believe the value of the protection outweighs any risks.</p>

<p>Chicken pox vaccine: If you are unsure if your student had the disease, you can get a titer done to see if they have a protective amount of antibodies. About ten years ago, more kids began receiving the vaccine and it became less likely to contact the disease naturally. If your kid was in the vaccine group, they need a booster. Chicken pox and its side effects are much more severe in adults.</p>

<p>HPV Vaccine: If your daughter is going to be having sex, it might be worth it because the vaccine is nearly 100% effective against the included strains (There are somewhere around 100 strains of HPV. Two of the strains in this quadravalent vaccine account for over 70% of cervical cancers.) However, I am personally against randomly vaccinating all teenage girls. If your daughter is 14 and unlikely to be sexually active, I would wait a while. The vaccine in pretty new and there will undoubtedly be new versions and brands coming onto the market. Gardasil by Merck will soon be joined by Cervarix by GlaxoSmithKline. Cervarix will protect against the two most common HPV strains included in Gardasil, as well as two different oncogenic strains. The current vaccine does have documented adverse affects, some severe, and three deaths allegedly due to clotting and heart failure. Of course, no one can be sure if these adverse reactions were coincidental, but why vaccinate a young girl who isn't sexually active? Another question I have regards the duration of protection. The longest follow-up period has been 5 years. So, potentially it could be similar to the chicken pox issue. If you protect your daughter in her early teens, the protection may wear off by the time she is a young adult and more likely to need the protection. They just aren't sure yet.</p>

<p>Here are links on the Gardasil reports. Click on the link at the very bottom to view the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, established through a partnership between the CDC and the FDA)
<a href="http://judicialwatch.org/6299.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://judicialwatch.org/6299.shtml&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/2007/GardasilVAERSDeaths.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/2007/GardasilVAERSDeaths.pdf&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/2007/GardasilVAERSReports.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/2007/GardasilVAERSReports.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Ultimately, every parent needs to work with the child's physician to make the right choice for them. This is just my 2 cents.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the information, lkf.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
The current vaccine does have documented adverse affects, some severe, and three deaths allegedly due to clotting and heart failure. Of course, no one can be sure if these adverse reactions were coincidental, ...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I suspect some posters here would only be happy if someone PROVED the safety of the vaccine. Of course that is a logical impossibility. Indeed, the FDA and the medical community actually look at the risk/reward ratio. This is a very safe vaccine with a clear payoff. </p>

<p>With regard to adverse events, keep in mind that the standards for recording an adverse event are very low. Self reporting is allowed:
[quote]
The FDA receives adverse drug reaction reports from manufacturers as required by regulation. Health care professionals and consumers send reports voluntarily through the MedWatch program. These reports become part of a database.

[/quote]
So we don't know the quality of these reports, nor whether there is a causal connection. Indeed, the purpose of the reporting is so that the database of adverse events can act as a sentinal for potential problems.

[quote]
...but why vaccinate a young girl who isn't sexually active?...If you protect your daughter in her early teens, the protection may wear off by the time she is a young adult and more likely to need the protection. They just aren't sure yet.

[/quote]
I think the answer to this one is pretty clear. First, we parents will too often be the last to know if a daughter is sexually active. Second, waiting until that momemt is too often too late. Why early teens? This is bogus. There is NO evidence that protection will "wear off" within a few years. Rather, there is good evidence that this vaccine will protect a lot of our kids precisely during those years when they are likely to have sex with multiple partners. (and pardon me for questioning lkf725's math, but age 4 plus 5 years of effective vaccine hardly sounds like the "early teens". Or am I missing something?0</p>

<p>Why play roulette with your child's future health? IMHO, cervical cancer is just too devastating, and too common, to take a gamble. </p>

<p>Typhoid update: recovery going well so far, with just sporadic abdominal cramping. It could have been a lot worse!</p>

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<p>newmassdad, I'm so glad to hear your daughter is recovering well. I hope the total recovery is fast.</p>

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<p>Meningitis Vaccine Question: I think I was told that the vaccine cannot protect one from all strains of the disease (?). Does it help lessen the effects if you are exposed to one of the others? Just curious.</p>

<p>We had S. vaccinated last month. There was a local boy (his age) who survived meningitis a few years back, but the permanent damage he suffered was truly devastating. Seeing what it did to him, and remembering the way he was before the illness was just heartbreaking.</p>

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<p>The meningitis shot does not protect against all the bacteria that can cause the disease. I think it covers 4 of 5 or something like that. It is a good shot but no perfect and is no help with the bacteria that causes about 46% of the cases of bacterial menningitis. <a href="http://olin.msu.edu/heyhotshotareyouimmuneaware.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://olin.msu.edu/heyhotshotareyouimmuneaware.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It is no help for the viral form of the disease.</p>

<p>Getting the shots is the smart thing to do. Getting the shots thimerosal free is also the smart thing to do.</p>

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<p>Helpful link. Thanks, drizzit</p>

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<p>Thanks for letting us know about your daughter's recovery, newmassdad. I hope she is completely well soon.</p>

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<p>

I believe the longest follow up for patients in clinical trials is 5 years. If you have data beyond the 5 years, I'd be interested in seeing it, if you have it handy.</p>

<p>Many drugs are approved by the FDA and later withdrawn from the market. Witness the recent Avandia issue, among many others over the years. Or perhaps more relevant, the advent of the acellular pertussis vaccine to minimize previous side effects. I don't know if a person will have a serious side effect and neither do you. Of course, adverse effect reporting is not perfect, but it is all we have.</p>

<p>I agree with you. HPV vaccine works. As I said, it is virtually 100% effective against the 4 strains of HPV (2 of them are responsible for causing 70% of cervical cancers) that it contains. My only point regarding HPV vaccine is that FOR ME the risk (any risk) of using a relatively new product coupled with the fact that it may not confer long lasting immunity, does not make it a great value to give to preteens and young teens who are unlikely to be sexually active. </p>

<p>Each family needs to make the decision for themselves, along with their physician. Too bad that medicine is not an exact science, but certainly a concerned parent, such as you, will make a good decision. As I said, my comments were only my personal opinions.</p>

<p>PS - FWIW, I absolutely do intend to have my daughter vaccinated for HPV in the next few years, but I am personally in no rush to do it now.</p>

<p>PPS - Parents of sons: HPV vaccine may eventually be for your sons too, as it is being investigated for use to prevent anogenital warts and cancers in males.</p>

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<p>One reason for getting the HPV series before a girl becomes sexually active is that it's not one shot, it's three, given over a six-month period.</p>

<p>Somehow I doubt that a young woman and her new boyfriend would be willing to wait six months if they have decided to have sex. They might be willing to wait a week or so for her to get a gynecologist appointment and a prescription for the Pill, but six months? No way.</p>

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<p>hey might be willing to wait a week or so for her to get a gynecologist appointment and a prescription for the Pill, but six months?</p>

<p>But the birth control pill doesn't start to become effective immediately- you still need backup protection.</p>