<p>drj, u can't help some of the morons who think they'll die if they get a little tiny needle put into their arm for 5 seconds. </p>
<p>Hey "neverborn," I went through a bad time with one of my teeth about 7 weeks ago and I got a bad infection, as my whole cheek swelled up. I had to go to an oral surgeon to get a tube inserted in my mouth to get rid of the infection. IF YOU ONLY IMAGINED HOW MUCH PAIN, HOW MUCH HURTING THAT PROCEDURE WAS. COMPARED TO THIS MENINGITIS VACCINE SHOT, THOSE SHOTS TO GET MY MOUTH NUMB WERE PROBABLY THE WORST HURTING SHOTS I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED. </p>
<p>So you better quit acting like a baby or else you'll never get through life.</p>
<p>This is from the American Academy of Pediatrics, sent to members. If your child is college bound and has not had the vaccine yet, don't wait- get it. </p>
<p>""In 2005, the AAP recommended routine tetravalent meningococcal
polysaccharide-protein conjugate (MCV4, MenactraR) immunization of (1)
11-12 year olds, (2) 15 year olds (at high school entry) and (3)
entering college freshman who would be living in dormitories. This
recommendation was with the knowledge that MCV4 supply would be limited
until 2008. It is now clear that demand has exceeded supply, and after
consultation with AAP, the Centers for Diseases Control have issued the
recommendation to defer vaccination of 11 - 12 year olds.
<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm55d520a1.htm%22">http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm55d520a1.htm"</a>"</p>
<p>No, they are vaccines against two entirely different bacteria- Haemophilus Influenza B which causes meningitis and epiglottitis in small children and babies is prevented with the HIB vaccine. The vaccine being discussed here is against Meningiococcus which causes profound meningitis in teens- particularly those living in close quarters, and others.</p>
<p>Here is the current recommendation "MCV4 should be given to all children at the 11-12 year old visit as well as to unvacinnated adolescents at HS entry (age 15). Older adolescents who wish to decrease their risk for meningococcal disease may also be vaccinated. All college freshman living in dormitories should also be vaccinated, preferably with MCV4, although MPSC4 is an acceptable alternative."</p>
<p>The universal recommendation for the 11-12 year old age group is new, so there are a lot of older kids who have not been vaccinated. If you have a 13 or 14-17 year old there is no reason not to vaccinate them, though with the current shortage most doctors probably wouldn't -- except in the case of particular medical vulnerability.</p>
<p>drj4- it took a really long time for my oldest to get her baby vaccines for just that reason
She was 10 weeks early & I was very careful to not get her vaccinated if she had even the sniffles- we also had to start later- to make up for her prematurity.
Still she made it through the MMR and DPT series ( the only ones that were required at that time) she is pretty healthy- never even had any cavities!</p>
<p>I'm glad that your daughter is healthy. It's interesting that you adjusted for prematurity. My experience is that most pediatricians recommend the opposite approach - that parents should vaccinate premature infants earlier than usual. I think that's questionable and your approach makes more sense. </p>
<p>At any rate, your daughter has smart parents.</p>
<p>I had always thought that babies were not really set up to operate off their own immune systems till 4 months or so, since they don't eat solid food till then and since they are designed just to run on breast milk which has antibodies they can use.
When she was 7 months old, she really was more like 4&1/2 months old, and I think that is when we started the series.</p>
<p>She also had an osteopath for a pediatrician who was wonderful- he didn't necessarily know a lot about extra young babies- this was the early 80's and they had only recently started to have better luck with babies who were born more than 2 months early or who weighed less than 1500 gms- but I think he knew more about nutrition and trusted the baby and her parents more than some docs would.</p>