<p>I got it for just because i’m going to be staying in the dorms. :)</p>
<p>My D got hers when she started high school and her younger brother got his at the same point. Many colleges require them, which is why more and more insurance carriers are paying for them now. If your S/D is going to any camp or is even playing on a sports team, they are also advised. Injections are no big deal anymore (I am old enough to remember the days of needles that needed to be sharpened and sterilized- OW!), and considering that this horrible illness is a killer that can take a life in the span of a day, a moment’s discomfort is a small price to pay for the safety.</p>
<p>Both kids got the shot before summer programs where they were living in dorms. A 15 year old in our area died from bacterial meningitis two years ago. I didn’t know that it lasts 10 years. That’s good news. I’d heard it was 3-5 years.</p>
<p>GET IT. My older sister caught meningitis during her first year of law school. Thank God her boyfriend (now fiance) was worried about her fever and made her go to the hospital, because she avoided any permanent damage, but it was very very VERY scary, and she was very very VERY sick. Not to mention the $72,000 hospital bill (covered by insurance, but still). </p>
<p>And seriously, a spinal tap is worse than a shot. So… make your kid get it.</p>
<p>i got this vaccine
but i’m flat out refusing to do HPV…thankfully my parents respect my wishes</p>
<p>I will definitely insist that my son get this vaccine before I pay his tuition!</p>
<p>Our kids get it before they go to middle school.</p>
<p>We had all 3 kids get the vaccine before any dorm living and did not give them the choice to opt out. Also start to plant the seed of getting a flu shot this fall. Many schools will offer flu vaccines on campus. Nothing can derail a semester faster than a good bout of the flu and it can spread like wildfire in a dorm.</p>
<p>Yes, this is one we did not “skip.” We postponed Hep B shots until the kids were older teens, but also made sure that was done before they left for college. As many have said, many college require menningitis vaccine as well as Hep B series.</p>
<p>Yep, my boys got the shot for summer camp. There have been one or two stories locally over the years about kids contracting this disease and losing limbs. Why take the chance, even if minuscule?</p>
<p>My son got it Monday. Just a bit of soreness but not as bad as a tetanus shot. I’m very careful about which vaccines my kids get, this is one I requested they get before the doc had chance to even talk about it. Meningitis is nothing to fool around with.</p>
<p>Insist and don’t back down.</p>
<p>I can’t think of one good reason NOT to get it. Those commercials about how a life can change in “just one day” are not exaggerating.</p>
<p>It’s also good for all kids to be aware of meningitis and it’s symptoms. The shot doesn’t protect against all forms of the disease, so a few still get sick every year. Teach your college age child about the disease and it’s symptoms - they could save their roommates life.</p>
<p>Years ago when I was in my young twenties I had a meningitis scare (during a period when there was an outbreak at some schools with some deaths). Severe headache, high fever, stiff neck, nausea, …symptoms coming on quickly and worsening in a short time. Got myself to the hospital by myself in the middle of the night. Had the spinal tap and had to lay immobile on a slab for many hours afterwards. It was no picnic. Fortunately I didn’t have it.
It’s not something to fool around with and you never know.
My D’s college also requires it.</p>
<p>The year before my dd#1 started school, a young man died overnight in his dorm room toughing out what he thought was a bad cold. I believe state law in LA now requires the shot. Odd thing was, for dd#2, neither the GP or gynecologist would provide the vaccination. Strange things going on between the big insurance companies and physicians. We had to go to the pharmacy at our grocery store – but it worked out fine. Probably a sign of things to come, though.</p>
<p>Got the HPV vaccination immediately for both girls when it came out – not negotiable.</p>
<p>My school makes it mandatory, but I got mine when I was 15 (just entering HS)</p>
<p>This year when I went to get shots, I wasn’t scared at all. I liked them, just saying how I matured :P</p>
<p>Get it. Meningitis is deadly. It’s just a sore arm for a couple days to a week or so and maybe feeling a little flu-like…although I had four shots at once so I don’t know if it was the meningitis, typhoid, Hep A or Tetanus that made me flu feeling for a few days.</p>
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<p>I am not sure how long it really lasts either. I have been told two different answers for tetanus as well…that it lasts for 10 years, but it is recommended that you receive a shot every 5 years.</p>
<p>bluealien01- could you please share where you’ve heard about the “every 5 years” suggestion? I tend to agree, based on the efficacy of other vaccines, but I know that my D will be kicking and screaming if she has to have another one of these! I’d like to be able to short-circuit the objections!</p>
<p>@giddeyup, the insurance issue, I believe, has to do with the price of the shot. It’s a fairly pricey vaccine (around $75-$100 a dose, I think) so a lot of practices probably don’t want to pay the price for a bunch of doses up front and wait to get reimbursed from insurance. The clinic where I work keeps vaccine for both Medicaid as well as insured children, but not very many insured doses are kept in stock.</p>