<p>Even a couple of years ago, the colleges we had dealt with did not require the meningitis vaccine (or Gardasil). Bacterial meningitis is pretty rare, not the same kind of infection rate as measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis etc. (Editing to add that the Tufts form on the link above allows a student to sign a waiver indicating he understands the risks and does not want the vaccine.)</p>
<p>If the college does not require but suggests it, no problem. The son is over 18 and can make this decision. If the college does require it, whether to attend, live in a dorm, or for aid, or all of the above, then the discussion should happen between the son and doctor, the son and school, and/or the doctor and school.</p>
<p>If he wants to make this kind of decision independently, then he should follow through with it independently, and the parents can stay out of it comfortably.</p>
<p>My kids have all had all their vaccinations but actually opted out of the bacterial meningitis one. Admittedly our kids have some medical conditions to warrant a waiver (though they did not need one) but the two newest vaccines (this and Gardasil) don’t seem to me to be as necessary as many others.</p>
<p>I am old enough to have had friends with polio. I have a perspective on vaccines that many younger people don’t. I remember the miracle of standing in line at the principal’s office to drink the tiny Salk vaccines that had just been invented.</p>
<p>At the same time, I understand some of the fears about vaccines and think that maybe the medical establishment occasionally goes overboard.</p>
<p>I had a patient who got bacterial meningitis. Every day I came to work, he had another amputation due to DIC, a potential complication which occurs with serious illnesses, bacterial meningitis in particular. He barely survived, and his life was forever changed.</p>
<p>My D’s school will not allow them to register for classes at orientation without proof of vaccine.</p>
<p>Just this week a 17 y/o girl died in our area, very sad. If only your son could see first hand the deadly chance he is taking perhaps he would better be able to assess the risk benefit ratio of getting vaccinated.</p>
<p>I’d tell my son that by refusing the vaccine based on internet nonsense he is proving himself too stupid to go to college, so parental funding will not be forthcoming. End of discussion. Some things are non-negotiable, proper health care being one of them.</p>
<p>I’m a pediatrician and deal with these issues (too!) often…Some facts that might help you talk with your son:</p>
<p>There is no thimerosal in most vaccines anymore (not since 1996-8). There is a small amount in multidose vials of injectable flu vaccine. </p>
<p>The type of mercury in thimerosal differs from the type of mercury that is a neurotoxin.</p>
<p>The hype about mercury is that it causes autism. An eighteen year old person is not going to devleop autism. </p>
<p>Between you and me, your son is probably protected fairly well with the dose he got at fifteen, though I’m all for the 2nd dose.The 2nd dose recommendation is a newish one and is hoped will boost efficacy rates up for the few people who don’t become immune after the initial dose (probably about 10-15% of people who got the first dose). Herd immunity should help him, also. However, I’m sure you pointed out to him the recent cases of fatal meningococcal meningitis/sepsis in Ohio and Michigan, I believe. </p>
<p>My DD13a is getting her shot tomorrow. She will be living in a college dorm this summer for five weeks. I did not present it as an option. Then again, she won’t turn 18 until the fall so no choice. Moohahaha!</p>
<p>Even though your son is 18 and legally an adult, he is not making an informed decision. My sister almost died at the age of four 50 years ago from meningococcal meningitis - a priest had already read her the last rites. She recovered, but was never the same. The problem with this type of meningitis is that what kills are the toxins it produces - by the time your son shows symptoms, he may be hours from death, and antibiotics will only kill the bacteria, not destroy the toxins.</p>
<p>There is a coalition of moms, called “Moms on Meningitis”, who share personal experiences of what this disease has done to their children. Many lost kids, and some had children who survived, but lost hands, feet, limbs to the disease (it destroys tissue). In fact, the push from parents whose children had this devastating disease is the reason colleges either require the vaccine or must make families aware of it. Have your son look at the site:</p>
<p>What is so scarey to me is that many of the people we read about who have contracted meningitis did have the vaccine and the booster. I am all for the vaccine because I am sure it helps, but troubling that it doesn’t completely protect against the illness. Scarey scarey stuff!</p>
<p>I have told this story before, but my husband had bacterial meningitis three times in 1992. It was a result of a spinal fluid leak and then a complication following surgery to prepare the leak. </p>
<p>The first ime he got sick, we had eaten dinner early in the evening, and at about 11 p.m., he said he was feeling sick. He felt like he was getting the flu. He went to bed and in a short time, he started to chill and shiver. I called the local ER ( he was in the Army and we had just moved the month before); the person there said that it sounded like the flu. Then he got sick to his stomach (sounds like the flu, right). I called the emergency room again. Same response. About 3a.m., his vomit appeared to be bloody. I called the neighbor to get directions to the hospital. He could not stand up. We called an ambulance. By the time we arrived at the hospital he was combative and disoriented. They had to take him to the OR to do the spinal tap. The ER doc told me that if we had waited four more hours, he probably would not have made it. The anesthesiologist told me he was surprised my husband lived. He was in a coma for 48 hours, but survived and has some immune system issues and a seizure condition. </p>
<p>I am allergic to thimerosal, but I have the updated vaccines, like tetanus. ( they used to put it in contact solution & i couldn’t wear contacts till it was removed.)</p>
<p>Just because you are an adult does not mean you get to pick and choose the adult decisions you want to make. When you are totally on your own, you can decide everything; when you live on your parents’ dime, you don’t have all the rights.</p>
<p>A girl died in my dorm this past year of meningitis. Scary thing was that she was vaccinated and up-to-date. I wasn’t living in the dorm but I was constantly there because many of my friends live there and it’s where most of my classes are. Scared the crap out of all of us. My dad has had meningitis before (missed months of work when I was young because of it) and one of my good friends was in the hospital for a very long time when she had it. </p>
<p>Meningitis vaccines are NOT required at my U. I got them. After watching my dad and friend go through that, I wasn’t risking it. </p>
<p>The guy who linked autism to vaccines has already been outed as a fraud. If he can’t find “reliable sources” about this, then I shudder to think of what kind of research he’ll do for his college papers.</p>
<p>cheekymonkey - I sure agree with you and everyone here that he needs to get the vaccine. That’s battle number one. But truly - there’s an additional issue in that he needs to learn how to discern good information from bad. These days we are slammed non stop with non-science, non-news, non-fact bull, and I’d be very concerned that he doesn’t know how to decide if a source is reliable and believable. Your son isn’t alone, but I find it really alarming that we seem (as a country) to be unable/unwilling to demand good information and good science on issues as important as this one, and it’s alarming to see smart young people unable to pick through all the crap, because we really need a population of people who aren’t so easily swayed away from logic and reason.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how I’d approach this with my boys - they certainly wouldn’t just take my word for it on a subject that we disagreed about, but maybe ask him to agree to do some research and find some credible sources and studies about the issue. Don’t ask him to jump on your bandwagon - just ask him to go back to neutral on the issue and do some research (in our state, we are allowed to use state universities resources because we’re tax payers) to truly find the science behind the issue.</p>