@brantly Yes, I didn’t mean to imply in my original comment that the nurse should just blindly do whatever the doctor says, obviously nurses have plenty of training and experience to question certain decisions and like you say, catch medical errors.
But this sounded like a blanket questioning of all adult vaccine patients. And I agree, he/she should have raised concern with the doctor not the patient.
In my experience, nurses routinely question orders that aren’t sound. It probably happens less often in office situations, where the nurses/techs/MAs are more likely to be directly employed by the doctor.
As already mentioned, this instance was not justified by evidence based practice.
^The trouble with the so-called “evidence” is sometimes studies are not done long enough. Side effects can show much later as in 10 years later. Often studies are done only a few years and experts call it “evidence” misleading poublic and planting seeds for mistrust. Can you really blame people for mistrusting?
The measles vaccine has been around for over 50 years. Its efficacy, safety, potential adverse effects, etc., have been well established.
Once people get mistrustful, even solid truth can be doubted. It doesn’t work to say, Listen I lied last time but this one is real.
Oh good god. Vaccines have been monitored for decades and decades. They work. They’re safe. Get them.
It kills me that this is still an ongoing conversation. And by it kills me- I might mean that literally one day.
Oh yeah- on that note, I did manage to avoid the whooping cough. Had to go through the antibiotics course though and my body doesn’t deal well with antibiotics anymore 
Please remember that “safe and effective” means “safe and effective for the VAST MAJORITY of people”.
Vaccines are pharmaceuticals. All pharmaceuticals have side effects. Usually people get away with a hurt arm or maybe a little fever.
I had a significant side effect from the flu vaccine, and I and my children don’t take it any more. I passed out for hours within a minute of getting a flu vaccine. There are journal articles linking narcolepsy to flu vaccines. I cannot risk my children’s and my health to take a vaccine for an illness that has a treatment and has clear symptoms.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/history/narcolepsy-flu.html
We do take all other required vaccines.
BUT - if someone is deciding whether to return their child to school after chemotherapy and they cannot get vaccines, and getting the flu would be life-threatening, the school would have to decide whether to keep my children in school or that child in school. You can either risk it or you don’t. My children have a right to not risk an extremely severe lifelong illness that clearly they have a significant predisposition for.
@rhandco, of course there are people who cannot take certain vaccines for various medical reasons. Those are the people for whom herd immunity is so important.
@rhandco you’re preaching to the choir. There are several immunizations I can’t take because I am immuno suppressed.
And no one has any idea whether or not the vaccines I had before I got sick are still effective.
It’s people like us for whom vaccinations are ESPECIALLY important- because we can’t protect ourselves so we rely on herd immunity.
So yes, clearly, if you’re allergic or something… don’t get them. But that is a VERY TINY portion of the population.
@rhandco – you might want to read the link you posted. It found NO LINK between the vaccine in the US and narcolepsy.
Yes, dmd!.
From the link in post #2927:
2011 vaccination rate for boys was only 10%. Too bad.
I think a lot of people think HPV vaccines aren’t necessary for boys because boys don’t have cervixes. I also think too few pediatricians really talk with boys and their parents about the vaccine. When my pediatrician spoke with my son about it they discussed the fact that by getting the shot he could be helping to prevent his future wife from getting cancer. I think that resonated with him.
My kids are all vaccinated except the HPV vaccine - I didn’t feel good about that one. I did ask my doctor when it was time to start treating my daughter. My doc had girls a few years older and was “waiting for more studies” so that sealed it for me. RE: Menangitis, we have a friend whose son died of menangitis while at college. He was two hours away and our friend didn’t make it in time. They wanted S19 to get it prior to entering high school and get a booster 5 (I think) years later. I was told the risk factors were living in close proximity to a lot of other people. I chose to have him get it later in high school so that if/when he was living in a dorm situation the protection would still be in force regardless of if I could get him to go in for a booster shot. It was important to me that he be protected the strongest, if you will, while in a dorm rather than just in high school and his Doc agreed with the reasoning.
The new meningococcal meningitis vaccines last much longer than the old ones, so waiting til just before college starts is unnecessary. Get the vaccine at 11 with a booster, and that age may be lowered soon (the worst night of my life as a pediatric resident; maybe of my life, was watching a four year old die of meningoccal disease in a matter of hours. It’s not just teens/young adults). The men B vaccines may have a different length of efficacy and are right now only given when there is an outbreak. But the other vaccines (Menactra et al) can be given to younger kids and should be.
Just had a local 16 year old die from flu. Another college age kid from our church is hospital in bad shape with it. Get your flu shot.
I had a friend who died in her 30s from cervical cancer so I do “feel good” about vaccinating against HPV!
@greenwitch I have had it also, and I empathize with your loss. I still hesitate.