Yes, I’d ask about the various pneumonia shots. There are at least 2 or 3 different ones. I got my 1st when diagnosed with a chronic lung disease and now get them every 5 years. Had the regular pneumovax and also prevnar-13. They say folks with lung conditions don’t have as robust and enduring immune-response so we need to re-vaccinate more often.
@romanigypsyeyes, so sorry your household can’t get MMR to protect themselves and you. Hopefully the shots all of you had when you were kids will provide adequate protection.
Yes, we all benefit from herd immunity. Now if only the herd would get with the program and stay current with their full vaccination schedules!
That’s a good idea @romanigypsyeyes. She’s a really active, athletic and generally healthy kid who seems to pick up the weirdest stuff-mono from sharing water bottles in middle school, pneumonia, tonsillitis, pertussis, blood poisoning, influenza each of the last two years, both times confirmed at the hospital. She powers through this stuff so effectively that we often don’t know how sick she’s been until weeks later when she’s still fighting the infection.
@HImom that’s the path I went too with the vaccines. The first one I got was 5 or 10 years (can’t remember) and the most recent one was the Prevnar13 (I believe…?). It’s whatever the one is that’s supposed to last a lifetime. They want me to reevaluate in 5 years to see if I should get another shot- but by that time my Rheum assumes there will be a better one out.
@Sue22 that’s how I was. No blood poisoning though- yikes!!! The worst was when I went until I was literally hospitalized with pneumonia of both lungs and ended up missing ~2 months of school (middle school). I learned my lesson after that time and paid better attention to my body lol.
@romanigypsyeyes, there has to be a way around that MMR restriction. After all, if you ever have a child, you would find it intolerable to put that child’s health at risk by having the child go unvaccinated to protect you.
How long do people shed the virus? Would it be possible for everyone in your household to get vaccinated on the same day and for you to stay in a hotel until the shedding period ends?
I was very nervous about D getting another MMR because not that long ago she was suspected of developing an autoimmune disorder. Rheumatologist said it was okay but it went against a lot of what I was reading. Then the last rheumatologist said she just has high autoantibodies as a member of a family prone to autoimmune diseases but is currently okay. It came down to D deciding on her own to get another MMR because of an internship in a hospital that she was assigned to the semester prior to graduation and she didn’t want any issues. Two other major research hospitals had been fine with her vaccination history but the regional hospital made a fuss when the measles titre was negative.
I had the chance to talk to the head of a county health system recently and he supported the idea of not giving live vaccines within a month of any other vaccine. Japan uses that protocol but our pediatrician here don’t even though it’s mentioned on that CDC MMR page linked above.
My older kids got the live polio vaccine orally and we were warned to wash our hands really well after diaper changes especially if anyone was old or sick in the house.
@marian If I have a child, I will have to be off the immunosuppression medicines anyway. Right now the odds of me having a child are extremely low so we’ll cross that bridge if we ever come to it
People can shed the virus for up to a month after vaccination.
@romanigypsyeyes There may be some immunosuppressants you could take while pregnant if that is a path you eventually look into. My sister-in-law stayed on anti-rejection drugs for her kidney while pregnant. They told her she could only do one pregnancy, however. Of course, all situations are different.
@ynotgo not to get too much off track, but thank you. We are going to meet with a high risk OBGYN at some point who specializes in lupus and other autoimmune disease patients. It helps to know that there are others out there who have made it through and done all right
It just sucks that so many of us have to rely on others to stay healthy and those others just don’t care about who they affect
My relative who has lupus in remission and adopted a child who was almost 7 from Taiwan. Another female friend who has lupus in remission had two girls and she and both kids are ok. Good luck @romanigypsyeyes! I’m sure you and your medical team will help find the best path forward for you.
When my S was little and having vaccinations one of his godfathers had AIDS. At that point he may have been on the drug cocktail, I don’t recall. Anyway, we were extremely careful about making sure his godfather didn’t come to stay during the shedding period.
I didn’t find out that I had no immunity to German Measles until after I got pregnant. The NJ lab that did our premarital blood tests had initially not tested me for it. CT required the test, so we had to send it back and ask them to do it. I think they just said the hell with it and checked the box.
The exposure involved in commuting to NYC every day was a factor in my deciding to stop working earlier rather than later.
Yes, when my SisIL was getting chemo, we steered clear of her when we were in any way likely to infect her with anything. Didn’t know or think of any shedding period but weren’t getting any shots at the time anyway.
I got multiple lectures from various different people when I was starting my treatments about being around people with recent vaccinations.
You know what drives me absolutely nuts though? I now get home infusions but when I was getting them in the chemo center, there were NO signs anywhere telling people with recent vaccines to stay away. There were a few very small signs that said to stay out if you have a cold or whatever (coughing, sneezing, etc) but even that wasn’t enforced. It made me very angry because I knew there were individuals in there who were way worse off immune wise than I was.
Yes, people mostly try to comply IF they know they endanger others. Must of us are NOT educated that we may endanger anyone and that we shed virus for 30 days after MMR shot. I had no idea and if you don’t push signs, many are uninformed they are risking others.
The other day was the first time ANY of my providers wore a mask. My OB/GYN was recovering from something that made him sneeze and cough, so he was wearing a mask, which I thought was very considerate (and rare).
@jym626, I got the Tdap a few years ago when I got my flu shot, which I get every year. Tdap takes about two weeks for the maximum antibodies to be produced. The booster is given every ten years.
Here’s an interesting article about live vaccine shedding, a concept I was unfamiliar with. It may be worth considering if your H and housemate wish to talk with your healthcare providers of pros and cons of them getting MMR and/or other vaccines @romanigypsyeyes.
I have an appointment with my Rheumatologist in a few weeks after I get back from a vacation. I will bring this up again with him and see what he thinks. I think we might be changing up my meds so that might make a difference.
Both Mr R & my roommate got a chicken pox booster a few months before I got sick because they work with kids. So it’s basically just the MMR one that I have to worry about.
ETA: I’m wondering if the whole don’t get MMR is an abundance of caution thing. I’ve always been up to date on my vaccines so I’m grateful for that.
This made me think though that I should figure out whether or not I have chicken pox antibodies. I was a few years before the vaccine and I had chicken pox very young- only a few months old. I thought I read somewhere that people who get c pox very young might not be immune to it.
