Oldest child off to college this fall...

[rda]

I have been a MDC member for a long time and have lurked a bit, and I haven't been here regularly in a while, but this is the first place I thought of when I needed vax info! I have looked through the forum a bit and haven't found any discussion on this topic. I'm hoping someone here can point me to some info or discussions of what others have done when their partially or un-vaxed kids left the home to go to college or live on their own.

DD1 is 17.5 yrs old and was vaxed on regular schedule through about 18months, DD2 is 16 and only got the very first set. Neither of them got HepB, both got natural immunity to CPox. I did most of my research back when they were little and feel that we definitely made the right choice to stop vaccinating, but now that DD1 is going off to college, I feel like I need some updated info to arm her with as she starts her adult life. Are there any books out there that address the issue from this perspective? All the books I have from before and the ones I've been able to look at recently only focus on young children. Does anyone here know of any threads discussing an issue similar to this?

I guess I'm wondering what are the things to be thinking about in regards to vaccination during this transition? She will be living in a new environment, exposed to a lot of new people, she will be traveling, possibly studying abroad, etc. Her life is changing, and while millions of kids go through this transition every year, not too many of them are unvaxed, so I don't think the support systems she will have access to will necessarily be able to help her/us make good decisions.

Thank you for any help you can give!

Renee

[zonapellucida]

I sent my DD here to read the many articles that are stickied.

[Gitti]

Hi Renee,

You are right, sending your child off to college will expose her to a lot of new challenges both mental and physical.

From what I've been reading we get very used to our surroundings in terms of microbes. Any time we get outside of that 'field' we are exposed to new critters and have to build immunity to them. New turf means new germs and getting used to them. Usually we don't even notice but sometimes it does bring on flu like sypmtoms.

That is why the first year of college can mean getting sick more often. But it does not mean danger. Just new challenges.

There is nothing better than an immune system that has not been tempered with too much and a body that has been raised on decent food and little or no medicine. When I sent my kids off to college (3 in 3 years) we never even considered vaccines. That was 20 years ago. What I was most worried about was that they would be eating junk foods and I had no way of discouraging it. But we never feared getting sick so that was not a concern.

If you really believe that vaccines are a 'good thing' than I guess you would be considering them for your child. We did not. But it was much easier back then since there was no pressure about vaccines (at least we didn't hear it) and no vaccines were needed to enter college. Even schools were not involved in the vaccine business until years later.

When my unvaccinated grandchildren go off to college (in 6 years) we hope for them to make the right decisions about foods, drugs (illegal and legal) and the friends they choose. But we will not get them vaccinated.

[spero]

a Word on exemptions ...

http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...hlight=college

We ended up submitting his vax records, since he was technically UTD and it was easier than battling the school. Besides, he was turning 18 a month later and could claim his own exemption then - regardless of what was on file.

Then the school wanted a letter from a doc confirming DS was UTD on tetanus, which led to a huge freaking battle with the ped - b/c though DS WAS utd per state guidelines (had a booster within past eight years), the ped's requirement is now every 5 years, and they wouldn't give us a letter unless he got the booster. I put my foot down and demanded a letter from them, and they finally gave me one after a huge phone tag fight.

(btw - We left that peds office soon afterward.)

Then the school sent us a letter (like, DAYS before classes began) that DS had to have a TB test or he couldn't attend classes. There wasn't time to do anything else, so he did have that.

This was for a freaking community college. It was a nightmare. And it all could have been avoided, if he'd just had an exemption on file in high school. The first thing I did after wading through this mess was to make certain ALL my kids had exemptions on file!!!

[alicewyf]

I just wanted to add that I never got the meningitis vaccine for college and never had any issues. That is usually the one they try to scare college students with.

[UUMom]

This is from Vaccine Risk Awarness Newtwork. It's mostly UK stats, but might be of interest.

www.vran.org/vaccines/meningitis/men-scare.htm

[tanyalynn]

My kids are little, so my thinking has been for far-off planning purposes. I think one of the biggest changes I've gone through as we've decided to stop vaccinating is that our culture doesn't see any need to slow down and take care of ourselves when we're sick, and I see a lot of risk in that approach.

My son, especially, gets sick a lot, and finding a routine of nourishing, easy-to-digest foods and some supplements to support him (and all of us) when we're sick, and deliberately slowing down life, resting more, skipping some of our usual activities, has been important, and I don't think the importance of doing that will magically go away when they're adults. And I'm also hoping that they'll be in touch with how they feel--most of the time I think we can tell when we're a little sick vs we're getting very ill, and we can make decisions accordingly. But it _is_ a lot harder when it's not seen as normal, and when there's a lot of other fun stuff going on. So that's the stuff that I think I'll be emphasizing when the time comes for them to leave home. And clearly this helps for all the diseases for which there are no vaccines.

[just_lily]

I can't think of any books off of the top of my head that have to do with college-age / adult vax. Everything I have read has to do with the childhood schedule. The Vaccine Book tends to be a pretty easy read since it is all broken down by the vaccine/disease pairs if there is a specific vaccine you are thinking about, but it does have a pro-vax slant to it.

I think maybe a more generic book about keeping yourself healthy would be better. Perhaps there are booklists in Health and Healing?

I would just try to emphasize that she doesn't HAVE to get any of the vaxes no matter what anybody tells her. Explain to her why you made the decisions you did and what your feelings about vaccines are. Encourage her to really research any vaccine she considers. Google the inserts - they are very telling.

Also emphasize general health tips. College can be very hard on the system because you are around so many people all day, eating poorly, getting little sleep, and dealing with lots of stress. I got a really bad case of bronchitis my first week of school, and it was awful - but nothing a vaccine could have prevented.

[rda]

Thank you

Thank you all for your responses. I knew I just needed to get my mind on the right track thinking this situation through and you've helped me do that.

I really hadn't even thought about the colleges vaccination requirements, though, I was just thinking about any possible threats to her health and decisions she will face regarding those. Her first choice school is a private one, but I think here in MI they would have to accept the same types of exemptions the private elementary and secondary schools do, right? Probably better research that, I guess.

Thanks again!

[Lisa1970]

When I was born, 1970, there were only 2 vaccinations given to children...DTP and polio. I am going to go off of that. I see no need to add in all these others for when my children go to college or otherwise, I did not. My children will be getting the polio as children, and if they want, can get the DTP as adults when they go to college. I did not though. It wears off in less than 10 yrs and I did not have it after the age 5.

[Fyrestorm]

Originally Posted by Lisa1970

When I was born, 1970, there were only 2 vaccinations given to children...DTP and polio. I am going to go off of that. I see no need to add in all these others for when my children go to college or otherwise, I did not. My children will be getting the polio as children, and if they want, can get the DTP as adults when they go to college. I did not though. It wears off in less than 10 yrs and I did not have it after the age 5.

I was born in 65 and also got the MMR..I think it was already mandated (at least in CT)

[spero]

Originally Posted by Lisa1970

When I was born, 1970, there were only 2 vaccinations given to children...DTP and polio. I am going to go off of that. I see no need to add in all these others for when my children go to college or otherwise, I did not. My children will be getting the polio as children, and if they want, can get the DTP as adults when they go to college. I did not though. It wears off in less than 10 yrs and I did not have it after the age 5.

Are you sure? I was born in 65, and got measles & smallpox vaccines in addition to DTP & polio.

[WC_hapamama]

IIRC, the only vaccinations that I had to get boosters for to be admitted to college was tetanus (I think I ended up getting the Td) and a measles booster (only measles)... oh and I had to get a TB test too.

I haven't gotten boosters for anything else, except tetanus, since I was 5. I managed to make it through 2 1/2 years of college, including 1 1/2 years in the dorms, without coming down with any dreadful diseases.