Unvaccinated adults

[annjo]

Now that we have recently gotten over the "hump" of kindergarten registration for our unvax'd 4 y/o, I'm starting to think ahead--way ahead.

I'm wondering about any of you that may be adults who were never vaxed or mothers of now-adult unvaxed children. What kind of difficulties have these adults run into with college admissions, professional schools, etc. with the unvaxed status? How have they been able to work with it?

[AnnieNimIty]

I didn't go to a 4 year college, but a 2 year community college. My vax status never came up.
From birth to adulthood I have never had a single vaccination. For school, my mom just signed an exemption form and I went as normal. Granted, there were interesting comments from other kids about me not being vaccinated. I told them for some reason. They had this misunderstanding that vaccinations were like immunity boosters and kept you from getting colds, or infections.
Employers never brought it up and neither did I.

[frontierpsych]

I am not unvaxed, but have not had any vaccines in over a decade (I'm 23, haven't had a vax since I was 12). I have not needed proof of vaccination for anything in my adult life (jobs, college, etc). As far as VPDs, the only thing I have had is rotavirus (and chicken pox, of course, which I got before there was a vax for it), so this hasn't been an issue either.

[claddaghmom]

Hi,

I'm not vaccine free per the definition, but my mom stopped vaccinating me after a reaction so I did not finish nor am I up to date.

Not vaccinating was a factor in not attending medical school. But I also recognize that I was not the advocate for myself that I could have been. What is legal and what is political often are not aligned. I could have fought, but as a 17yo w/o parental support and not that educated on the issues, I backed down and moved on. That was my school of choice; the other two med schools I was accepted to were going to allow me to have exemptions but scholarships were less and I couldn't afford any.

Since then, I have not run into any problems with my status. I've attended several lextures at different universities, attended the community college here and I'm going full time at a private university. Vaccine status never came up in regular classes. Again though, when I initially looked into a grad degree in physical therapy, HebP came up for the clinicals. They seemed adamant over it but I did not remain interested in joining the program so I never found out what their exemption process included.


I have heard that a popular private uni here requires vaccinations but my DH went there for a year back before we were together and he said you just sign a paper saying you don't want to get vaccinated. That was probably 5 years ago though so who knows how they are now. His sister graduated from the school and never vaccinated FWIW.

[prescottchels]

So far there have been 2 situations in my adult life surrounding vaxes, specifically TB. The first was when my friend and I wanted to start an in-home daycare certified by the state. They required a TB test, which I think I got around by having my naturopath write a letter saying I was healthy and b/c of an already compromised immune system (fibromyalgia and non-active epstein-barr) that I would not be getting the test. Ultimately we changed our plans about the daycare, but I'm pretty sure they were gonna be ok w/the letter.
The other time I was thinking about becoming a volunteer at the local hospital and they too required a TB test, but a letter wouldn't suffice for them. I didn't look into the actual laws/requirements, just decided I didn't want to deal with it so I moved on to other things...

[eireann]

Originally Posted by AnnieNimIty

I didn't go to a 4 year college, but a 2 year community college. My vax status never came up.
From birth to adulthood I have never had a single vaccination. For school, my mom just signed an exemption form and I went as normal. Granted, there were interesting comments from other kids about me not being vaccinated. I told them for some reason. They had this misunderstanding that vaccinations were like immunity boosters and kept you from getting colds, or infections.
Employers never brought it up and neither did I.

wow, awesome. DD is vax free, but only 2 yo. how is your health, if you don't mind me asking?

[Cetan Luta]

I am 30 and completely unvaxed, hardly had any western medicine at all actually. My parents filled out an exemption for public school, and it has never been an issue since.

[Deborah]

I'm 59 and have only been vaccinated once, without my parents permission. I'm one of 5 kids. I don't know what choices the others have made as adults because we haven't discussed it.

My vaccination status has never come up--not for college, not for travel, not for any employment. I did have to get a TB test two or three times in my life and didn't actually consider it to be equivalent to a vaccination.

My daughter didn't get all of her vaccines, but I did get her a few when she was 8 or so. I think it undermined her health. She has never mentioned anyone asking for evidence of vaccines.

She lives in a state with a philosophical exemption. So far the kids haven't run into any problems. She did have one run-in with a silly lady at the state when she was running a home day care and needed to get an exemption form for one of the parents. But she told the woman to go read the law and then get her the exemption form and it all worked out.

I think the only area where there are currently problems is if someone works in the medical profession. My son-in-law works in a hospital and got some hassle for turning down the flu shots.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by prescottchels

The other time I was thinking about becoming a volunteer at the local hospital and they too required a TB test, but a letter wouldn't suffice for them. I didn't look into the actual laws/requirements, just decided I didn't want to deal with it so I moved on to other things...

Now there is theQuantiFERON blood test (in case that comes up again).

As for the OP, childhood non-vaccination would not affect you as an adult; an adult child can always get vaccinated as an adult. You will not be barred from something because you did not receive HIB as an infant.

For college, the requirement (if there is one) is often only for a couple of vaccines and exemptions can usually be used. Where refusing to be vaccinated as an adult is most often a problem, is in the medical field.

[Arduinna]

I haven't had any vaccine since elementary school ( at which time I wasn't given a choice) I'm now in my mid 40's and raised my family no vax. Haven't had one issue, but none of us have gone to nursing or medical school or work in any type of care facility.

[prescottchels]

Originally Posted by Emmeline II

Now there is theQuantiFERON blood test (in case that comes up again).

That is great to know. Thanks!

[MomofMusa]

Phew.. Ok, this is the chat I've been looking for..

So far, my son with his daytime granny/ my girlfriend of 20 some odd yrs mother is caring for my son while I work full time. I'm in MN, have my exempt papers ready for when I do place him in daycare or pre school.

I pray everyday that he stays healthy, or if he catches anything I follow up with the right thing and he's even more stronger after.





Bless all your hearts...

[annjo]

Thanks everyone for the info. The issue of getting into medical/nursing/physical therapy schools is a problem. I don't want to limit choice for my children, and I think these policies serve to keep out a segment of the population that might be more understanding of the concerns about vaccination. I sincerely hope that these schools in the medical field will adopt a more reasonable policy before my children reach an age where it might be relevent.

Did anyone consider having titres checked? I doubt if this would have been volunteered as a possibility from a medical/nursing school. Just wondering if this ever came up....

[Arduinna]

I wouldn't vax my kids based on the possibility that they one day *might* want to work in the medical field. If they want it that bad, they can make an informed decision as an adult on the vax issue. It's not like you can never be vaxed if you weren't as a child. You aren't limiting your childs options in life by not vaxing now.

[annjo]

Originally Posted by Arduinna

I wouldn't vax my kids based on the possibility that they one day *might* want to work in the medical field. If they want it that bad, they can make an informed decision as an adult on the vax issue. It's not like you can never be vaxed if you weren't as a child. You aren't limiting your childs options in life by not vaxing now.

Absolutely! I would never vax because of that possibility. I don't second guess the decision and certainly know that when they are adults they can do as they choose. I just wish that additional hurdles were not in place for these individuals.

[Arduinna]

I also wish wish medical professionals weren't pressured to vax. My dh was in the hospital last fall and we discussed the h1n1 vax with one of the nurses. The hospital gave the staff two options, get the vax or wear a mask always while working. sigh. And then there is the mess in NY where the state tried to require h1n1 vax for all medical staff with no exemptions allowed. Of course they ended up backing down after the nurses association threatened them with a lawsuit.

[AnnieNimIty]

Originally Posted by eireann

wow, awesome. DD is vax free, but only 2 yo. how is your health, if you don't mind me asking?

I don't mind. I hardly ever get sick for one (once a year MAYBE). I have no immune problems ie asthma, arthritis (I am 24 but I know young people who have it). No heart problems either.

I take an iron pill for pregnancy related anemia.

Any health issues I have... which are none, would be derived from my lifestyle... as in I am very overweight. That is a learning curve from a hard start growing up.

Soooo, overall, I am really healthy, even for someone not in my weight range.

My dd is almost 2 also, no vaccinations and has only really been sick, (not teething associated) once. No ear infections, stomach issues, and is as smart as a whip. And she is generally wonderful !!!!

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by Arduinna

I wouldn't vax my kids based on the possibility that they one day *might* want to work in the medical field. If they want it that bad, they can make an informed decision as an adult on the vax issue. It's not like you can never be vaxed if you weren't as a child. You aren't limiting your childs options in life by not vaxing now.

Excellent and ITA. I had every opportunity and choice to vaccinate for entry and I, myself, chose not to do it.

[anj_rn]

A lot of colleges require the meningitis vax if you want to live on campus, then there are the vaxes if you are going into the medical field. Mainly because vaxing for Hep B was not mainstream at birth. I highly suspect that by the time my children are adults, everyone will assume they are vaxed.

I am allergic to the TB skin test, so I have to get a Chest x-ray every 5 yrs, but only because I am a nurse. I have also had them check for immunity titers prior to req. vaxes.

[TonyaW]

The biggest concern is going into the medical field, they often require vaccinations. Before I knew anything about this, I was heavily vaxed as an adult to work in the medical field.