If you Vax your baby, why would you not get the shots yourself?

[Lisa1970]

I am curious about this one. I have met a lot of people who will say they want their children "fully vaccinated' and then claim they too were "fully vaccinated." But, the shots available and being given today are not the same ones even 14 yrs ago. So parents who are in their 20's and 30's or even 40's never had even half the shots they give their newborns.

SO, my question is, why would anyone give a shot to their child that they would not take themselves? 

When my doctor started in on the DTP thing, the adults in our home got it, as well as the older kids, but not the baby. I feel the baby is too young. But I know most people would have gotten the baby the shot and skipped the adults. But then you go through the list of about 50 shots a baby gets by 4 yrs old, and only a few of those have ever been received by adults today, and most of those wear off so they need to be re-given for them to be effective. 

The point is, it never ever makes sense to me why a parent would have their child injected with a shot but then not themselves. Can anyone explain this one to me?

[kathymuggle]

[cappuccinosmom]

  Were you thinking of it as a "bad parent" thing, people deliberately vaxing kids but avoiding it themselves because they believe it's bad for them?

Couple of possible reasons...

They may be unaware of the difference.  I don't have any memories of being vaccinated, nor do I have my childhood records.  Without information, someone could easily assume that "fully vaccinated" means "fully vaccinated".  It is very common for people to take a pass on regular checkups once they reach adulthood, so information about boosters and new vaxes may simply not be getting to them.

They may believe that it's less important for them to be vaccinated as adults/believe that they are better able to deal with diseases than an infant or young child would be.

They may not be able to afford medical stuff for themselves, but have their kids on state assistance.

They may care a lot about their kid's health (and believe that vaxes promote health), but not care nearly as much about their own health.  That is fairly common among the adults I know, who will do just about anything to make sure their kid is healthy, but neglect their own health.

[babymommy2]

I'll reply as one of those people who does vaccinate. I also have no issue with having myself vaccinated, but have I had all the same shots as my child? No. You have to keep in mind that things have changed over time, and when new vaccines are introduced public health services does not go back and vaccinate the entire population, depending on what vaccine you are talking about, depending on who is n=most at risk, depending opn cost, so you really need to anwser this question vaccine by vaccine, theya re all a bit different, and I am speacking of what I know based on the health regions I have worked in.

dipthereia, tetanus, polio, pertussis vaccines have been around a long time, and most paretns today would have been offered those as a child, some of those vaccines have changed like the switch from whole cell to accellular pertussis vaccine. If you didnt' have those beforer as an adult you can get the series done for free, and the boosters for tetanus and diphtheria. Pertussis has changed. pertussis vaccine is not nearly as long lasting, adults were not boosted as they don't get deathly ill from that, but then eventually it was decided that it might be a good idea to vaccinate adults/ teens as they tend to be the ones speading it around, so they are recommended to vaccine, not so much to protect themselves from seroius disease, but as a measure to reduce pertussis in teh population overall, therefore reduce the risk to the vulnerable sector. Now persussis is ofered as a tetanus, dphtheria, pertussis booster at age 14ish, instead of the tetanus, diphtheria. ALso in my region it is offered to paretns of infants. Outside of the"recommendations" you could prchase it.

MMR is not given to anyone born pre 1970 ( in my region) as you are consided immune from natural disease.  this vaccine started around the late 1960's. The entire population asa whoiel is not tested to check on your immunity, but for certain situaion, like any pregnant woman, or certain occupations if you are tested and you are not immune, then you are offered vaccine.

Chickenpox, when it started, started with children aged 1 and pre K, then it was added to the school schedule at grade 5, if you didnt' have the disease yet. If you are an adult, 99% chance you had chickenpox already, if you come up non immune on your prenatal bloodwork you are offered vaccine. If they know that 99% of the population has chickenpox disease by age 20 (pre vaccine years) they are not going to go and recommend that every peoprson get the vaccine, or even get tested for the vaccine as it becomes too expensive. The line is drawn somewhere.

things like hib, meningococcal, pneumococcal, are given to those most at risk, not the entire population. Children, all people over age 65 are recommended to get pheumococaal where I live, Also some other adults do get those vaccines, but it is only for certain people, like spleenectomy's or certian immunocompromised people.

Also some vaccines are recommended based on occupation. For example most people who are adults born post 1970 would have had MMR, probably 1 dose. Later it was changed to a 2 dose schedule. I fyou are in Health care, it is recommended you get that second dose ( and paid for by the governent), but not all adults are funded, just healthcare workers.

I don't know how it works in the states, but in Canada  there are recommendations made federally, then each province decides based on that, based on there own population, and disease patterns, based on cost what they will fund and for who.  (health care is a provincial responsibility). The recommendations for the generally healthy adult is different for certain high risks groups, high risk popultions, how   old you are, etc. for example, in alberta meningococcal is offered from 2 months on, in Saskatchewan it is not offered until 1 year of age. Hep B is given in AB in grade 5, in SK in grade 6. Hepb B is given at 2 months in both provinces if you are in an endemic ethinic group, and given at birth only mom is a hep B carrier, but I believe some of the atlantic provinces give all babies hep b and don't do it at school age. 

[Annie Mac]

Yup, as the PP said, the risk group category. Pertussis is a good example. While you can get pertussis at any age, it's more likely to be fatal to infants. 

[Lisa1970]

The chicken pox vax was not out even when my teens were born. They both got the disease around the time the shots came out.

[Lisa1970]

No, actually, I was thinking that most people do not realize not all vaccinations give life time immunity (most do not) and they assume they had everything they are giving their children. The principal at our local school just got pertussis and she was shocked to realize that it was a required vax for her school, and she did not have it because they did not require the teachers and staff to get it!
 

Originally Posted by cappuccinosmom 

  Were you thinking of it as a "bad parent" thing, people deliberately vaxing kids but avoiding it themselves because they believe it's bad for them?

Couple of possible reasons...

They may be unaware of the difference.  I don't have any memories of being vaccinated, nor do I have my childhood records.  Without information, someone could easily assume that "fully vaccinated" means "fully vaccinated".  It is very common for people to take a pass on regular checkups once they reach adulthood, so information about boosters and new vaxes may simply not be getting to them.

They may believe that it's less important for them to be vaccinated as adults/believe that they are better able to deal with diseases than an infant or young child would be.

They may not be able to afford medical stuff for themselves, but have their kids on state assistance.

They may care a lot about their kid's health (and believe that vaxes promote health), but not care nearly as much about their own health.  That is fairly common among the adults I know, who will do just about anything to make sure their kid is healthy, but neglect their own health.

[serenbat]

In the US a lot of insurance companies will not pay for adult vac-cost means NO vac

just look into the cost for the shingles vac and see why most do not get it

[carriebft]

My children and myself are pretty much "fully vaccinated." Here is why the vaccines they have and the ones I have differ:

-Some vaccines are unnecessary past a certain age (hib and rotavirus for example). HIb is a dangerous infection for young children and at risk adults; I do not fall in either category so I do not get this. Rotavirus is only given to infants.

-some vaccine recommendations change- so PCV is the recommended pneumococcal for young children while other meningitis preventative vaccines are used later in life. Thus, I have not had nor will I ever have PCV but I have had a different shot twice during my college career.

-I had DPT and my kids have DTaP. The booster of this for adults is Tdap- thus, I will never get DTaP but the booster Tdap instead.

-I had chicken pox and thus would not need the vaccine

But we have all had Hep B, MMR and IPV. Hep B and IPV have been shown to provide good, lasting immunity. I had mine later in life so there is even less chance of issues with waning immunity. I will have the kids checked around 13 to see if their doses have kept. Measles immunity has been shown to be very long lasting. I had my rubella immunity tested 4 times now and still immune.

[babymommy2]

thinking about it, I think the only vaccines my chidlren have that I don't are meningococcal and pheumococcal (only given to high risk adults) and chickenpox (I had the disease).

[Lisa1970]

Originally Posted by babymommy2 

thinking about it, I think the only vaccines my chidlren have that I don't are meningococcal and pheumococcal (only given to high risk adults) and chickenpox (I had the disease).

So have you gotten the boosters for everything? I got the DTP last year as did my husband and older children. But then, I found that while everyone around here got their babies DTP, none of the adults did. Even if you had it as a child, it would be worn off by now.