Doc won't draw titers. Says they are a waste of time! Now what?

[wendygrace]

Ds was selectively vaxed as an infant.   He is now 8 and we will be traveling out of the country (cruise - Belize, Roatan, Cozumel, Cayman) and I am concerned about his immunity.  Those four places recommend MMR, HepA, HepB and TD.  

Would titers really be a waste of time?  He's never had Hep A or MMR shots at all and some but not necessarily all the series of the others (we stopped when he was 14 months old).   

Would you get the titers yourself?  Convince the doc (who is usually easy going and had no problems running whatever I want, including a pertussis test last year) to order them?  Or just let it go?  

Please help!  

[mattemma04]

I would let it go,but if you really want them then insist or go to another doctor. If the titers are low you will need enough time to get the vaccines done,and ofcourse as the inserts state not every vaccine recipient will develop immunity.He could have vaccines,but will you then do another titer test? What if it is low again?

The titers MAY be  a waste of time,but I think the doctor should put in an order for them if you really want them.

[wendygrace]

Thanks for the input.  After looking at the schedule and the vaccines he's already had, it looks like I could get away with just doing the shots required for "kindergarten" plus an additional MMR and Hep A (since I'm sure he hasn't had either of those).  Now the questions becomes, which of these am I really afraid of and would really be at risk for.  I go back and forth.  I still have another week to decide but had the doctor's office order the individual TD (is is Td or Dt, I don't know) as they didn't stock those regularly.  

Thanks again!

[Amatullah0]

It is possible that he has immunity to one or more of those diseases already(I'm specifically thinking hep A, Diptheria, tetanus, and hep B) so weigh the pros and benefits of the vax, and how OK you would be with getting the vax done unnecessarily(i.e. if it turns out he had already had immunity, not that you'd find out somehow if you can't do titers)

Honestly, I'd do neither, because we don't vax. Even when traveling(we're visiting pakistan right now, mostly unvaxed, and completely unworried). But, since you DO want to vax for those diseases, if I were in your shoes, I would get titers done, but if I was short on time, I would do the vaccines(ideally, at least a day apart) and try to not be worried about it, because he's older, and the vaxes in question are considered to be safer. 

I can think of two situations that our pertinent to our family, that require vaccination(legalities/rules). We will be doing titers for these situations, then vaccinating if the titers are two low for the PTB to accept them as immunity.

Edited by Amatullah0 - 5/17/11 at 7:20pm

[wendygrace]

Thanks!  After hemming and hawing and just about to give them a vax, I made the decision against again.  I looked at the instance of these diseases on the CDC (or was it the WHO) website in the countries we'd be traveling and none were at all even remotely high.  Guess we'll take our chances on them getting the diseases.  Not that we won't ever do it but it just wasn't the right time.