Some vax questions

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

My ds is 6 will be 7 Oct. 18 and he only got vaxed at 2 and 4 months. At those times he received DTaP, Hib, IPV, HepB (got all 3 of those from birth) and Prevnar.

I have decided at this time to do a few vax specifically DTaP and possibly MMR and Polio.

My questions: at his age he dosnt need any more HIB or Prevnar right?

He cut his foot this past Friday and got 7 stitches and at that time I agreed to him receiving the tetanus shot because he cut his foot in absolutely beyond nasty conditions and I wasnt willing to take the risk, they gave him TDaP at the ER (the Dr. was very clear on the fact he gave TDaP and not DTaP) I am pretty sure that he dosnt need any more DTaP until he is due for a booster does anyone know anything about that?

He had zero reaction not even a bit of pain with the TDaP which I am very thankful for since that is the one (DTaP) that my dd reacted really badly to) so if he needs more I am OK with him getting it but only want to do what I absolutely have to do.

I have looked at the CDC catch up schedule and it was helpful but I am still working on making choices right now and I know asking the Dr. would be useless since they would recommend he be given all them so I am asking here where I know you all have done a lost of research on this subject.

TIA
Edited to clarify about the TDaP at the ER
Edited by MCatLvrMom2A&X - 8/11/11 at 5:14am

[ma2two]

He is too old for more doses of Hib and Prevnar.

At age 6, he would have been given DTaP, not Tdap at the hospital.

I'm sure he doesn't "need" any more DTaP or Tdap, but the CDC's catch-up schedule indicates he could get Tdap in 6 months. At that point, he will be 7. Even though neither Tdap nor DTaP is licensed for use between the ages of 7 and 10, Tdap is what is given in that age range.

After that dose 6 months from now, he would not get another Tdap for 10 years.

Just in case you weren't aware, there have been zero cases of polio in the U.S. since 1979, other than the cases up until 1999 caused by the OPV (oral polio vaccine) which was a live virus vaccine.

If you do decide to give MMR, you might want to research giving very high doses of vitamin A for 2 consecutive days. 200,000 IU each day for 2 days is what I remember reading. But I am going by memory.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

The Dr. at the ER was very specific in telling me that they gave him TDaP not DTaP so that I could tell his pediatrician and have it put in his file it also says TDaP on his paperwork. Because he was so close to 7yo it was acceptable according to him.. He also said to get with my ped and make sure he wouldnt need to do a catch up since he didnt know.


I was pretty sure about the Hib and prevnar since it wasnt on the CDC catch up for age 7-18y. I know about the polio it is why I havnt worried about it and probably wont do it just something I was considering.

I will look into the vit A if I decide on the MMR.
Edited by MCatLvrMom2A&X - 8/11/11 at 4:37am

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Any one else has any advice?

What about spacing the vax out, I was thinking along the lines of once a year or a minimum of 6 months between.

[Turquesa]

I'm not sure what your exact questions are, apart from the one about PCV and HIB, and it is correct that your DS won't need those.

I can tell you a little about my own catch-up decisions and hope that it helps. 

I'm actually comfortable with the spacing on the CDC catch-up schedule. Is there a reason to space it differently?  (Not picking a debate...just curious for making my own vaccine decisions). 

I usually do one vax at a time to test for reactions, and once I'm comfortable with the vax, I do another dose of it with another vax.  If there's a reaction, I want to be able to trace it to the right vaccine.  I have serious issues with the reliability of the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) because a LOT of people won't be able to report if they got a lot of vaxes at once and therefore can't trace the reaction to any specific vaccine.  Not sure if I'm making sense here, but if there's a reaction, I want to know precisely which vaccine caused it.

Given the possibility that the DTaP vaccine doesn't actually prevent the transmission of pertussis (Google that one), and given that the fourth dose of that vaccine is the most likely to cause seizures (per CDC's Vaccine Information Sheet), I'm not sure if it's worth continuing that series on DD.  She's due for her catch-up on that in October, so I have awhile to make that decision.

We're not getting Varicella at all.  I will revisit that decision when my kids turn 10 if they still haven't had chicken pox.  Influenza and Hep A (my state now "requires" this one for school) are also no-go's for us. HTH!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

My thing about spacing is giving the body time to recover in between the vax. I am also only going to do 1 at a time because I want to know which one caused a reaction if it happens.

[skyblufig]

When we start we're spacing them at least 6 months apart as well.  What we're on the watch for here is an autoimmune-type reaction (due to family history), so we're giving it at least that long, possibly longer to manifest in the short-term. [long term is a whole 'nother post and what's keeping me up at night currently]

We're only doing one at a time regardless for this reason: if you do two (or more) at a time after previously having no reaction, how can you know if it's the additional vax by itself giving a bad reaction or the combination of the two reacting, kwim?  i.e, The additional vax might have no reaction at all given on its own.  So that's where we're coming from. 

Best of luck to everyone & please send us some good vibes around the middle of September -- that's when we're starting.

Jen

Edited by skyblufig - 8/18/11 at 3:29pm