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do you know any teens or adults who decide to get vaccinated as adults?

post #1 of 19
6/10/12 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 

Do you know any formerly unvaccinated teens or adults who researched the issue as teens or adults and decided to have themselves vaccinated?

 

I am asking because I have heard several posters say the above lately, and I assume these situations are outliers, but I really don't know.

 

Adults in general are undervaxxed - not up to date on their boosters and the like.  I cannot really imagine most teens and adults making the time to get caught up unless there was a darn good reason (military).  I can see adults selectively vaxxing themselves for one reason or another  - but the whole thing?  Nope.

 

I have no issues with people vaxxing themselves as adults - it is their bodies, after all.  I also think their immune systems are more developed than infants and babies and they have more ability to look at and communicate what is happening in their body after a vax than a newborn/baby (who has little more than screams and cries unless something goes really wrong greensad.gif )

 

In any event, I cannot see my kids bothering to get themselves vaxxed for anything but a few select vaccines, (unless they get caught up in the pro-vax movement winky.gif) 

 

What are your thoughts?


Edited by purslaine - 6/10/12 at 9:51am

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post #2 of 19
6/10/12 at 9:46am

I have a dear friend who has 5 children, all completely unvaxxed. The oldest daughter decided to go to nursing school, and they told her she had to be utd on all her vaccines, so she agreed to be vaccinated for everything. I don't know if she could have gotten an exemption or not, but she didn't seem to care, even though her mom is seriously anti-vaccine. Is that what you are looking for?

post #3 of 19
6/10/12 at 9:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilbsmama View Post

I have a dear friend who has 5 children, all completely unvaxxed. The oldest daughter decided to go to nursing school, and they told her she had to be utd on all her vaccines, so she agreed to be vaccinated for everything. I don't know if she could have gotten an exemption or not, but she didn't seem to care, even though her mom is seriously anti-vaccine. Is that what you are looking for?

Thanks!

 

Yes, that is what I am looking for - stories of teen and adults you know and their decisions around remaining vax free (which I suspect is the majority) or not.

 

I suspect most choose to remain vax free - so I am looking for information to confirm or deny this suspicion (as much as one can confirm or challenge a hunch on a message board - that is)

post #4 of 19
6/10/12 at 9:06pm
Interesing question Kathy! Subbing smile.gif
post #5 of 19
6/10/12 at 9:11pm
Ps: I was told I needed to be UTD on vaxxes for midwifery school however I was selectively vaxxed as a child. So I decided to pay out of pocket and get titers run for everything, and LO and behold they all came back as immune, even though it had been 20+ years since I was selectively vaxxed for anything except hepatitis (which I did get boosters for as a teen before international travel.). So that's also an option for adults too rather than just get a whole bunch of shots all at once (which my DH had to do when he applied for his Green Card.)
post #6 of 19
6/10/12 at 9:33pm
I have a friend who is a nurse who had to get UTD because he was unvaxxed. I also know two people who chose to get vaxxed because they wanted to travel and thought it best. I only know one person who has chosen to remain unvaxxed as an adult, and she is now rethinking it because her infant was diagnosed with whooping cough and three of her other five unvaccinated children, got it as well. She didnt think it was fun having 4 kids with pertussis at the same time. Also, these are people who eat no processed food, were ebf, eat tons of probiotics, and generally have really healthy immune systems.
post #7 of 19
6/10/12 at 9:50pm

I have a neighbor who had six children and all of them were completely unvaccinated.  The mother is very anti-vaccine and anti about every other medical thing possible.  Her children are grown now--the youngest is in college.  

 

At least three of the children have chosen to be vaccinated as adults.  On of them wanted to volunteer with a service organization, and they said that he would not be allowed to serve outside of the USA unless he was completely up-to-date on his vaccines.  If he chose to remain unvaccinated, his service assignment would be in the USA.  He chose to be vaccintated at that time and spent two years serving people in another country.

 

One of the children chose vaccination for herself when she was in her 30s and having her own children.  

 

One of the children chose to be completely vaccinated as a college student as a result of his chemistry, biology, etc. courses.

 

I'm not as familiar with the second two, so I don't know in-depth information regarding their decisions.  All three of them made their decisions independently and the other siblings didn't know until a few years ago.  Their mother does not know that they are vaccinated, or that the majority of her grandchildren are now vaccinated.

post #8 of 19
6/11/12 at 1:55am
I know a couple of teenagers who are still unvaxed. Also, when I was working as a university lecturer I had two students who were unvaxed. They chose to drop out of the course (undergrad nursing) rather than be vaccinated.
post #9 of 19
6/11/12 at 9:05am

Well, my best friend is 35 and has never been vaccinated. Her parents have never been vaxed. She has two kids that she hasn't vaccinated.

 

She is a nurse and it IS possible to go through nursing school without getting Vaxed as well. The classes only made her More resolved never to vax.

 

She had Chicken pox as a child but that is it.

post #10 of 19
6/11/12 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssun5 View Post

She is a nurse and it IS possible to go through nursing school without getting Vaxed

It used to be possible in Australia but not anymore. If you're already registered there are ways to avoid it although it can limit your scope of practice.
post #11 of 19
6/11/12 at 2:23pm

My 22 yo DD, vaxed up until age 5 (last vaccine was measles), has refused all vaccines as an adult, well the only one she has been offered was Gardasil. I know with absolutely certainty she will never accept another vaccine, and will not vaccinate her children when she has them. 

post #12 of 19
6/11/12 at 2:30pm

I'm reading this with interest.  

 

Besides flu and tetanus, the only other vaccine that has ever been recommended to me as an adult was pertussis-- and that was only brought up as an added bonus to revaxxing for tetanus in our current whopping cough epidemic in our state.  (I used to be a pro gardener, and still garden almost everyday, so tetanus vaccine was recommended).

 

I have never seen a vaccination table for adults.  I've never looked, either, but you think these days there would be more focus in getting adults vaccinated and something like that would be produced in earnest.  I'm surprised NONE of my PCPs have mentioned anything but flu and tetanus.  But, I don't really know that much about these diseases where they concern adults.

 

(I was mostly vaxxed as a child.  I think-- I really don't know.  I remember getting my last oral polio booster at about 4 or 5yo, then after that was only at school.  Occasionally!)

post #13 of 19
6/11/12 at 8:10pm

I just got this in my inbox randomly,  Thought it was interesting for this thread.  Most adults are nowhere near "UTD" on vaccines anyway, regardless of their childhood vax history.

 

http://www.empowher.com/wellness/content/adult-vaccinations-time-catch?page=0,0

post #14 of 19
6/11/12 at 8:38pm

Several of my (college-age) siblings got vaccinated before travel to various places like China, Australia, and South America.  And my sister who is in nursing school had to get up to date on several things in order to work in the hospital.  I feel like she may have been able to get out of it if she fought it, but I'm not really sure.  

post #15 of 19
6/12/12 at 5:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nukuspot View Post

I just got this in my inbox randomly,  Thought it was interesting for this thread.  Most adults are nowhere near "UTD" on vaccines anyway, regardless of their childhood vax history.

 

http://www.empowher.com/wellness/content/adult-vaccinations-time-catch?page=0,0

What seems to be emerging is that adults get vaxxed when they feel they need to - travel, admission requirement, etc.

 

If I had to rank it at this point  (total speculation on my part) , I would say:

 

-most adults do not seek wide scale vaccination or being totally up to date for themselves

-if they do , it is is often for work or travel reason

-a small group may choose to become up to date because they believe in being up to date.


Edited by purslaine - 6/12/12 at 5:44am
post #16 of 19
6/12/12 at 8:37am
Quote:
 Most adults are nowhere near "UTD" on vaccines anyway, regardless of their childhood vax history.

 

 

most insurance companies simply will not pay for it- it is not mandated in my state that they pay for children- there is a sign at my ped's office that you need to go to public health dept or pay up front for your child $$$$$$$

post #17 of 19
6/12/12 at 1:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SweetSilver View Post

I'm reading this with interest.  

 

Besides flu and tetanus, the only other vaccine that has ever been recommended to me as an adult was pertussis-- and that was only brought up as an added bonus to revaxxing for tetanus in our current whopping cough epidemic in our state.  (I used to be a pro gardener, and still garden almost everyday, so tetanus vaccine was recommended).

 

I have never seen a vaccination table for adults.  I've never looked, either, but you think these days there would be more focus in getting adults vaccinated and something like that would be produced in earnest.  I'm surprised NONE of my PCPs have mentioned anything but flu and tetanus.  But, I don't really know that much about these diseases where they concern adults.

 

(I was mostly vaxxed as a child.  I think-- I really don't know.  I remember getting my last oral polio booster at about 4 or 5yo, then after that was only at school.  Occasionally!)

 

The part I bolded is pretty much the vaccine table for healthy, low risk adults.  Well, and diptheria, but I think tetatnus shots are pretty much always actually Td, which includes that.  

 

Gardasil is now being recommended to younger woman (to age 27, I think), but that is pretty recent. There are also others on the schedule for those at higher risk of certain diseases (such as healthcare workers), those who didn't have chickenpox as a child, those who didn't get the MMR  series as children, or shingles and one other for adults over the age of 60/65.  

 

But for most healthy, low risk adults under the age of sixty, all that is recommended currently is pertussis once, Td every ten years, and the annual flu shot, so your PCPs likely didn't have anything else to mention as far as vaccines go.  

post #18 of 19
6/18/12 at 1:23pm

Long time lurker, first time poster! 

Just wanted to jump in and say that my mother was completely unvaxxed as a child (due to her mother witnessing the neighbors child die the day after getting the polio vaccine greensad.gif) and at the age of 50 she went to work in a hospital. She agreed to get vaccinated, however they found that after giving her the Hep B vaccine her body completely rejected it and the vaccine didn't 'take' at all!  

post #19 of 19
6/18/12 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SweetSilver View Post

I have never seen a vaccination table for adults.  

Here it is.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/downloads/adult/adult-schedule.pdf

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