Titer levels, Doc said FALSE POSITIVE

[AurorasMommy]

Alright here is another one for you!

I had Aurora's Titer Level done a little while back. I wanted to see if she had ANY antibodies for the Tetnus, or Pertussis. She has only recieved her 2 month vaxes...

Tetnus was a little less than half protected...
and the pertussis, showed she was completely protected. The lab wrote that the results showed that the child was either infected or previously infected... Aurora had been sick too.

Ped called her father who works in Dieases and control and the both agreed it was a false positive and that I should vaccinate her!

How would one know for sure if it was INDEED a false positive? It seemed the tetnus and Diptheria were NOT FALSE?????

[amnesiac]

I would ask what type of antibodies they looked at & what reference they used to establish a level that correlates with "protection".

But yes, false positive labs do happen sometimes & docs have been known to repeat the lab with subsequent negative results.

[Gitti]

OMG, so to have immunity is not good enough. It's got to be the right amount of immunity? I'm surprised she didn't suggest draining a little blood from her to get rid of some of it.

I am surprised you still go to doctors to be honest.

[sunnymw]

I'd have it done again... what are the chances of TWO false positives? If she's immune then, she's immune!

[TanyaS]

Originally Posted by AurorasMommy

Ped called her father who works in Dieases and control and the both agreed it was a false positive and that I should vaccinate her!

False positive or not, I would never vaccinate my child after such a severe reaction as your daughter had as an infant. No way.

[kate3]

You can easily have her titers done again. If she was sick at the time it is possible to have a false positive result, but it is unlikely to get another.

[AurorasMommy]

I got the titer level done out of curiousity, not because of a decision to vaccinate... I would never put her in harm! She will NEVER receive another vax again!

She fits the COMPLETE description of a child WHO SHOULD NOT recieve another vax:

Prolonged crying for 6 1/2 hours... screaming pressing hands against head, seizure less than 24 hours after vaccination, intercranial bleed 3 weeks after vaccinations, and then diagnosed with Epilepsy at age 2 1/2 because of the scar left on her brain from the bleed..... My child has been through ENOUGH!!!!!!

I thought about getting the titer level done again, but because she is now 2 1/2 she is fine to get whooping cough now. But I wanted to see if you all had experience with titer levels, and I tought it was interesting that she showed that she had immunity to pertussis!

[amnesiac]

There is no established serologic correlate of immunity for pertussis so I'm not sure what basis is being used for telling you that she's immune. You can have some antibodies but if the level isn't high enough then you're not immune. In the case of pertussis, there isn't a standard as to what constitutes "enough". As far as tetanus goes, IgG > 0.1 IU/mL is considered immune.

I wouldn't probably choose to subject her to another draw at this point if it isn't going to serve any purpose other than satisfying curiosity. But you might consider checking it over time since we know immunity wanes.