vaccine questions

[narbuckle01]

Ok, so, I may have some silly questions... I really don't understand vaccines as well as I thought I did. Admittedly I have not been paying as much attention as I should when DD gets her shots... if MMRV (V being varicella/chicken pox) doesn't start until 12 months then how is DD protected before then? She isn't? Is that one of the big issues with anti-vaxers?

DD's 10 yr old cousin spent her spring break at our house last week to "help take care of the baby" (which was adorable btw) and we had a chicken pox scare with the cousin (ended up being just an allergic reaction). Of course I started googleing whether Autumn had had the chicken pox vaccine in her 2 or 4 month shots and she hadn't as it doesn't occur until 12 months. So is she just vulnerable until then? Are all vaxs like this or are tiny babies just miraculously not able to get pox?

Thanks for the help and sorry for the silly questions. Google just wasn't any help.

[becole]

Some vaccines can't be given until a certain age, so if older kids (like the 10 year old cousin) were vaccinated, then they wouldn't catch or pass the chicken pox to your lo that hasn't been vaccinated yet. If the 10 year old didn't receive her vaccines, then she could have caught chicken pox or carried it and gave it to your lo.

So that's why pro-vaxxers talk about "herd immunity". If adults and older kids are all vaccinated, then they can't carry or pass diseases to small LOs or those that can't get vaccines for medical reasons, like an allergy or immune disease.

[sstwinklinglites]

^^^ All of that. LO's aren't protected until they get vaccinated. Some vaccines are just too strong to get until a certain age.

[becole]

The reason they don't give younger LOs the vaccine is because it doesn't keep its effectiveness for some reason when they are young. So for measles, for instance, if I had give it to my kid at 9 months during the scare- it would have protected him but only for a short time and he would have to get another shot at 1. Even when you get all your vaccines, they just don't fully immunize some people. For example, my DH works for a hospital, they tested his blood for immunity and even though he got his TB vaccine at the right times, he wasn't immune. So they gave him another shot. But thankfully, most people around him are vaccinated fully against TB so he could avoid contracting it.

Anti vaxxers are more against it because of chemicals that are in the vaccines or they argue that they aren't fully effective (like flu is 50% effective on a good year) so they argue why bother. But your infant is why bother.

[sstwinklinglites]

^^^ She's so smart.

When they tested my blood when I got pregnant, I came back as not being immune to rubella. I got the vaccine, but for whatever reason, my body didn't keep the immunity, so I have to get it again.

[becole]

Apr 6, 2015 20:29:01 GMT -5 sstwinklinglites said:

^^^ She's so smart.

When they tested my blood when I got pregnant, I came back as not being immune to rubella. I got the vaccine, but for whatever reason, my body didn't keep the immunity, so I have to get it again.

We basically have like the same brain.

[mominthemaking14]

You ladies are amazing. Great question, very helpful.

[narbuckle01]

Very, very helpful. It all makes sense now. And just makes me want to keep babe in the house forever.

[hbrockman01]

not entirely sure how true it is so please take with a grain of salt...

both practices my daughter had seen (original one and the one we moved to) have said its impossible for a child under a year to actually get the chicken pox. i'm not enirely sure how much truth is in that, but that is what i was told...