Teenage vaccinations - do they really need the boosters?

[whichspidermummy]

*Edit - I've just read that MenACWY hasn't been given before, it was another meningitis one, apologies.

I've just had a form for consent for my 13Yr old to have a combined diphtheria/polio/tetanus.

I honestly thought (from when DS was young) that only the tetanus was given at the upper stages of secondary school. I was sure that polio was only given to babies (and also their mums - I had it on a sugar cube when DS was a baby, in case I caught it from his nappy), but I didn't have a booster when DD was a baby.

Also sure I've never had a booster of diphtheria and was only vaccinated as a tot and never as a teen (I'm 53, so if boosters are vital, then everyone over 30 should be catching it, as DS also didn't have it as a teen).

I had polio booster in y7, 30 years ago.

@Whataretheodds did you? That's interesting. DS is 32 and I can't recall him having it, though my memory may well have faded. I know those over 50 didn't have the jab (it used to be on sugar cubes).

I had this at school in year 8 about 10 years ago. I think 90% of my year opted to get it. I don’t think it’s done me any harm 🤷🏻‍♀️

The MenACWY is a really important one for teens, essential they have it before university.

Men ACWY is important. They only introduced it about 10 years ago due to regular deaths of students and I had to pay privately to get it for DC before uni.
As to the rest, just get them done.

Don't think tetanus comes as a separate vaccine and they need 5 of them to complete the full course. MenACWY is given before uni age for protection in that age group

Thank you all

@dementedpixie tetanus does come separately as I had a booster of just tetanus, when my cat bit me a few years ago. As I'm sure there is a need for the booster of polio and diphtheria, I'm happy for her to have them all

https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice/disease-prevention-advice/tetanus

This says it is a combination vaccine even if given for other reasons

TDaP is normally given as a combined booster. Yes, it's just the tetanus that most people are needing, but it's an added public health benefit to have all of them together. You got a tetanus booster separately perhaps because you had an immediate need to prevent tetanus. But for example, pregnant women are given the full TDaP just for the pertussis immunity. It's pretty standard to get the combined jab. Also, to clarify, the P is for pertussis (whooping cough), not for polio. Lots of teens get that (lots of adults get it for that matter), so always good to have an updated jab.

@mindutopia the jab they're giving them is 100% polio not pertussis. Absolutely 100%. Please see a screenshot of part of the letter they've sent about the jabs. If they are wrong and it is pertussis and not polio, then she definitely won't be getting it, as it's a pretty huge mistake to make! 🤔

Not sure why they would be giving whooping cough again, it's certainly not on the schedule for future jabs!

@mindutopia ahh I see the DTap jab for younger children does use P for pertussis, but in this case the P does stand for polio not pertussis.

@dementedpixie I'm not sure why you're so determined to prove me wrong. I definitely had only the tetanus jab as a booster due to increased risk. You can link all you like, but you are wrong and I'm not sure why you're so damned determined to be right when this was about teenage jabs, not me?

https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/accidents-first-aid-and-treatments/do-i-need-a-tetanus-jab-vaccine-after-an-accident-or-injury/#:~:text=Tetanus%20vaccination%20is%20part%20of,injury%20that%20breaks%20your%20skin.

@whichspidermummy you can link all you like too but the injection you had wasn't a booster, it would have been an injection with a medicine called tetanus immunoglobulin which isn't the same thing.

The actual tetanus injection only comes in a combination with other vaccines.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/3-in-1-teenage-booster/

Is tetanus, diphtheria and polio in the teenage vaccine

Having checked, the single tetanus was discontinued in August 2022 so I concede that you may have had one in the past. However it no longer exists so if a tetanus injection is required it will always have another component in with it.

I had boosters in the early 00s, i also had the TB one which they no longer give. A friend's teen neighbour died of meningitis a few years before.

I'm 33 and definitley had the polio and something else jab aged 13 or 14. Google tells me it would have been the DTaP

My elder brother and sister had to have the oral polio sugar lump version and were fuming that I got a jab

What jabs they are offered depends on the area and what the risks are at that time. What you had previously, or what older children had, is irrelevant because the risk picture changes.

My dcs had bcg' at 5 weeks old...due to .the area of London we were living in.
When we moved out I saw the red book schedule of jabs was different outside of London, and where we live now (still in england) the children aren't given a bcg until they are teenagers.

The BCG isn't even given now unless good cause (e.g as your example showed, in my case it was because my DMIL grew up in a TB sanitarium!)

What you had previously, or what older children had, is irrelevant because the risk picture changes.

As does the composition of the vaccines, knowledge about how long they last, and the viruses themselves.

I had a polio booster (on a spoon, no sugar cube) at 16. But that's irrelevant because that type of vaccine is no longer used, and there's now a strain of polio in circulation that didn't exist when I was at school.

I caught Diptheria, in the UK when I was 17. If I hadn't had the booster I could have died, this was what my doctor said. I was found unconscious by my Mum and spent 4 weeks in hospital.

20 years ago in Germany I changed family doctors when I moved and the first thing I was asked was to show my immunitation records. Next thing was an appointment for several boosters.

8 years ago we went to the Caribeean and again, I was told I need a booster.

So, yes, I would always ensure vaccinations are up to date and I am 51 now.

DD got her teenage booster a year late thanks to Covid.

I cut my hand badly whilst gardening and went to have it patched up - they gave me a tetanus shot which also had diphtheria and polio, much to my surprise. They said they only had the combined jab, I was quite happy to have it. This was about five years ago.

DTP has been given for years and years.

We haven’t given single tetanus vaccine in my entire career in primary care (24 years).

Tetanus immunoglobulin can be given for tetanus treatment or prophylaxis for high risk wounds and bites in hospital.

Sometimes people need a tetanus booster and either forget or aren’t told they’ve been given a booster of diphtheria and tetanus too.

UK schedule is 5 doses of tetanus by the time you finish school, with diphtheria, inactivated polio and potentially other stuff like pertussis, Hib and Hep B.

Sorry diphtheria and polio too.

Can’t edit.