Very worried what has she missed

[Smurfy1]

Hi my darling step daughter is 10 going to be 11 very soon, last night I casually asked the maternal gran if DSD had her jags when she was younger as I saw no vaccine marks on her arms! (We got custody in Jan)

NO nothing nada! HELP I have booked a nurse appointment but thats not til middle of June

What exactly has she not had (which sadly goes with the neglect we fought to have her removed from)

just because she doesnt have marks on her arms doesnt mean she didnt have them, they often do them in the babies legs.

unless you are thinking of the bcg which is in the arm and sometimes leaves a scar?

do you not know which gp she has been registered with, she should have medical records of some sort?

her parents may have had their reasons for not vaccinating her if that is the case, no marks from the jabs means nothing at all!

and grandma may or may not know, you need to get medical records :)

We have her registered and the medical files but havent read them yet

Her dad was under the impression she had but i spoke to doctor surgery and no

Unfortunately the gran is right

Hi Smurfy1 and congratulations that you finally have your DSD with you. I am sure this wasn't easy and must be a great relief for all involved :)

As for the shots, don't worry. She made it to almost 11 without them, she'll have a couple of weeks to sort things out. It is going to be a bit difficult to get her properly immunised, because some of the shots that babies/younger children get are actually not licensed for 10 year olds. On the other hand, there are a number of vaccines she will not need to get, or get fewer doses of, because she is 10.

The easy ones:

Pneumococcal: she doesn't need, risk age is under 5 years old.

Hib: she doesn't need, risk age is under 2 years old.

Meningitis: get one shot - that will carry her safely through her teens and early adulthood. The vaccine is good for all ages.

MMR: get two shots, spaced at least 4 weeks apart. The vaccine is licensed for all ages.

The more difficult ones:

There are no vaccines specifically licensed to get an 11 year old her basic immunisation for Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis and Polio, because children will usually get these as boosters. However, the full strength DTaP/IPV booster is formulated in such a way that it could be given to an 11 year old as a primary series. That is this one here: www.nhs.uk/conditions/DTaP-IPV-booster/Pages/Introduction.aspx Discuss this with your GP. The best schedule for this is a three shot schedule with the first two shots 2 months apart and the third about 8 months after the second. Once she has those, she'll have the same sort of immunity as any other child on the regular schedule.

I hope this helps - don't hesitate to ask more questions if you find something confusing :)

Wow thanks that's brilliant

I just kept getting even more panicked using google

Good info from Catherina there. Try not to worry about it - she has made it all these years without them! :)

I know but still found myself awake at 3am checking on her cos she coughed

She was out like a light bless

I know but still found myself awake at 3am checking on her cos she coughed

aww, hugs - that is probably going to stay like this for a while. Because you cannot be quite sure what your ds daughter has gone through (and you know what she has), you are probably going to worry about a lot of things in the beginning. Kids are resilient and vaccines protect from some things (whooping cough for example), but kids will still get sick sometimes. My son, who is vaccinated against everything including flu, recently had a nasty virus, high fever and scary rash for a week. Talk to your GP, don't panic either way and continue to enjoy your DSD - I have a number of friends who went through custody battles and I am all smiles for you that you have won :)

Leonie - what silly language "pump her full of vaccines" - sheesh. Smurfy1's DSD is entitled to appropriate medical care, including vaccines to prevent those nasty bugs that can be prevented (pertussis, measles, rubella for a girl quite obviously and meningitis). That is not pumping or anything - that is ensuring that her DSD is going to have the most basic protection she needs and that she was denied so far.

Otherwise robustly healthy DH was 27yo when he had pneumonia due to HIb. Completely incapacitated for weeks, Nearly hospitalised. Several types of antibiotics to clear it out. I "merely" had a many-weeks bad cough at the same time. Vaccinated toddler DS had nothing, no matter how much we coughed on him. I would not underestimate HIb.

I would not worry about what's done or not done already; I would ask NHS for appropriate schedule; I would get every vaccination they advise someone her age should already have.

AdventuresWithVoles - yikes! That is scary!

Right, Leonie, because protecting children against disease is "shit", while anti-vaccine rants about "pumping" children full of vaccines is ever so helpful. I guess I'll never have your eloquence.

don't be ridiculous, Leonie.

Well I am extremely grateful for the brilliant advice, as it means I can go armed with information and not get bamboozled at the surgery

OH was aghast as he had been assured by BM (they were together til DSD was 8 months old) DSD had all the jabs at the right time scale! He had made the appointments and she had ignored them and hid from HV

Tetanus should be fine too. Don't panic.

Smurfy1, you can get one of these: www.ugandamission.net/health/image/phs731.jpg to keep track. Your DSD can take that with her when she moves out (I know some time to go), or needs a record of what vaccines she has had. My DD has started to volunteer as a ward helper at the local hospital and Occupational Health has scrutinised her shot records. Interestingly, although I am a pharma-paid shill with the agenda to advertise my pro-vaccine blog quite conscientious when it comes to vaccination, she has had a couple to catch up on, and they all went into her little yellow book.

Thought I'd update

Went to the nurse today and DSD has only had the first part of the MMR at 14 months

Really what was the point in that? She has had nothing else so the nurse is going to contcat the immunisation board Monday and call me with a plan of action

Smurfy, 1 MMR is enough for some people. The booster is really just to catch the people who it didn't work for the first time.

Another one to say don't underestimate HIB at 23 I was so I'll with it that prior to x-ray TB was what they thought it was. I was off uni for 3 weeks and lung function has never fully recovered.