Is there any point vaccinating now?

[killerwhale]

My DC are 13 and 11, they were not vaccinated as babies for reasons I don’t want to go into on here, it is not the point of the post.
Question is, are they now at a similar level of immunity to most adults? I mean most people my age only had a few vaccinations, the babies now have at least 5 times as many. Do I still need to get all those done or are they likely to be as immune as most adults, I wonder if anyone has good knowledge of this?

Not an expert, but I know not being immunised can be an issue for if they go travelling.
Honestly I would ask your GP. Not sure you’d get the vaccinations done for free though?

It is simple. Every vaccination they didn't have is a disease they aren't protected against. You need to assess each one as to whether you want to take the risk of them contracting that disease.

There are very few standard vaccinations which are specifically because very young children are particularly vulnerable to them so their age shouldn't be relevant.

I am 37 and I had every vaccination my children have had so things haven't changed that much.

Speak to your GP and they should be able to tell you which vaccines to prioritise and set up a schedule.

Agree with previous poster, where do you think you will get these vaccinations done, and at what cost??
You are being irresponsible if you are happy to get your health info from a bunch of mums, rather than a GP/medical professional.

They don't developed immunity with either getting sick or being vaccinated. They are not immune to anything, they just haven't been expose the disease.

I'm sure they would do mmr etc for them. Book a gp appointment to discuss?

There is a 'catch up' schedule for any person, child or adult, with a history of no or incomplete immunisations.
Any adult or child in UK can get the necessary immunisations from the NHS GP practice, usually the Practice Nurse. They are available through the NHS and there is no charge for the UK schedule immunisations.
Just make an appointment with your PN and get on with it.

That’s great to know Fadedred, thank goodness for our NHS.

Unless they have had the disease they are not immune, and are at risk of contracting the illness. Measles is doing the rounds at present - they are at risk. If they go to university they are at particular risk of developing meningitis. A dirty cut runs the risk of them developing tetanus. If they get pregnant their babies are at risk of developing congenital Rubella.
Do they know they aren't vaccinated? They need to, and should understand the risks of not being vaccinated and be given the opportunity to rectify it, particularly as a pp said, if they wish to travel. They should book an appointment with the practice nurse to discuss how they can catch up. It isn't uncommon for teenagers whose parents chose not to vaccinate to decide to get themselves vaccinated once thry understand the risks.

If one is female then I would suggest rubella as this will eddy pregnancy later down the line!!!

*risky

And obviously if both are female

And of course they are not immune, they haven’t been immunised

No they wouldn't be at a similar level of immunity at all. They (probably) have never been exposed to measels, diphtheria, polio, mumps e.t.c and that is the only other way you can build immunity, other than vaccinations.

They (probably) haven't been exposed to these diseases because fortunately they are very rare diseases in our community in the UK as widespread mass immunisations are commonplace.

So in answer to your question. Yes do get them vaccinated. It could save their lives one day.

Mumps can be very serious in young adults too, the vaccination wasn’t available when we were young, I had it as a child but my brother didn’t, he then got it aged around 19/20 was pretty seriously ill and may well have left him infertile.

If you’re now able to arrange vaccines for them that you couldn’t before, definitely go and speak to your GP/practice nurse about it.

Okay thank you. Should we, as adults be getting all the vaccines too then, do people do this? I know I haven’t but wonder if others have? I will go and speak to GP.

No they won't be immune, and if they enter a healthcare job they won't thank you either. I was thrilled at having to have my MMR, BCG and Hep B all within a week of each other, cheers mum!

(Lighthearted in case you didn't pick up on that).

As an example, catch up NHS immunisation schedule from Lambeth in London:
www.lambethccg.nhs.uk/Practice-Portal/resources/Documents/PHE%20immunisations.pdf

OP I don't know how old you are but unless your parents chose not to vaccinate you should have had all of these as a child.

Can you get access to your medical records?

Your DD are younger than mine, and although the schedule has changed, their cohort would still have had full courses of DPT and polio, HIB and some of the meningitis ones and MMR. Girls would have had HPV (early teens).

So no, they are less protected than their peers, and a catch up programme would be a good can get than underway before the 13yo is called for the teen boosters (age about 15)

Have you heard of the particular type Autism caused by Rubella? How about birth defects due to Measles and Rubella? Those are the kind of diseases your daughter will thank you for if you don’t get her vaccinated before she herself becomes pregnant. It’s also what you risk onto pregnant women who can’t be vaccinated (allergies, Cancer, immune disorders) if they catch something from one of your children.

Unless they've naturally had the illness in question, they won't have any immunity.
Some folk see see the lifelong immunity that results from, say, having had chicken pox, as a better bet for adulthood than having a vaccine, which may not give lifelong immunity, in some cases. ( Ducks)

Regardless of that, if they haven't had each illness, they don't have immunity.

And some of these illnesses, like mumps, can be much more severe if you catch them as an adult.
And some are disastrous in pregnancy.

So massively better to do the catch up vaccines now, as young adults.
GP practice nurses will do it , with no fuss.

If they catch Rubella or mumps it could harm their fertility, or if rubella when pregnant harm the unborn baby. So not vaccinating could harm their future do I'd guess that it still is helful to vaccinate. Maybe you should contact your GP and ask which vaccinations would be wise to have now.

Re read your post.
Yes, someone as ancient as me didn't get vaccinated against some diseases. But back then, they were common childhood diseases, so nearly every child, where I grew up, experienced chicken pox, mumps, measles.

That just isn't currently the case in the UK.
If your DC haven't had the illnesses, or the vaccination, they remain vulnerable.
And with young people travelling more these days, may well catch these diseases as adults. And get much iller than an average child would.
Also, newer vaccines such as meningitis: never a widespread problem when I was young: only a few youngsters died. Now nobody has to die of those strains.
A healthy young adult, ime, can have all the catch up vaccines, and not turn a hair.

The full schedule of vaccines (apart from a very few new ones now offered to babies, like men B) has been the same for several decades, so unless your parents opted you out they would all have been available to you. In any case, you can go and see the practice nurse for a catch-up schedule for you and your children; please do.

Your children won't have equivalent immunity. Immunity is extremely specific - you become immune to an illness only by being exposed to that specific illness, either by catching it or through the vaccine. In the case of illnesses that mutate, like influenza, you become immune to strains you've already had but not new ones, which is why you can catch the flu repeatedly but we do have a vaccine which protects against as many strains as we can manage. You cannot possibly become immune to mumps or rubella by catching colds and chickenpox.

The mumps epidemic among university students in recent years, for example, was largely caused by a shortage of mumps vaccine when they were children. It will undoubtedly have left some of those students with very painful mumps orchitis, and others with impaired fertility.

Please speak to your GP and get them sorted.