Questions about the 4year booster.

Ds1 turns four in a little over a month. He does not start kindergarten though til Feb 2012. Ive been thinking about delaying the vaccination til Sept next year instead but Dh is not keen on the idea, saying they have the schedule for a reason. He does attend preschool and will until he starts school.

Is it really neccesary to vaccinate on schedule or even have this particular vaccination at all? Will his immunity be compromised because its given late? Can the preschool or school deny us access because its been delayed?

Sure hope not - I forgot about the 4yo vax (F turned 4 in June) and I was planning on waiting til I took this bub for his/her 2 month vax....

ok. medical hat on how.. lol

the 4yo vacc is diptheria tetnus and pertusus. (dtpa) this will last up to 5 years, but as it is given in such a fresh immune system they will only gaunrentee it for 4,
so technically you do have 12 months to get this one done. as final booster shot is givenm at 6 months....
the measels mumps and rubella (mmr) will start to wain if not given the booster and if delayed to long will not come back to a "full" coverage, but there will be coverage.

then the inactivated poliomyelitis ( ipv) is the same as the MMR and needs to be as close as possible to the due date.

i personally and professionally wouldnt suggest delaying longer than 6 months.

pre school can not exclude you on a day to day basis but if there is an outbreak of any illness which is covered in the 4yo immunisations you must keep DS home. as they will not take responsibility for him while he is susceptable to the ifection with a "lower" immunity than the other children.


HTH

Thanks Kawazuki - I might just take Flynn in sooner than planed then :)

My DD was already at Preschool when she turned 4 and I never got her the booster because she had pneumonia at the time and it took 3 months to completely clear and I wasn't compromising her immune system any more than it already was and we had decided not to continue anyway. When it came time to enroll her at school late last year I told them that she didn't have the 4yo booster and they were fine with it. Legally they cannot exclude them for not having had it, but if there is an outbreak they will be required to stay at home for the duration.

yes sorry forgot to add like trillian said, if they have an underlying illness we will not immunise, as their immune system will not absorb the vaccinations as its to busy fighting something else, so its pointless..

How did you go with your decision, Freya?

We had an international move when kiddo was 4, so never got around to the booster. Two years later we are still getting calls and letters every 6 months or so from the school nurse asking when we are going to immunise (despite regular replies saying it's not likely that we will at this point). :rolleyes:

Is the booster even effective (or a good idea) 2 years after the recommended schedule??

Sorry for the slight thread hijack!

My Ds will be four in a couple of weeks...but i will be getting his done after we get back form holiday....DS2 has to have his 18mth....so sometime this week i hope....

I ended up getting the boosters a few weeks late when he had gotten over his cold. It all went fine, well apart from him being mad at me for making him do it lol I cant believe he balked at split second needles but didnt bat an eyelash at having a canula for stitches.