Polio Vaccine

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I just found out I was never vaccinated for polio. I've had everything else, but this is a required vaccination for my school. This is a long series and I will not be able to complete it by the time my fall term is supposed to start. I will be calling my school tomorrow to find out how this will affect my ability to matriculate, but in the meantime I wondered if any of you have had a similar situation. Should I be as worried as I feel? Can I breathe easy?

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If it's like our school, we're allowed to start a vaccine series and keep the school updated with paperwork as we work through the series. I did that with the Hep series. I think (I could be wrong!) that the polio series is very similar as far as the timeline. We had to have our first shot before starting school but could continue the series while attending.

Good luck!! :D

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

were you not born in the US? it is apart of the normal vaccination schedule.

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Will they accept titers? Perhaps you did get vaccinated but it wasn't recorded for some reason, or someone is reading the record wrong. If you were not born in the U.S. it is possible you were exposed to it and already have antibodies, thus the reason you should see if you can get a titer done. I had to have titers for some of mine that I couldn't find record of, or that they gave fewer boosters of waaaaay back when I was a baby.

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I have a complete copy of my childhood medical record and can't find it anywhere. I asked my mother and she says that she was told it wasn't necessary (in 1980) as it had been eradicated in the US (just what she remembers being told, NOT what I know to be true). Granted, this was 34 years ago, so her memory may be rusty. I do find it odd since all of my other vaccinations were given on schedule. This is especially strange as all of my records are from military hospitals and you would hope that the military would have been a bit more thorough. I'll ask my PCP for a titer. Maybe I received it as an older child before I entered school and I simply don't have a record of it.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

Did you get any DPT or only DT? It would be pretty odd not to have gotten DPT.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

DPT is not polio, it's diphtheria, pertussis, tetorifice. Polio is IPV (inactivated polio virus (shot )) or OPV ( oral polio virus). Did you go to public school? I believe OPV or IPV is mandated for entry to kindergarten in all 50 states.

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Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.

Yeah, the titer would be the way to go. I have my records but I still had to get a titer for everything just for additional verification. Good luck with everything! I'm sure you'll be fine. :)

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Did you get any DPT or only DT? It would be pretty odd not to have gotten DPT.

Polio is not part of DPT or DTaP. Polio has historically been given separately. Prior to around 1998, it was given as an oral, then IM. They switched it to just IM in 1998/99 because the OPV was causing the only known cases of polio in the US (oral was live, IM was not).

All states allow exemptions of some sort, so one is not absolutely required to get the vaccine to attend public school in the US.

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Specializes in Emergency.

I too as a military child did not have the polio vaccine. I'm two years older than you, interesting.

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Thanks, everyone, for your informative replies!

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I too as a military child did not have the polio vaccine. I'm two years older than you, interesting.

very interesting.....my children were born 1996 and 1997 and it was a part of both of their vacination schedule.

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