Titers or vaccines?

[Barbe]

Did your nursing program have required titers or just the MMR vaccine? Ours is saying they must have titers (that a $600 bill waiting to happen) I would think the shots provide an equal insurance of preventing virus contraction in the students right? If you test neg in titers then you have to be vaccinated anyway...sooo why not just let us get the shot only and save money?!?

BTW I have written in twice to my lead nurses and they simply answer with "must have titers"..are they retarded or am I losing my mind here? I just don't get this logic.

[shortnorthstudent]

My college requires either - for MMR either titer, proof of vaccination post 1985 or proof of current vaccination.

Just to mention to any mothers out there - you likely had your rubella titer checked when you were pregnant. My college will accept this proof, so I don't have to get all the titers drawn. In fact, the recommend mumps, but don't require that - so I just had my measles titer checked.

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

Original poster, Barbe, wrote:

If you test neg in titers then you have to be vaccinated anyway...sooo why not just let us get the shot only and save money?!?

I realize this is a 2008 thread, and I am typing this in 2010, but I am betting many folks read the archives, so contributing is worth while in my view...

I would caringly and respectfully challenge the idea Barb noted, the idea that you can save money by just getting the vaccines and avoiding the titers. The reason is this:

Vaccines have a risk associated with them. So it's important to not take injections unless absolutely necessary. I would most definitely get the titers, even if it costs money you feel you don't have. I would beg, borrow, and steal (not really steal!) to get the money for titers, and the wonderful folks who suggest ways to get them at low cost really helps me, because I am faced with this issue, as we all are.

If you need motivation to take the extra steps to get the titers, read Saying No To Vaccines by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, and The Sanctity of Human Blood by Tim O'Shea.

So sad when the unlucky folks suffer the consequences and risks of vaccines; I realize most people don't suffer severe acute injury, but perhaps many of us actually do suffer long term negative consequences that we aren't aware of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4MIm1mB7GM

About those books:

1. Book one written by Dr. Tim O'Shea. O'Shea is a Chiropractor with no other advanced training except acupuncture, and horse dentistry of the three of those I don't think any of them give him the expertise to talk about anything to do with vaccines unless it effects some horse's teeth. Curriculum Vitae | The Doctor Within

2. Book two written by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny. Dr. Tenpenny is a DO and was an ER physician. The funny thing about Dr. Tenpenny is when I did a pubmed search for her I couldn't find one article by her not surprising when you look at her CV and see that she has never published one peer reviewed article. That doesn't speak very highly for someone that is supposed to be a medical expert advocating against vaccinations. http://drtenpenny.com/Documents/SHERRI%20CV%20--%2004-10%20--%20no%20subtitles,%20no%20dates.pdf Don't listen to these "medical voices," or: How did I miss this loony antivaccine site before? : Respectful Insolence Dr. Sherri Tenpenny quack - Google Search

[Flame_07]

I had to have titer, they did suggest booster if it was cheaper.

[CrazierThanYou]

At my school proof of vaccination OR titer is acceptable. I had chicken pox as a child but I had no proof so I did have to have a titer for that. For everything else, I just have to show proof of vaccination.

[cmonkey]

Do you have kids? Your OB most likely did a titer on you and you can get those records.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

At my school if we do not have documentation of a vaccine, they will draw a titer. I had to do that with varciella because I know I had it done but I couldn't find the documentation and couldn't remember when I had it. They drew a titer to prove my immunity.

[CuriousMe]

We had to either get a booster or show a titer. (For Hep series, we needed to get the series or show a titer).

[Faith213]

We had to show proof of immunization or a titer for most vaccines.

If we had the hepatitis b series more than two years prior to starting the program without a positive titer drawn (I had my vaccines done at the local health clinic for free and they didn't draw a titer), we had to redo the series.

But, if we had the series within the past two years, we could simply have a titer drawn. If it the titer was negative, we were given boosters until the titer came back positive.

Apparently they changed this policy after my class was admitted to the program and now they can sign a waiver for the hepatitis b vaccine. However, they strongly recommend obtaining the vaccines.