Hmm.

[ewt]

I wonder if I'm affected by this - I know I had "booster shots" when we were in New Brunswick but I have no idea which ones they were. Mum?

I was exposed to mumps in 2005 (a horn-player friend was diagnosed a day after doing an exam; I spoke to him for a bit after the exam and he wasn't looking too well, I did give him a hug goodbye though) and didn't get it, but... well. I could have been lucky or he could have been not contagious at that time.

Is it bad to get a booster shot as an adult if you got a working one as a kid? Will the NHS even do this?

Given the fashion for people over here to not bother vaccinating their kids, I don't really want to rely on herd immunity if I can help it.

Comments

[phelyan.livejournal.com]

What is it with all those shots?

I had measles, whooping cough, chickenpox, mumps, and fifth disease as a child, which is how it was done in Germany back then. Let the kids have them, that's why they're called childhood diseases, and they'll build up a natural defense against them...

[403.livejournal.com]

Because they're much more dangerous diseases in the adults who happened not to catch them as children.

For example, I brought home chicken pox when I was 6 or so. My father caught it, and ended up spending a good long time in the hospital. I found out (years) later that he'd almost died.

[shuripentu.livejournal.com]

IIRC, some of these childhood diseases also lead to nasty complications in a significant enough percentage of victims that the cost and risks of vaccination are preferable to the costs and risks of infection.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

I'm particularly glad I didn't get polio, meningitis, or tetanus, and that part of the reason for this is that my age-group also weren't getting them.

I had chicken pox at 14 and it was rather horrid; for adults it can be downright dangerous.