immunizations

I was diagnosed with ITP over 4 years ago. My count was not real low. I have had no medical treatment or check ups because of lack of insurance. I am in process of getting into nursing school and have come upon a problem. I can not locate my vaccination record. It is not in state registry nor do any of my schools previous have it. None of my doctors have been able to locate it either!. So my question is...
If I need to get a titer to see exactly what I have been immunized against,, is it alright to get the booster and or live vaccines again or not?. I can not seem to get an answer to this question from any one. I have asked the state health department and they have never even heard of ITP...So I am sure they do not know the answer to this either.

The official line appears to be that immunisations are okay although particularly the MMR can cause ITP in its own right, they say that it tends not to do so repeatedly and children who have had a reaction are still advised to have more injections.

For me, I had to have the hepatitis B vaccination for similar reasons to yours, and had a strange reaction and killed off most of my neutrophils.. white cells.. as a result. It now seems to have corrected itself but I have been advised not to have any more. That though is supposedly a rare reaction and not really connected to ITP. My platelets themsevles were fine. I was already immune to everything else but had I not have been I wouldn't have hesitated to have had the vaccinations.

Thank you so much Ann!!

For some of the immunizations, most state health officials will allow you to obtain a titer to test for immunity. My husband went to nursing school at 42, and his records could not be found. He had a titer instead of retaking the MMR. Still, as Ann said, most immunizations are reported to be okay with ITP. By the way, no surprise they never heard of ITP. Many ER nurses have never heard of it. On my child's medic alert bracelet, I put "low platelets/bleeding risk/ITP," in hopes that at least something would register with medical professionals who read it.
Norma

I believe we are to stay away from "live" immunizations aren't we?

That's my understanding too Melinda, but my wife and I went to South America recently, and were told we had to have Yellow fever injections which is a live immunization by the travel Dr.

The travel Dr said it will not cause my ITP any problems, so I took the vaccine. However my GP did not like the idea, and as I am over 65yrs it is not recommend for that reason either. He told me I should have seen him first.

That was back in January, I felt low for the next month, but can not say the Yellow fever was the cause. We had several other vaccines as well. At the time my count was in the 40's, they are usually around 40-50. At my last test three weeks ago, my count was in the 90's ????? I have not been that high for years. I will be having a cbc tomorrow for another reason, so it will be interesting to see what my counts are now.

Would I do it again even though the outcome seems good. No I would not.

Benny.

My thought is that every patient responds differently to each immunization, and no doctor can say with any certaintly that it would be okay. However, if given the choice between Yellow Fever and an ITP flare, I'd risk lower counts and avoid Yellow Fever which can be much more serious.

Benny - if you were going to go no matter what, I think the vaccine was a good idea. I wouldn't go unless I did get the vaccine first. I pretty anti-vaccine, but sometimes they are necessary.

If anyone is unsure, research it and determine which is the greater risk.

Hi Judi63,

Sandi, thanks so much for your comments re: vaccinations.

Prior to our trip to South America we were told by our Travel Agent that Yellow Fever immunization was not necessary for the countries we were visiting. So I did absolutely no research into the matter. At the Travel Dr's office he said it was required, and as I had given him a copy of our itinerary. To make sure there was no misunderstanding of the places we where visiting, he surprised both of us.

So after his assurances I went ahead. It was not until I felt so poorly for several days later that I researched Yellow fever myself. In the past we have visited many countries including Nth America, Canada,the UK, Europe, Aisa, and other places, and have had no problems.

However, my advice to anyone who wants to travel, is to do your own research first, before you make your bookings and pay for your trip. I failed to do this and felt I had no choice but to proceed.

As Sandi said, sometimes they are necessary, and it's a good idea to determine which is the greater risk for you. Therefore I want other people to learn from my mistake.

Benny.