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The only issue I have had with vaccines, I have three daughters, all vaccinated; but I just don’t like how they cram like six vaccines into a single doctor visi

The only issue I have had with vaccines, I have three daughters, all vaccinated; but I just don’t like how they cram like six vaccines into a single doctor visit. My middle daughter got the chicken pox vaccine right before we went on vacation to Chicago. When we got to Chicago, she got the chicken pox actually from the vaccine. I was there for work and wife and daughter were supposed to be fiddling about the city while I worked during the day building the salesforce office. Instead, they were holed up in the hotel room with calamine lotion and bath stuff to make Madeline comfortable. Since she had the chicken pox, they were only supposed to stay a week in Chicago with me, but had to stay the whole two weeks I was there as she couldn’t fly with the pox.... So when my youngest was due for all her vaccines, they wanted to give all 6 to her at one time. And as the kids feel really lethargic and crappy for several days after, I made the doctor split the vaccines into only two at a time and made three different visits over two weeks instead of six vaccines in one visit and it was a much better experience for Coraline.

gehwartzen 7y ago
Same here. Our son has gotten all the required vaceenes but we also opted for two at a time max. Aside from being less convenient (2-3x as many visits) he still had all his shots by the time they were needed. Maybe it makes no difference but it certainly seems less taxing overall to the immune system.
tptacek 7y ago
This is apparently one of the better-studied questions about immunization, and the verdict is that multiple simultaneous vaccinations does not increase the risk of side effects.
- kazinator 7y ago
  Surely, that depends on how you frame it? Tossing three coins doesn't increase the odds of any one of them being heads, surely enough. But tossing them at the same time as a single combined trial, instead of just one coin, does increase the odds of at least one heads showing up from 50 to 87.5%. Of course, you're going to have all those vaccines anyway and so the odds are the same overall for those administrations. Just like it doesn't matter whether we toss three coins at the same time, or weeks apart; the odds are 87.5% we will see a head. But grandparent has a point about a situation like getting multiple vaccines before travel, where you're making it more likely that side effect will occur during that specific inconvenient time.
  - tptacek 7y ago
    Once again, the question of whether multiple simultaneous vaccinations increases adverse effects is well studied, and the verdict is that they do not. It doesn't seem to me like trying to reason to the contrary axiomatically is going to get you anywhere.
    - kazinator 7y ago
      I do not sense that you've read my comment critically. Because, for one thing, it says nothing about adverse effects increasing. Rather, the idea proposed is that effects can cluster together in time, without increasing in absolute quantity. When a vaccine is administered, the probability of some reaction follows some kind of curve that initially rises, and then drops off. If two weeks have passed and no reaction has occurred, then the probability has already fallen off to a long tail that is next to zero. With me so far? So now if several vaccines are started at the same time, the "payload" parts of respective curves are superimposed now. If any effects occur, they will almost certainly occur within the next few days or couple of weeks of the administration. And that is the same period for all vaccines in the bunch. It's almost unimaginable that synchronized start does not create a clustering effect of the probability of adverse effects. However, in most cases that clustering probably desirable. If the adverse effects are boxed to within the same week for all vaccines, then people will experience less overall "down time" like fewer days off work or school. Thus, don't have three vaccines just before going on a dream vacation booked months in advance. In fact, maybe don't have any vaccines at all (other than something related to the vacation destination!)
      - samstave 7y ago
        This is exactly correct, with one caveat only: Aside from my daughter getting the chicken pox from the vaccine which is extremely rare, as a parent you observe your child’s reaction to every dr visit and vaccine (ideally) and if you know and can see that these have such put your child into an uncomfortable state or lethargy, then mellow the fuck out. The doctors don’t give a crap abt how your child feels after they leave their office.... but you as a parent must. Also, source: my brother is one of the top doctors in the nation. Head of the entire VA for Alaska, commander of the 10th medical wing for the USAF, for personal flight doctor to the joint chiefs of staff at the pentagon. He agrees with me, so armchair all you want.... but I know what the fuck I am talking about.
- bdamm 7y ago
  Then we need to start studying how to help parents have a better experience when vaccinating their children. The fact is that, as a parent, it's unsettling to watch a doctor pump vial after vial into your kid. Even immediately after birth, I remember there was a big vial they injected into my son. If the patient had been an adult it would have been like injecting an entire tumbler full of serum. There's a bit of a gut punch there, especially if you're like me and generally believe that you were born with pretty much everything you needed to live well and that seeking medical treatment is something you do because you can't otherwise live well. I'm good with vaccines, but we shouldn't be dismissing the parental perspective. Also, studied side effects probably don't include things like increased agitation, crankiness, lethargy, as side-effects. These things make life miserable for parents for a few days so yeah, parents are going to notice. Of course some parents are going to blame the vaccine when the kid just happened to get a cold at the same time too, but people get the message of "trust your instincts" and then see their kid get sick, and it is the parent that is ultimately responsible for the child's well being and also the one that will be blamed if the child is having a bad day or year. So yeah, some amount of working with parents would be a good thing.
  - tptacek 7y ago
    I don't know. I did it with two kids and it didn't bug me a bit. Really, I felt pretty good about it. It's one of those parenting merit badge moments.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
dpark 7y ago
Splitting the vaccines across additional visits sounds terrible for everyone. It’s a much larger time commitment and your kid feels worse for an extended period of time. Your kid also gets more negative doctor experiences. > I made the doctor split the vaccines into only two at a time and made three different visits over two weeks instead of six vaccines in one visit and it was a much better experience for Coraline. Of course it was a better experience. Your second didn’t contract chicken pox.
- hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
  As a parent I can say I am glad the vaccines get done all in one go.

gehwartzen 7y ago

Same here. Our son has gotten all the required vaceenes but we also opted for two at a time max. Aside from being less convenient (2-3x as many visits) he still had all his shots by the time they were needed. Maybe it makes no difference but it certainly seems less taxing overall to the immune system.

tptacek 7y ago

This is apparently one of the better-studied questions about immunization, and the verdict is that multiple simultaneous vaccinations does not increase the risk of side effects.

kazinator 7y ago
Surely, that depends on how you frame it? Tossing three coins doesn't increase the odds of any one of them being heads, surely enough. But tossing them at the same time as a single combined trial, instead of just one coin, does increase the odds of at least one heads showing up from 50 to 87.5%. Of course, you're going to have all those vaccines anyway and so the odds are the same overall for those administrations. Just like it doesn't matter whether we toss three coins at the same time, or weeks apart; the odds are 87.5% we will see a head. But grandparent has a point about a situation like getting multiple vaccines before travel, where you're making it more likely that side effect will occur during that specific inconvenient time.
- tptacek 7y ago
  Once again, the question of whether multiple simultaneous vaccinations increases adverse effects is well studied, and the verdict is that they do not. It doesn't seem to me like trying to reason to the contrary axiomatically is going to get you anywhere.
  - kazinator 7y ago
    I do not sense that you've read my comment critically. Because, for one thing, it says nothing about adverse effects increasing. Rather, the idea proposed is that effects can cluster together in time, without increasing in absolute quantity. When a vaccine is administered, the probability of some reaction follows some kind of curve that initially rises, and then drops off. If two weeks have passed and no reaction has occurred, then the probability has already fallen off to a long tail that is next to zero. With me so far? So now if several vaccines are started at the same time, the "payload" parts of respective curves are superimposed now. If any effects occur, they will almost certainly occur within the next few days or couple of weeks of the administration. And that is the same period for all vaccines in the bunch. It's almost unimaginable that synchronized start does not create a clustering effect of the probability of adverse effects. However, in most cases that clustering probably desirable. If the adverse effects are boxed to within the same week for all vaccines, then people will experience less overall "down time" like fewer days off work or school. Thus, don't have three vaccines just before going on a dream vacation booked months in advance. In fact, maybe don't have any vaccines at all (other than something related to the vacation destination!)
    - samstave 7y ago
      This is exactly correct, with one caveat only: Aside from my daughter getting the chicken pox from the vaccine which is extremely rare, as a parent you observe your child’s reaction to every dr visit and vaccine (ideally) and if you know and can see that these have such put your child into an uncomfortable state or lethargy, then mellow the fuck out. The doctors don’t give a crap abt how your child feels after they leave their office.... but you as a parent must. Also, source: my brother is one of the top doctors in the nation. Head of the entire VA for Alaska, commander of the 10th medical wing for the USAF, for personal flight doctor to the joint chiefs of staff at the pentagon. He agrees with me, so armchair all you want.... but I know what the fuck I am talking about.
bdamm 7y ago
Then we need to start studying how to help parents have a better experience when vaccinating their children. The fact is that, as a parent, it's unsettling to watch a doctor pump vial after vial into your kid. Even immediately after birth, I remember there was a big vial they injected into my son. If the patient had been an adult it would have been like injecting an entire tumbler full of serum. There's a bit of a gut punch there, especially if you're like me and generally believe that you were born with pretty much everything you needed to live well and that seeking medical treatment is something you do because you can't otherwise live well. I'm good with vaccines, but we shouldn't be dismissing the parental perspective. Also, studied side effects probably don't include things like increased agitation, crankiness, lethargy, as side-effects. These things make life miserable for parents for a few days so yeah, parents are going to notice. Of course some parents are going to blame the vaccine when the kid just happened to get a cold at the same time too, but people get the message of "trust your instincts" and then see their kid get sick, and it is the parent that is ultimately responsible for the child's well being and also the one that will be blamed if the child is having a bad day or year. So yeah, some amount of working with parents would be a good thing.
- tptacek 7y ago
  I don't know. I did it with two kids and it didn't bug me a bit. Really, I felt pretty good about it. It's one of those parenting merit badge moments.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

dpark 7y ago

Splitting the vaccines across additional visits sounds terrible for everyone. It’s a much larger time commitment and your kid feels worse for an extended period of time. Your kid also gets more negative doctor experiences. > I made the doctor split the vaccines into only two at a time and made three different visits over two weeks instead of six vaccines in one visit and it was a much better experience for Coraline. Of course it was a better experience. Your second didn’t contract chicken pox.

hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
As a parent I can say I am glad the vaccines get done all in one go.