hi suzanne,
you're welcome for the info. i'm just pleased that not only can i ask for advice here, but share information too. i guess that's what it's all about
we don't give chicken pox vaccines here, nor hep b. no idea why, but i guess it isn't a concern in these parts. my only concern was the live MMR vaccine - measles, mumps and rubella. apparently there has been an outbreak of mumps amongst males age 18-24 attending universities in both glasgow and edinburgh for the past two years now. so if shane had no immunity, as my doc suggested, i think mumps may have been a vaccine i would have seriously considered giving him. very fortunately, it's not something i have to consider now.
as far as michelle is concerned, i would definately ask for titers prior to any suggestions of re-vaccinating. and as wendy suggested, try to research what is a threat to her in your local area. if it's not seriously needed, i would think very hard about risking a live vaccine. from my initial post on the aplastic central forum, there is a link to a document from the british journal of haemotologists - clearly outlining that live vaccines should be avoided in AA patients unless absolutely necessary.
as a child, i had measles, mumps and chicken pox - apart from being uncomfortable, it never did me any harm. i'm not massively anti-vaccine, but in shane's case, i felt i had to review this very carefully as he isn't a normal healthy child - his bone marrow has been seriously compromised. for that reason, the argument of "herd vaccines" didn't work for me.
btw, i tried to find michelle's page on the carepages website, but i couldn't find it. could you give the direct link? i would be interested to see how you guys have coped with AA. i keep meaning to set up one for shane, but it never seems to progress from the "thought" process
gina xxx