I Received a Vaccination I Can't Trace Nor Know What it Is.

I hate topics that age me, but this has been bothering me.

A year or so ago I saw an article about the fact that Angelina Jolie had chicken pox. Not just a rumor, was reported widely.

I found that odd, at the time since we are the same age (forget I said that in the future). I clearly remember a time in college where I got a notice that I was missing the chicken pox vaccine and that I needed it to continue.

My mother remembers this also, her boyfriend at the time gave me a ride to the downtown campus to get said vaccine and he grumbled about it. I waited in line in an auditorium with about 100 students and received a shot.

So back to Angelina. I did a little research and found she did not get the vaccine as it was not available until 1996 and not recommended for adults in general. By 1996 I had graduated university and was married with a baby.

In the last year I have tried to track down what this was. I called the college and they said they have never required the varicella/chicken pox vaccination. I asked if it was possibly for mononucleosis, they said they suggest it, but didn't start suggesting it until 4 years ago. I became more pointed with my question about "To what was I sent to get then?" The woman in the registrar's office said she would research. She called me back the next day and said there was no record of such a thing. She said my vaccination records were on file and the last was a tetanus shot when I was 13. I remember having been cut on a rusty fence.

I have asked college friends on Facebook, 2 of which remember going for the shot, but not what it was for.

It would have been between 1992 and 1994.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Sounds like you got the standard MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccination. THat is typically required for entering college (if you have not had it or have no documentation to prove you did). You might also have gotten the whooping cough vaccination as well.

Could it have been a vax for meningitis? There were a lot of outbreaks around that time.

originally posted by: Krakatoa
Sounds like you got the standard MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccination. THat is typically required for entering college (if you have not had it or have no documentation to prove you did). You might also have gotten the whooping cough vaccination as well.

Nope, were all done. I have seen my records and matched them to vaccination schedules.
I was more than 2 years in. I was not just entering college.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

No, I asked about that with Mono. I was caught up for their regulations at the time.

The pox... Worst month of my life.
My champaign birthday, just turned 19 that day. I woke up with a blister type of lump on my chest.
I thought i might have burnt myself some how the night before due to the tremendous amount of alcohol i consumed. By noon on my birthday i broke out in the blisters all over my body and suddenly felt horrible- even worse than my hangover.
By 6 pm i was in the emergency room because i thought i was dying.
The doctor looked at me and asked if i ever had chicken pox before. I told him i dont think so.
He said, well happy birthday, you got the pox.
So there i was on my 19th bday,mwith an IV in my arm and in a quarentined room. I spent the night because they wanted to keep me under obs. Due to my age. I guess the older you are when you get the pox, the more severe the reaction.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
The pox... Worst month of my life.
My champaign birthday, just turned 19 that day. I woke up with a blister type of lump on my chest.
I thought i might have burnt myself some how the night before due to the tremendous amount of alcohol i consumed. By noon on my birthday i broke out in the blisters all over my body and suddenly felt horrible- even worse than my hangover.
By 6 pm i was in the emergency room because i thought i was dying.
The doctor looked at me and asked if i ever had chicken pox before. I told him i dont think so.
He said, well happy birthday, you got the pox.
So there i was on my 19th bday,mwith an IV in my arm and in a quarentined room. I spent the night because they wanted to keep me under obs. Due to my age. I guess the older you are when you get the pox, the more severe the reaction.

I am sorry this happened to you. But 19 is old? And what year was this?

You can get a blood test.

For certain vaccinations, your doctor can perform a test for evidence of immunity, whether from a prior vaccination or an infection. In the case of varicella (chickenpox), for example, a blood test can show whether or not you’re immune to the disease.

I had no idea that the vaccine wasn't released until 1995, that's surprising to me. For some reason I thought it had been around since the 60's or so.

Are you sure you're not misremembering what the vaccine was for? I would think with the amount of time between then and now there are bound to be some clerical errors and policy changes. Especially considering the migration over to computer records.

I was going to say that I would be surprised no vaccines were required, but I've never had to supply any medical information to any college I attended (that I recall).

Getting a blood test sounds like your best option. Not sure if it would be covered by insurance, but I doubt even out of pocket it would be all that expensive, and most likely worth the peace of mind. My understanding is that getting chickenpox late in life is pretty serious. I had it when I was in 6th grade, and it was no fun at all. I would also recommend just asking your doctor. Your doctor may have some resources that you don't.

Here's a resource that has a timeline of important dates concerning vaccinations.

This would bother me too. At first I wanted to just dismiss it, but if it was actually required, that seems odd, especially if it was for chickenpox.

Actually it may not be odd, I'm using my frame of reference and that never included living in a dorm. Did you live in a dorm? Can you tell us at least the State you were in, and the actual year? I'm seeing that some colleges do require vaccines if you live in a dorm, and that some States have different rules.

Good luck! Hope you find an answer here.

Here's a resource that might help, it lists the rules by state and the date rules were implemented.

This thread caught me when I was bored.

Odd.

You said that you remember standing in line, and that a couple of your friends remember it, too? Were you ALL in line for the vaccine?

The only time I could imagine the college having some sort of open clinic where people would be lined up...would be for a flu vaccine. If it were organized through a local health agency, the college might not have kept a record of it. I would check with the county that your college was located, for any health records for you. You might find it there!

a reply to: reldra

Look in your pm's. If that tip helps you, please share it with the thread. I expect if you have the proper information you need-the doctor's name-then it will be no problem for you to get the info, as I said.

a reply to: reldra

It was july 19, 2001

Well, whatever it was, they sure weren't doing very good record keeping if they did not mark it down. People are having to have their kids re-vaccinated because the records are missing their vaccinations. My granddaughter was one of many that had to go in for a missing shot because the school did not have a record of it. Even though my daughters records showed she had been vaccinated, she still needed to get another one because the doctors records in the office did not have it recorded, it disappeared from their records. After the fact my wife found that she did have it by checking the records where she worked at the health department.

How many kids are getting re-vaccinated in this country because records are messed up. I also talked to a couple of other people who had the same problem, they had to prove that their kid had to be vaccinated, one did the other just had the kid go get another shot.

I bet there are millions of dollars of unneeded vaccines given out each year. Because of recording mistakes or switching software glitches. Most people don't question this, they are brainwashed to believe the computer system is infallible.

a reply to: reldra

I agree with what another poster said about it being a flu vaccine. With so many in line, it seems to make sense. I also agree with those saying the college had sloppy record keeping.

You're a pup compared to me. I got chicken pox in 1970, at the age of six. My Mom never had chicken pox. She jokes that she must have been immune because she wound up with something much worse for which there was no vaccine at the time - polio in 1946 when she was two years old.

Couldn’t you get a blood test to determine what it was? I say this because a few years back my doctor ran a blood test to prove I had gotten a vaccine I needed before I went to college because the doctor I had before her didn’t update my records.

a reply to: reldra

I Received a Vaccination I Can't Trace Nor Know What it Is.

Do any of us who get vaccinated get given a documented statement detailing the name, date, time, name of the vaccine, , the amount injected, the manufacturer, list of ingredients in the vaccine so we have full and documented evidence of what and when we were given a vaccine for traceability purposes?

Has anyone here ever been offered such a certificate, any one ever asked for one.

What evidence are we entitled to have when we get vaccinated?

What evidence will be be entitled to demand when vaccination become compulsory? Will be given or offered a certificate of vaccination when the time comes?

a reply to: reldra

I have been debating with myself for a couple hours whether to post this for you or not... it may be a stretch... and I may just be jumping at shadows. But when I went back to the article to look at the dates and saw they coincided with the date of your vaccination, I figured it might be relevant. I will leave it to you to decide:

Jodie’s Story: A Little Girl Lost After Illegally Given an Untested 8-in-1 Vaccine

On May 17, 1993, when Jodie was 14 ½ months old, they arrived at Aldermoor Surgery health clinic in Southampton, UK. They agreed to allow Jodie to receive the MMR vaccine and physically signed to refuse the DTaP vaccine and any others.

Fair warning, this sad story does involve the once-debunked-then-vindicated Dr. Andrew Wakefield:

In January 1998, Jodie and her parents met with Dr. Andrew Wakefield to discuss what was contributing to Jodie’s demise, which started after she was given that vaccine.

Soon after Jodie’s first visit to the Royal Free, Dr. Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues published a paper in The Lancet on February 28, 1998, linking a plausible connection to inflammatory bowel disease, autism, brain damage and the triple MMR vaccine.

When the little girl's vaccination records were requested so the doctors could find out exactly which batch of MMR vax she had been injected with, the records were "lost":

They went to request her vaccine record, where Jodie had received the shot and the doctor there said they could not find Jodie’s records. This included records from numerous visits for help following the jab.

When they finally were able to get those records, the parents learned their daughter had been injected with far more than just the MMR vax they had given their sole consent for:

The records revealed a disturbing truth that Jodie had been overdosed and was given DTaP and an injected oral polio vaccine.

I found this especially disturbing... and immediately came to mind as I read your post:

They found out she was given all of this and then later found another vaccine was given to her, all injected into her through that one shot. They were assured the seven went into her but new records that surfaced several years later revealed an eighth vaccine was given and signed for. The Marchants haven’t publicly revealed what the eighth vaccine is. Due to the sensitivity of the case that is still ongoing, that information is not being published.

This all took place in England, but the vaccine manufacturer is the same as in the U.S.: Merck.

Like I said, I don't know if it's relevant to your situation or not. You'll have to be the judge of that.

a reply to: reldra

Maybe a meningitis shot?

a reply to: Boadicea

Any tangible evidence other than a testimonial from an anti-vaccination propaganda website?

I have had the chickenpox 3 seperate times! That's not supposed to be possible. Not only was I pregnant the second time I had chicken pox but the next time I had chicken pox, we verified it was chicken pox by being the only person who could have given it another person that got it.

Some of the vaccines were bad. They probably just switched brand names and that's causing you issues as you try to track it.