gp, jabs and proof

[miss g 1]

Hey guys!

i was just wondering.. I grew up in africa, and lived in spain and well travelled loads, when it comes to the medical.. how the hell am I going to prove that i have had all the jabs?? I know I have had most of them.. because I distinctively remember it? what are your experiences with this

[Peikko 1,575]

You need some kind of proof, or you will have to get them again. If you know where you had the jabs done, write/call them and ask for a record of it.

If you do have to get them again, do them at your local Dr where it can be done for free. If you leave it until the medical, you will be charged and they are expensive.

Edited February 12, 2009 by Madame Cleo

[MargotDarko 0]

If you had them done by several different GP's, your best bet is probably to go again to your current GP. That's what my hubby did, and they gave him a little vaccination booklet with stamps in it showing the date of his vaccinations. Most GPs do it for free.

Edited February 12, 2009 by MargotDarko

[Peikko 1,575]

She might have difficulty accessing records from other countries in the UK via her GP. Not sure though as I didn't have to do that.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Before you panic take a look at the list and look at your age group. Tdap, MMR, maybe HPV and the varicella (chickenpox)

Even people with great UK jab records, most got those shots again because what they took as a child didn't help. So with or without records from your childhood you're probably going to take those again unless you happened to get some boosters like tetnus recently.

You can try NHS for those shots and most give the Tdap and MMR free, but they don't have to since it's for immigration. If you had chickenpox as a child, they normally take your word for it and write down you have a history of the disease. Or you can pay the Knightsbridge folks to give you the shots. You don't need Hepatitis unless you work in healthcare or live in close contact with someone with Hep.

Here's the chart in this document http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5753-Immunization.pdf

[MARM 7]

My fiance had decided to get the shots from his GP for free...turns out his GP is charging him: a fee for the vaccinations themselves, and another fee for the service of administering them to him. But I guess they are cheaper than Knightsbridge or after coming to the USA.

I had a question about a point you mentioned Nich,

My fiance got a tetanus booster last year (he cut his finger while using a can opener and when he got his wound dressed, he also got a tetanus booster) so will he still require the Tdap?

I guess my fiance should be asking his GP about this

Edited February 12, 2009 by MARM

[Talyss 0]

My fiance had decided to get the shots from his GP for free...turns out his GP is charging him: a fee for the vaccinations themselves, and another fee for the service of administering them to him. But I guess they are cheaper than Knightsbridge or after coming to the USA.

I had a question about a point you mentioned Nich,

My fiance got a tetanus booster last year (he cut his finger while using a can opener and when he got his wound dressed, he also got a tetanus booster) so will he still require the Tdap?

I guess my fiance should be asking his GP about this

With the Tdap depends when last year he had it! They shouldn't repeat a diptet injection within 6 months of the last booster because of the risk of an adverse reaction. I had a booster 3 months before my medical and although it hadn't had the pertussis part included the nurse signed off on my vaccination sheet that I was up to date with the Tdap.

[JeremyR 8]

Was he given a plain tetanus jab or was it a Td/Tdap? If it was the latter, and his GP has it on record that he had it (and is willing to print that record), then he shouldn't need another. Tetanus jabs are good for several years, I believe.

[Talyss 0]

Was he given a plain tetanus jab or was it a Td/Tdap? If it was the latter, and his GP has it on record that he had it (and is willing to print that record), then he shouldn't need another. Tetanus jabs are good for several years, I believe.

sorry tried to edit my post but took too long typing I guess

I would double check the knightsbridge drs website to make sure he isn't paying more for his jabs at his GP if they are applying 2 fees. Also double check what they are giving him if they do give the Tdap as most GPs nurses will not be authorised to give that to adults without an individual prescription from the GP as it is not licensed for use in adults in this country. A lot of practice nurses may be thinking you mean the Td/IPV (dip tet polio) which is not the same thing.

[JeremyR 8]

I was given the Td and 'passed' at Knightsbridge with no problem. The DS-3025 says "Specify (circle) vaccine: Td or Tdap". The Dr just circled Td and that was that.

Also, the print out from my local surgery's computer system was sufficient as proof I'd had it.

[Talyss 0]

sorry I wasn't making myself clear. what I meant wasn't that the Td/IPV wouldn't be good enough if you had already had it - it was more if your GP is going to charge you for a vaccination that may well be the same or more than Knightsbridge Drs I'd wait till the medical and get the one that the US really want.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

The Knightsbridge price list including vaccinations. http://www.visamedicals.info/us-price.asp

When I was researching all this immunization last summer the Knightsbridge was putting a big emphasis the Pertussis (whooping cough) because there was some big resurgance of it in the world. That's the P in Tdap. From what I learned if they use a capital letter, it means a bigger dose of the vaccine. So babies would get DTaP Diptheria, Tetanus, acellular Pertussus. But there was alot of research that adults taking the baby version had adverse reactions so a vaccine was developed they call Tdap which has full tetanus, but lesser diptheria and pertussis. Come to find out, that exact drug isn't even available in the UK, so they just gave Nick the baby jab version at NHS. And in the UK, to confuse you further, the shots babies get for this generally include Polio too so people there think the P is for polio.

I believe what that new CDC chart is saying is if you got the P part as a child, then maybe the D and T part are enough as a booster. It gives me a headache trying to understand. It's all a crock since it's a USA created vaccine chart and maybe the whole world doesn't even have those exact drugs or doses. I think that's why you can get your visa and immigrate without doing any of the jabs if you wish. They couldn't insist on shots not available worldwide. Once in the US, they can insist for AOS.

So what to do? Anything a doctor will sign off on. If you get to Knightsbridge and they think you need something else, you can go back to you NHS and get it. They were really nice and gave Nick their fax number and said, just get the shot and fax us the record and we'll get your medical on to the embassy the same day. Apparently he was missing the P part of that #### shot, but his NHS didn't understand the chart either and said he had everything. If your medical date is enough before your interview, then you have time to do that. Or you could just pay the money and get it over with at Knightsbridge.

Edited February 12, 2009 by Nich-Nick

[JeremyR 8]

if your GP is going to charge you for a vaccination that may well be the same or more than Knightsbridge Drs I'd wait till the medical and get the one that the US really want.

Your GP might not 'know' how much to charge though, so it might be worth while finding out. I learned that my local surgery had no concept of how to handle 'ordinary' vaccinations (i.e. those normally given to people in Britain as well, MMR, etc) for travel purposes. I had to show them embassy website printouts before they'd even consider giving me jabs because their 'all knowing' database said that vaccinations were never needed for the USA (it assumes you're coming back!).

They debated amongst themselves what to charge me for quite a while. In the end, I got my Td and both MMR shots done for the astronomical sum of... ten quid . So definitely find out how much your NHS GP will charge, it might be virtually nothing .

As for precisely which Td vs Tdap, etc, is needed, I honestly have no idea but I haven't been RFE'd yet after having just the Td (I'm 4 months into AOS processing).