vaccination after BMT

[KarenM]

Hi
my son ( now 22y) had a BMT in Nov 08 for vsaa. All has gone well with no real problems.
He is now off his cyclosporin and was wondering about vaccinations. He seems to think that his Dr said he cant get vaccinated. I thought he needed to .
Any advice? Karen

[Ruth Cuadra]

Hi, Karen.

Here's a very good thread about post-BMT vaccinations: http://forums.marrowforums.org/showt...ht=vaccination

If your son is off cyclosporine and all other immunosuppressants, then it's probably time to consider starting his vaccinations. Some patients and doctors prefer to test for any immunities that remain after transplant so only the necessary vaccinations are given.

As I said in the other thread, my transplant was in October 1998 and I was on immunosuppressants until June 2003 because of GVH issues. As soon as all the immunosuppressants were stopped, my doctor referred me for immunizations. I got them in 3 batches over the next year: tetanus, Hib (influenza), hepatitis B, pneumovax, and polio.

I had a flu-like symptoms after the first batch, which doctors thought was probably a reaction to the pneumovax (pneumonia vaccine), so I didn't repeat that one. Also, I was found to have sufficient polio antibodies after the first shot, so it was not repeated either.

Hope this helps.
Ruth

[Laura]

I am getting all my shots all over again including receiving pneumonia vaccine. I started about 1 yr post transplant. However, I won't get MMR until two years post transplant. I have heard that this can be delayed for GVHD, infections, etc.

Laura

[squirrellypoo]

I copied out the advice in the post-BMT pack given out at King's in Laura's thread a little while back:

Originally Posted by squirrellypoo

I just had a look through my big post-BMT info packet and it says to have inactivated viruses at one year IF you're not on immunosuppressants and there's no sign of GVHD. So I'm guessing the latter is the reason they're not gearing up to jab you yet.

Since I have it here in front of me, here are the inactivated (1 year) and live vaccines (2 years):

Inactivated:
pneumonia
influenza (if Sept-Dec)
Hib (haemophilus influenza??)
Neisseria meningitides (is that meningitis?)
Diptheria
Tetnus
Polio
Hepatitis B if required

Live vaccines:
Measles, Mumps, & Rubella (MMR)
Chickenpox (though this isn't standard, I'm going to fight and pay privately if need be to get it!)

I should be getting the first lot soon since I'm past the 1 year mark with no cyclosporin or GvHD, but nothing has started yet.

[KarenM]

thanks for the info , I will let my son know. Karen