Thursday is my DD's 5 year appt with her Dr. so we squeeze in a follow up for my 8 month old baby who was in the ER for croup on Monday. Everyone checks out well, even though my 5 yr old seems to be trying her hardest to make her Dr think that she has ADHD. My DH and I decide to get our Flu shots while we are there so we don't have to pay to get them somewhere else. two birds, one stone, right?! So they give us our flu shots and then the nurse comes back in, with our Dr.... to tell us that she just gave ME the fricking POLIO VACCINE! Oh yes, you heard me right. she gave me the wrong shot. I am immediately relieved that it was ME they screwed up on, and not one of my kids! So relieved that I hardly even think about what the shot could do to me. But then I think about nursing my 8 month old and get pissed. The Dr assures me that it is fine that I nurse after getting the vaccine because it is an inactive virus, but I am still nervous. On the way home I call my OBGYN to get a second opinion and have to call the on-call doc because it is now after hours. When he calls me back I tell him the situation, crying at parts, and he tells me he is going to check it out and call me back. He calls back 20 minutes later to tell me that I can relax and nurse my baby and there is nothing to worry about. And that I won't be getting Polio anytime soon.
So my question is, have you ever had a vaccine related screw-up?
and most importantly, to remind you all to MAKE THE NURSES DOUBLE CHECK EVERY SHOT BEFORE YOU OR YOUR KIDS GET A SHOT!!!
One more reason why I don't get shots. Less things to mess up on. I honestly would probably get a record of it so that *in case* anything happens, you have proof.
I honestly think that you receiving the polio shot, which would then cross into your immune system and mother's milk, would actually BENEFIT the baby, and not harm, in anyway.
It is an 'inactive' virus, so there is no harm in you receiving it and inoculating your milk. In fact, you are passing immunities onto your baby.
Is there a reason you become hysterical over such mishaps? I think whenever there is a human involved, or a computer, there are bound to be mistakes.
No, because we don't do vaccines or flu shots. Just another story on why we shouldn't. =)
At our ped's office, the nurse reads the label of the vaccine out loud before giving the shot as a double check measure.
After reading this though I am always going to make sure. Thanks for the reminder.
You bring up an excellent point about checking what the nurse is giving you. I haven't experienced a mixup like that, but I've been lucky that the nurses have shown me the sticker most of the time.
I wouldn't want a vaccine other than the flu shot while nursing either, but I will say that if you were going to get the wrong shot, I'd rather it be a polio shot than anything else. I had to get another one when we went to live overseas because the polio series when you are a child doesn't last all your lifetime. Most polio is gone from the western world, but in some parts of Asia and developing countries, it's still around. Herd immunity is wonderful for when you live in the US, but traveling around the world calls for more proactiveness.
You may not be planning on leaving the country anytime soon, but sometimes people from overseas travel here, and you never know what they might "carry" with them. So now you know that you will not have to worry about polio. I'm kind of glad I had that booster 9 years ago myself.
Lemonade out of lemons, so to speak!
Dawn
Yeah, if you're going to get the wrong shot, it ought to be polio. :-) Dawn B is right, the polio vaccine isn't a lifetime vaccine and needs a booster so in a sense, you're lucky you got it. Polio has actually been making a gradual comeback. Even if that weren't the case, it isn't a dangerous vaccination to get for you or your kids.
It's still a great reminder to have the nurses AND doctor double check the vaccinations you're receiving, though. I always watch the nurse (sometimes it's the doctor) set up the vaccinations on the tray and match them up to the chart. They double check right before injecting.
I wouldn't worry as much about the effects of the shot. I would however be highly pissed about getting the wrong vaccine. That tells me that the nurse really wasn't paying close enough attention to what she was doing. It would make me question going back to that office. If you really like the doctor, then I would literally make the nurse show me the marking on every syringe to verify that it matches the shot that I was signing for to give my child.... If they don't like this extra precaution given their past mistake, then TOO BAD.
I'm glad you will be okay to breast-feed.
Thanks for the reminder to double-check – this is generally a good idea on any medical procedure, and really, the best you can do is probably ask the nurse/doctor to take a second look at what they are doing.
But humans are human, and we all are capable of making mistakes, even after double-checking. And technology and machines can fail, too. Last year I got flu and pneumonia vaccines at my doctor's office, then got a letter a couple of weeks later asking patients to come back for a follow-up vaccination (free). Their refrigerator had apparently been running too warm and they didn't know for how long, so they couldn't guarantee the potency of the medication.
Things happen; people get confused; best-laid plans fail. Sorry for your panic!
Thank you for this very timely advice with flu season upon us. I am SO glad it worked out positively for you. You did everything right. Blessings.
When I was a kid my mom was holding me on her lap for the tetanus shot and she got it instead! I was 5 or something like that. She was due to get one anyway but because of th screwmup the doctors office gave it to her for free!
If you end up being vaccinated for something you're already vaccinated for, it's really not a big deal. Your body has already built up an immunity to the virus, so there's nothing that really happens when you're re-injected with the dead virus. We had to repeat my daughter's entire set of Kindergarten vaccines because her pediatrician retired, and the new pediatrician's office lost her file. At the same time, we moved to a new house and I lost the stupid yellow card. Would never have noticed, but the school called and said they didn't have a current vaccination card for her, and could we please bring one? So... no proof anywhere of her Kinder vaccines! (What are the odds?!) And I couldn't swear that she had definitely had each and every one of them. I talked it over with the new pediatrician, and my biggest concern was, what if somehow one of the shots had been skipped, so my daughter was left unvaccinated for something? So, we repeated the whole set of shots (she was in 2nd grade at that point). She has had absolutely no ill effects, even though of course she had *probably* been vaccinated for everything previously. Whatever, at the end of the day, as long as my kids are totally vaccinated, I don't think it's that big a deal.
Although now I keep the stupid yellow vaccination card in the safe so we don't lose it! LOL
Wow! Thanks for the reminder!! Glad you are okay, but sorry that happened!
We have the right to look at the label on the vial/syringe as well! Just ask next time-they should be happy to show you :)
I didnt get the WRONG shot per se but I went in for a vaccine many years ago and they were supposed to give me the Tetanus, Deptheria, Polio shot and they left out one of them. When I got back home there was a message on my phone saying that I needed to come back either that day or the next to get my X shot (Cant remember which was left out)
Not the biggest deal but I am so scared of needles that when I get one I dont plan on being shot for another 10 years or so - I was a bit pissed
If it puts you at ease at all I was due for this TDP booster in August and I am pregnant and they said that it was perfectly fine so I would say that nursing is definitely okay of its okay to get it while pregnant
