Immunization Questions

falconmom2011

5-Year Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
9
We are trying to complete forms included in the 2nd BFE and have questions on immunizations. We tried to email the address given in the package, but the emails are bouncing back. Here's the questions:

1. The schedule says that all Air Force Cadets must have a polio shot within 6 months of admissions. Our Health Center said that they do not issue polio shots to adults over age 18. They did not know anybody who would give polio shots to an adult. Is this something that must be done prior to admissions or will the Academy take care of it at I-Day?

2. the schedule requires a TB test within 6 months of entrance. Is this something that must be done at the Academy or are we suppose to have it done prior to I-Day?

Thanks for your help!
 
We are trying to complete forms included in the 2nd BFE and have questions on immunizations. We tried to email the address given in the package, but the emails are bouncing back. Here's the questions:

1. The schedule says that all Air Force Cadets must have a polio shot within 6 months of admissions. Our Health Center said that they do not issue polio shots to adults over age 18. They did not know anybody who would give polio shots to an adult. Is this something that must be done prior to admissions or will the Academy take care of it at I-Day?

2. the schedule requires a TB test within 6 months of entrance. Is this something that must be done at the Academy or are we suppose to have it done prior to I-Day?

Thanks for your help!

If I remember correctly last year we sent him to the hill and they did it. It reads within 6 months not 6 months before admission .
 
Just annotate what has already been given; get what you can; and don't worry about the rest. When they get to the academy, they will receive any/all the immunizations that they need but haven't received. No worries.
 
immunization question

If you send your question to 10mdg.sgoma@usafa.af.mil you should receive a response. (This is the e-mail address provided for forwarding the completed form. The e-mail address provided for questions didn't work for us either.) I had a couple of questions and received a prompt response - very polite, lots of yes ma'am and no ma'am. :)

As for getting the immunizations, we went ahead and got any that were required but were missing, including the adult polio. Our doctor thought it unusual and didn't recall having to do that for prior service academy appointees, but he did have it available and administered it. He didn't think administering it was a problem, just probably not necessary in his opinion.
 
If you send your question to 10mdg.sgoma@usafa.af.mil you should receive a response. (This is the e-mail address provided for forwarding the completed form. The e-mail address provided for questions didn't work for us either.) I had a couple of questions and received a prompt response - very polite, lots of yes ma'am and no ma'am. :)
This has NOT been our experience. 3 emails over the last 7 days to confirm receipt of the faxed immunization record has received zero responses. I confirmed the email address was the same as the above. Good luck.
 
Because immunizations may cause a slight fever, as well as soreness at the injection site, my son went ahead and got his TB test, Hep A shot (not yet mandated, so not everyone has had the 2 shot course) and Polio shot rather than wait until I Day. Especially if your son has multiple ones to get, you may want to do it ahead of time. Our doctor didn't question the polio at all, just gave it as required. We had problems with the e-mail address, and did just as skt mentioned. We received a response the next day.
 
This has NOT been our experience. 3 emails over the last 7 days to confirm receipt of the faxed immunization record has received zero responses. I confirmed the email address was the same as the above. Good luck.

We sent an email request for verification that they received our fax and received an affirmative reply about 3 days later. Haven't checked on the things I've faxed since then; just keeping my fingers crossed.
 
We are trying to complete forms included in the 2nd BFE and have questions on immunizations. We tried to email the address given in the package, but the emails are bouncing back. Here's the questions:

1. The schedule says that all Air Force Cadets must have a polio shot within 6 months of admissions. Our Health Center said that they do not issue polio shots to adults over age 18. They did not know anybody who would give polio shots to an adult. Is this something that must be done prior to admissions or will the Academy take care of it at I-Day?

2. the schedule requires a TB test within 6 months of entrance. Is this something that must be done at the Academy or are we suppose to have it done prior to I-Day?

Thanks for your help!


Trying to clarify since we have not yet received our DS's 2nd BFE. Is this exactly how it is worded in the requirements on TB Test and Polio? Also what does it say on HPV? Thank you guys so much!
 
Karek,

From pg. 27 of the instruction booklet, it says "All cadets are required to get the necessary immunizations PRIOR to arrival at the Academy. Waivers for immunizations WILL NOT be accepted." For polio specifically, it says "Must be given within 6 months of admission (if not a prior active duty military member.)" and then a few lines later "NOTE: Air Force requires all members to be given an adult dose of polio within 6 months of admission." So if you don't get it ahead of time, I'm sure it will be given on I Day.

Regarding TB test, again it says "Required within six months of entrance."

HPV is listed as an optional, females only, immunization.

Also, on pg 27 again, it says "Immunizations have a risk of side effects, and some result in sore arms, fatigue, headaches, and other flu-like symptoms. Receiving one or more of these vaccinations on the first day of training could result in decreased physical performance during Basic Cadet Training. It takes 4-6 weeks for an immunization to produce an immune response and protect you from disease. Please keep that in mind when scheduling your immunization appointments." So we read all of that to mean my son should get his shots ahead of time, which we did.
 
Recommendation from parent of 3rd class cadet who went through this 2 years ago. Our daughter had all of the required shots (or so we thought) before Inprocessing and we sent all of the required paperwork in on time. She carried a copy of the paperwork with her to Inprocessing. The fact that she had a copy with her helped prevent confusion and I do not think she had to get any additional shots -- although they do a blood test (I think). Female cadets are also tested (periodically) for whether they are pregnant. That testing goes on throughout their time at the Academy.
 
AFAYahoo,

Thank you so much! Trying to get DS in ahead of time. He is a college appointee so we think the wait on transcript might be delaying his 2nd BFE. We really want him to not need to worry about immunizations on I-Day.
Thank you again!

Karek
 
Adult Polio vaccine

our pediatrician is saying they don't know what an adult Polio vaccine is and want to give him a tetanus shot that has Polio as well even though he does not need a tetanus booster at this time. does anyone know if this will fulfill the requirement? Those of you that received the polio vaccine, do you know if it was just a polio booster or something else? i have emailed the 2 addresses listed on the form but have not received a response yet.

thanks.
 
Hi all, sorry if this was mentioned before, but I just wanted to get a solid answer as to the best fax number to use when faxing in the medical form?

thanks
 
our pediatrician is saying they don't know what an adult Polio vaccine is and want to give him a tetanus shot that has Polio as well even though he does not need a tetanus booster at this time. does anyone know if this will fulfill the requirement? Those of you that received the polio vaccine, do you know if it was just a polio booster or something else? i have emailed the 2 addresses listed on the form but have not received a response yet.

thanks.

I would be sure your doctor is talking about Polio and not pertussis. There is a Tdap vaccine that includes tetanus and pertussis (similar to DPT's for infants, but a booster age 12 and up) I am not familiar with a tetanus/polio combo vaccine. Your local Health Dept may also offer vaccines, sometimes at a much cheaper price.
 
Our doctor said adult polio is always a shot, not the oral dosage given as a child. I've also never heard it combined with tetanus, so I'd check before getting anything.

The fax number to send in the immun. records (on instructions page) is 719-333-5448. I then sent an e-mail to 10MDG.SGOMA@usafa.mil requesting a confirmation that the fax was received, and it came a day later (that was this week). I also used that same e-mail address for a question and got a response quickly also.
 
I would be sure your doctor is talking about Polio and not pertussis. There is a Tdap vaccine that includes tetanus and pertussis (similar to DPT's for infants, but a booster age 12 and up) I am not familiar with a tetanus/polio combo vaccine. Your local Health Dept may also offer vaccines, sometimes at a much cheaper price.

ds has received the tdap - listed on his immunization record but that may be what the nurse is telling me. i will try to contact our actual pediatrician (not the nurse), my GP or the health dept if i don't hear from the academy email. the email for questions got bounced back as someone already said but the other email did not so perhaps i will hear something. ds typically has a reaction to shots so i'd like to get it ahead of time.
 
our pediatrician is saying they don't know what an adult Polio vaccine is and want to give him a tetanus shot that has Polio as well even though he does not need a tetanus booster at this time. does anyone know if this will fulfill the requirement? Those of you that received the polio vaccine, do you know if it was just a polio booster or something else? i have emailed the 2 addresses listed on the form but have not received a response yet.

thanks.


Hey, I think I can answer your question. The short answer is that you need to get the same vaccine as a kid. GET THE SHOT, not the oral dose. The longer answer is that your doctor doesn't know what an adult Polio vaccine is because they don't exist according to what I've gathered. The "adult" polio vaccine is the same as the childrens. We're all vaccinated at birth here in the U.S. AFAIK and that's pretty much eliminated it from our country. I'm not sure the about the science behind it, but I guess you're not as prone to it when you're an adult so you don't need another dose. However, my mom brought up the point that we might be sent to places where it's still present and we need to get another dose as a booster. Apparently the oral dose is a live virus that could potentially give you Polio. The shot is a dead virus and safer. My doc and I were a bit confused at first as well. Hope I helped.
 
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ok - here is the answer to my own question. According to the CDC most adults do not need polio vaccines because they were immunized as children. 3 groups are at a higher risk and should consider polio vaccination:

1. you are traveling to polio-endemic or high-risk areas of the world which can include the middle east especially egypt and afganistan, Africa especially Nigeria and other areas of asia and indian sub-continent.

2. you work in a laboratory and handle specimans that might contain polio

3. health-care workers or public health workers who may be in contact with patients who may have or been exposed to polio.

Obviously the military fall into category #1 and possibly #3.

It is recommended that adults falling into any of these categories receive one lifetime booster dose of IPV which is a shot as opposed to the Oral Polio vaccination (OPV) most of our kids were given as a child.

there were numberious health professional web sites that explained this including the CDC web site and MD Travel Health. if you should need info to give to your doctor for anyone that runs into a question from your doctor just google adult polio vaccination and you will get more info than you need.
I printed out copies of the CDC recommendations as well as the MD Travel Health info to give to ds pediatrician. Also, called their office and explained. Hopefully this will solve the problem we are having.
 
I highly recommend, if you can afford it, to do all the immunizations and TB test before I-day. Some of those shots (like the TDAP) cause soreness. It is one less thing to stress about in an already very stressful time that is nice not to deal with. I was unable to get my TDAP prior (I did my Hep before) and it was not pleasant.
 
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