<p>maize - we OWE you! I was just thinking about bedding and shopping for college. All I can remember is that we’re supposed to buy bedding from JCPenny (?) on Wednesday - for the internet clearance. Is it JCPenny? Hmmm…</p>
<p>Now this thread is stuck at the top. Many of you will move onto this happy task of shopping and planning. Good bye applications. Good bye essays. Good bye college visits. Good bye SATs. Good bye envelopes. Good bye making a decision.</p>
<p>Can anyone point me to links re: the suggested immunizations for freshman? I understand the need for HepB, but there are two others recommended on s’ s form that I’m not familiar with–varicella and meningococcal? </p>
<p>Pros? Cons? Risks/side effects? Prevalence of those diseases?</p>
<p>I don’t know about varicella but we’ve gotten my Ss meningococcal vaccine. Our pediatric doctor said it was usually not done for high schoolers; but when she heard my S would be living in dorms for 6 weeks, she agreed to administer the vaccine which is effective for several years. The disease is rare but extremely dangerous and even fatal and its symptoms are easily misread, thus preventing early intervention</p>
<p>S owns one dress shirt, one tie, one navy blazer which he wears ONLY for music performances, funeral :(…</p>
<p>Does he need to have such at school - typical mode of dress there is tee/shorts/jeans. But will he need to have anything dressy? I’m assuming he’ll take a decent pair of khakis and a golf shirt or two</p>
<p>Varicella is the vaccine for chicken pox. You may need to prove that the student had chicken pox or the vaccine.Proof of the antibodies to varicella is done with a simple blood test. The student will pretty likely have to have a health exam done for school and they can be done then. The meningococcal vaccine is for meningitis, which is not really common, but looks like a bad cold in the early stages so kids do not realize how sick they are. It is very dangerous and can be fatal and it spreads easily in environments like dorms. Many schools require the vaccine and the rest probably reccommend it strongly. Our health plan made us pay for it, but the $100 was well worth it for my peace of mind.</p>
<p>Our D’s school offered both a flu vaccine and a meningococcal vaccine in October. Info came in the early summer with other health forms. Due to shortage of flu vaccine this past fall, they had to cancel that, but D did get the meningococcal one. $90 instead of the higher price usually charged by doctor. I’ll have her get the flu shot next fall.</p>
<p>I highy recommend both vaccines. Also for the meningiococcal vaccine be sure to get the new conjugate vaccine that was recently approved by the FDA. The US finally has moved out of the vaccine stone age on that one and caught up with Canada and Britain who have had a conjugate vaccine for years. It povides much better and longer lasting immunity than the old polysaccharide vaccines (whihc are still available).</p>
<p>I believe the new vaccine is called Menactra, and you local doc may not have it yet. It was approved just in January, but is being distributed to clinics now. IMO it’s worth waiting for.</p>
<p>DS goes to small LAC where the standard dress is jeans and t-shirts. However, found out first year that occasionally there are some “dress up” events (“dress up” could be anything from pants other than jeans and tops other than t-shirts to the stars the limit). For Christmas that year I got him a tux and dress shirt off of ebay for about $40 (The place he rented his tux for prom had his measurements.), and he’s loved it!</p>
<p>IKEA has sheets for $2 each. Also, as to med records, just get a copy from the school nurse. They kept the records. I found it was easier and more expeditious that way, especially if there was more than one doctor throughout the years.</p>
<p>Speaking as an immunologist (but not as a physician), I would say yes. I’m getting the new mennigiococcal vaccine for myself as well, even though I had the old one a couple of years ago.</p>