Pls help about vaccination ( chicken pox ) !

[mylove_1959 0]

Hi everyone ! I had my AOS interview today and everything was going good until they give me RFE for vaccination (chicken pox ) so I have 30 days to corect and send them . Anyone knows where can I get a vaccination for chicken pox in the Houston,TX area . ( Also I called some DR from USCIS list but they said they have to do the hole medical exam ) even thought the RFE is for vaccination supplement only ) . Can I get the shot and then send my paperwork to DR Arnold . Thanks for advice . Dave and Diep

[Teacher Mark 53]

If it were me I would start with the Harris County Health Department. Their number is (713) 439-6000. Link to their site:

http://www.hcphes.org/dccp/clinical.htm

When you call them make sure and stress how important it is that you get this done A.S.A.P. If they can't get it done then call one of these hospitals:

Ben Taub General Hospital

Main Number

713-873-2000

Lyndon Baines Johnson General Hospital

Main Number

713-566-5000

I ran across this article when I did my initial Google search:

Jan. 22, 2008, 1:37AM

Chicken pox cases up in Texas despite vaccine

SAN ANTONIO — Texas recorded a 41 percent increase in cases of chicken pox from 2005 to 2007, despite an eight-year-old requirement that children be vaccinated before they can enter kindergarten.

Texas enacted the vaccine requirement for the 2000-01 school year, but has not mandated a booster for children between the ages of 4 and 6.

A federal advisory committee recommended last year that children get the second dose, after an initial dose at age 1. Texas Department of State Health Services officials said they will study the booster this spring to decide if it too should be required in schools and day care centers.

San Antonio pediatrician Dr. Dianna Burns said she has started seeing a few cases of the virus this season, which normally lasts from late winter through spring. She said most parents agree when she offers the booster.

"The problem is, we've had a shortage of the chickenpox vaccine," Burns said. "That hit us just about at the beginning of school. We've had to prioritize to make sure everybody had at least one dose, so we prioritize toward the front."

Chicken pox, known medically as varicella, is a viral illness marked by a low-grade fever and small blisters that break open and crust. Children with the virus are normally asked to stay home from school for a few days while they're contagious.

Shirley Schreiber, director of health services with the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, said vaccinated students who get chicken pox end up staying home the same number of days as they would have without the vaccine.

"Parents would get very frustrated when the youngsters would come down with a case and it would be a milder case of varicella, because they had been vaccinated," she said.

In Bexar County, the number of recorded chicken pox cases grew from 420 in 2003 to 520 in 2006 and 861 last year.

"Most of the time, we ask them: 'Did you get the vaccine?'" said Roger Sanchez, an epidemiologist with the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. "Virtually all of them say yes."

The vaccine has been successful at reducing the severity of chicken pox, said Dr. Marietta Vazquez, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine.

"No vaccine is 100 percent effective," Vazquez said. "We know that the vaccine is extremely effective in preventing severe cases. What we now see are very mild cases. But what we do know — what we are almost 100 percent certain — is that the solution to that is another dose of the vaccine."

Schreiber said she hopes the booster vaccine becomes mandatory, which could help reduce the number of "breakthrough episodes."

The federal advisory committee's recommendation of the booster last year resulted in high demand and some delays in shipping of the vaccine, said Dr. Nalini Saligram, director of global communications for the drug company Merck.

The company has increased production and the vaccine is available, Saligram said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/5471556.html

[mybackpages 0]

My husband has his immunization here : Third Ward Multi-Service Center Adult Immunization Clinic, 3611 Ennis, Houston, TX. 77004 Phone: 713-527-4042. You can walk in. The wait is not long.

Not sur ehow close this is to you though.

The vaccine is a 2 dose shot taken 30 days apart. My husband had the first dose and sent in the paperwork for AOS. He did not have to wait for the second dose.

Good Luck

[StoryAngel 4]

I'm in Houston and just filed for AOS last week. I needed the chicken pox vaccination and my vaccination record updated (and all the medical info put onto a I-693). For all the other vaccinations (which I'd had) it seemed you could get them at a CVS Minute Clinic... but not the chicken pox one. I called several doctors and ended up going to a local Civil Surgeon who gave me the shot and transferred the paperwork so I didn't need to send anything to Dr Arnold. It was a one-time shot, very quick, and very easy. I'll PM you as well with more info!

[mylove_1959 0]

I want to thank everyone who answered my question . I greatly appreciate your kindness . Have a nice day .

[lostinblue 1,989]

You can also get a blood test to show that you have had it in the past. This was accepted for us at aos