Re-vaccination after chemo?

[deurbano]

Last February, my adult daughter finished 5 rounds of chemo for mediastinal lymphoma. The final (6th) round had to be cancelled due to treatment-related complications, but after 5 rounds, she was/is in remission. (Knock on wood, knock on wood.)

My husband has a friend on Facebook who posted (in connection to the current measles situation) that he needed to get re-vaccinated after his chemo treatments. I'm not sure what kind of cancer he had, but he has been in remission several years.

Yesterday, we got an email message from our younger daughter's middle school that said measles hasn't been reported here in San Francisco yet, but there are cases in surrounding counties.

Has anyone else heard about this need to re-vaccinate? My daughter is 41, and I think she was up-to date on everything going into this. She can contact her doctor on Monday, but I thought maybe someone here might have some insight.

[olddots]

1. I've never heard of re-vacination

ask the doctor or maybe two doctors if you can .Its very important to get systems back in order after chemo and radiation.

[deurbano]

3. Thanks! I hadn't heard of that either.

Hopefully, it won't be necessary. Thankfully, she didn't have to have radiation. She had a lot of problems with her esophagus from the tumor crushing it and from an NG tube, so we were relieved she didn't need radiation in the same area on top of all that. My sister starts radiation tomorrow. (She already had six rounds of chemo, followed by a mastectomy... with reconstruction scheduled for after the radiation.)

[slipslidingaway]

2. Never heard of vaccinations after chemo alone ...

but my husband had to begin vaccinations after chemo AND an allogeneic transplant (another person's cells) and it is standard procedure after an allo transplant. Just check with the doctor on Monday, hope that helps.

They can do a test to see if your daughter still has immunity against the measles etc. My husband needed most childhood vaccinations, but not all of them.

[deurbano]

4. Thanks very much!

We will check tomorrow, but I think you're right.

[slipslidingaway]

5. Check in when you have time and let us know how your ...

daughter is doing.