Recently vaccinated children can go to public places | Fact check

Nate Trela, USA TODAY
·4 min read
26

The claim: Manufacturer instructions say children should stay home for up to eight weeks after getting live-virus vaccines

A May 17 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes a list of five live-virus vaccines and a warning for parents.

“If your child just received any of these listed vaccine (sic) below, they should be kept away from public places –school – for up to 8 weeks, per manufacturer’s instructions,” the post reads.

The post was liked more than 200 times in a week.

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Our rating: False

The manufacturer instructions for live virus vaccines suggest precautions to mitigate the risk of shedding viruses, particularly if a recipient expects to be around an immunocompromised person. However, none of the vaccines used in the U.S. carry a recommendation to stay away from school or other public places.

Good hygiene, thoughtfulness are recommended, not isolation

The post focuses on the risk of vaccine recipients spreading a live virus through a process known as viral shedding. But medical experts told USA TODAY that staying away from public places for any period of time isn't recommended in the instructions for any of the currently offered vaccines.

“The only live attenuated viral vaccine that required people to avoid others, specifically those who were immune compromised, was the oral polio vaccine, which we no longer use in this country,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

When asked for evidence for the claim, the social media user who shared it sent USA TODAY links to publicly available documents for the five live virus vaccines listed in the post. However, none of those documents instruct users to stay away from public places for any amount of time.

The social media user also shared links to reports of virus transmission through shedding by vaccinated people.

However, the risk of acquiring a virus through shedding by a vaccine recipient is minimal when proper precautions are taken, according to Dr. Angela Myers, director of the infectious diseases division at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics and professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Myers said she isn't aware of “any significant transmissions of a virus directly related to vaccination in the general population.” She added that no physician should interpret the instructions to mean that vaccine recipients should stay away from public places.

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Myers said following the instructions for the vaccines and being cautious around immunocompromised people is important, but she noted that the instructions vary by vaccine.

The vaccine for chicken pox, known as Varivax, comes with instructions that say those who receive it "should attempt to avoid close contact for up to six weeks" with anyone who has listed conditions that could compromise their immune systems. It also encourages parents to tell their medical provider if they expect to be around anyone with a listed condition.

The instructions for the other vaccines listed in the post also don't tell recipients to avoid public places for eight weeks.

M-M-R II, the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, has no warning language about avoiding contact with immunocompromised people.

The instructions for RotaTeq, the vaccine for rotavirus, urge caution when administering it to infants in homes with immunodeficient people. But the instructions say the vaccine is shed only through feces, so good hygiene during and after changing diapers is an adequate preventative measure for people who are not immunocompromised.

Zostavax, the vaccine for shingles, is not typically given to children and carries a warning about possible transmission to “susceptible contacts,” but it does not recommend isolation from public places or give a timeline for precautions.

Last, the post lists ACAM2000, the vaccine for smallpox, which is no longer offered to the public because the virus was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980. Its documentation says "measures should be taken to avoid contact between at-risk persons and people with active vaccination lesions," which can take 14 to 21 days to scab over.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Getting live virus vaccine no reason to stay home | Fact check