Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego -- Recruits join the Marine Corps from many different places in the United States and bring with them various strains of germs. To combat that, they must have basic vaccinations that prevent them from spreading sickness and germs from one recruit to the next.
Delta Company recruits received their basic immunizations during their first few weeks of recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Aug. 28.
“When the recruits first arrive here, they receive their first dose of vaccinations,” said Petty Officer Third Class Steven J. Sechen, hospital man, MCRD Branch Health Clinic. “Vaccines for Varicella, Hepatitis A and B and many others are given to the recruits upon their arrival to recruit training.”
Some recruits do not have the antibodies or have not have contact to sicknesses such as measles, mumps or the rubella virus, so they are required to return the following week to receive them.
Recruits receive the Titer Blood Test, which measures the levels of antibodies in a blood sample because those antibodies are what the body uses to fight off foreign substances. If a recruit has a deficiency to combat an illness, they need the vaccination to build up that immunity.
Immunizations that recruits receive take up to two weeks to take the full effect, but in most cases, recruits are immune to each illness for the rest of their lives. Illnesses such as yellow fever require another vaccination in approximately 10 years.
“During the course of recruit training, we see the recruits multiple times through their cycle to issue them more vaccinations,” said Sechen, a native of Mason, Wis.
On training day 22, recruits return the clinic to receive their vaccines for Polio Hepatitis and Bicillin and on training day 48 they receive their vaccine for the Yellow Fever.
Although recruits receive many vaccinations while in recruit training, they might end up receiving more throughout their careers. Vaccines are necessary when Marines travel abroad visiting different countries where they could be in contact with deadly diseases.
“Immunizations are very vital in places such as recruit training,” said 28-year-old Sechen. “In order to keep the recruits and the drill instructors healthy for training, they need to be immune to as many illnesses as possible.”