PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity.
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@geolaw Different things to my understanding. I got the shingles vaccine before my measles immunity test.
Had shingles last year. Definitely recommend getting vaccinated against it.
I suppose it will be less of a problem for younger generations who got vaccinated against chickenpox in the first place?
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
@overholt I caught the measles in Senegal in 1984 when I was a 20-something Peace Corps volunteer, presumably because I received an ineffective vaccine in childhood. It was the sickest I’ve ever been—high fever, double vision, and it left me with a permanent heart arrhythmia. After being bedridden for 2 weeks, I was out of breath from walking short distances and it took months for me to regain my strength. You don’t want the measles.
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
I'm a young-ish Gen-Xer and found the same last year when I asked my doc for titer tests on a hunch. I wanted to make sure I could get fully vaccinated before RFK Jr. screwed things up too much.
The reason this is an issue is that up until roughly the 1990s, the childhood MMR vaccine in the US was a single dose. That seemed to be fine, but an outbreak in 1989 revealed that the single dose was inadequate. They subsequently changed the protocol to two doses for children, but never urged older generations to go back for a booster. This hadn't been a serious issue until recently, when coddling of anti-vaxxers destroyed herd immunity and created the conditions for the regional outbreaks we're dealing with now.
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
@overholt I'm a little bit older and recently got an MMR shot/booster.
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
@overholt I couldn’t find my childhood vax record when I went back to school at 50 and a titer showed I had immunity to measles and rubella, but not mumps. Got a booster MMR. Also Prevnar for pneumonia.
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@overholt I am in my 50s and last year I got the Shingles vaccine. Does this overlap? Or should I also get tested for measles immunity?
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
@overholt I've had three, maybe four MMRs for various reasons. No harm in boosting!
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@overholt The bad news is that I never got MMR vaccines as a child because I actually got the diseases before there were vaccines. The good news is they didn't kill me. The other good news is I had titers done and my immunity is still strong.
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@overholt This is really interesting. I'm wondering if anyone who's replied is in the UK? We can't just request vaccines on the NHS, for example I wasn't eligible for a free flu jab this year, but this is something I could look into getting done privately, esp as I have a health plan through work instead of a pay rise
@callunavulgaris @overholt I am, flu vaccines are cheap at Boots and various chemists even if you can't get the NHS ones.
You can get put on a list for more frequent reminders if you have some kind of compromising health condition so it's worth asking GP about it -
@Mab_813 @overholt @geolaw yes chickenpox vaccine will protect from shingles when older, as you need to have been infected with the herpesvirus that causes them. Same virus, chicken pox first, shingles later when it comes back out of your spine. Yay.
MMR = measles, mumps and rubella. Three entirely different viruses!
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@callunavulgaris @overholt I am, flu vaccines are cheap at Boots and various chemists even if you can't get the NHS ones.
You can get put on a list for more frequent reminders if you have some kind of compromising health condition so it's worth asking GP about it@noodlemaz @overholt Thank you both. I've been trying to get a straight answer from the health plan company as to whether it's covered - the blurb says yes in one place and no in another
It's worth doing anyway as you say, and if it is covered that's a bonus! -
@CuriousMagpie @overholt
I *also* had to get the full MMR series a second time, because my titres showed no immunity. This is so important!@anathema @CuriousMagpie @overholt did not realize it could lose effectiveness that much, and really not this early in life. Good idea to check out soonish.
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
@overholt I can't get vaccinated here b/c the system claims I'm immune b/c of my age.
I continue to mask in public, but still.
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
@overholt happened to me with whooping cough, which turns out to be less fun than it may sound
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@scottmiller42 @overholt I got my chickenpox and measles mixed up. My mistake
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
@overholt consider getting the SHINGRIX vaccine for Shingles too, which will also protect you against Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. I had that, you don’t want it.
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
It's not your age, at least that's not the whole story.
In your age group, you only got vaccinated once - it was believed to be sufficient back then. Today, there are two measles vaccinations which has been proved to be much better/longer lasting.
Still, the result is the same - better get vaccinated one time more often than not!
@overholt -
PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
@overholt We looked back through my records recently and discovered there was no record of my MMR, so I got one. (Mom would have been very pregnant with my sister at that point, So it's not shocking it fell through the cracks.)
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PSA: I’m turning 55 next month, and there’s an issue with people who got vaccinated for measles around the same time I did as a kid having waning immunity. I got tested and it turned out I had no immunity, so I got revaccinated this week. Don’t listen to the science deniers: measles is not a trivial disease if you’re 5 or 55 and we can no longer rely on herd immunity.
@overholt
Something I learned from a pharmacist (I'm in a cohort just a bit older than you, and was unsure if I'd been vaccinated as a child) is: when in doubt, get the vaccine — an extra dose is not a problem (one extra dose ≠ overvaccination, with many doses of the same vaccine). From CHOP — Children's Hospital of Philadelphia:
https://www.chop.edu/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-safety/other-vaccine-safety-concerns/dosing-safety -
@overholt consider getting the SHINGRIX vaccine for Shingles too, which will also protect you against Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. I had that, you don’t want it.
@stevenray Already did!
