Measles: To Disneyland and Beyond

[blue22]

I was only commenting on how we should ALSO be making a cry for adults to get vaccinated and should ALSO blame unvaccinated adults on their lack of responsibility. I find it ironic that no one is upset about that. I am MORE upset about an adult not being vaccinated, because a child has no choice in the matter.

 

[blue22]

Being that it was a long time ago, I personally don't know what I was or wasn't vaccinated for as a child.
I presume that's the same for a lot of adults.

Adults know they aren't vaccinated, if they haven't gone in as adults or teens. They need boosters. You know you haven't received a booster, if you haven't gone to get one. It's really simple.

 

[jjenny]

Adults know they aren't vaccinated, if they haven't gone in as adults or teens. They need boosters. You know you haven't received a booster, if you haven't gone to get one. It's really simple.

Haven't gone in where? To the doctor? I go to the doctor regularly, I have yet to be told I need a booster for measles. I am just curious as to where you are getting this information. Isn't the doctor the one who is supposed to bring it up?
I am also not sure what you mean by haven't gone as adults or teens? Measles vaccine would have been given as a young child, not as a teen.

 

[LinasK]

I was only commenting on how we should ALSO be making a cry for adults to get vaccinated and should ALSO blame unvaccinated adults on their lack of responsibility. I find it ironic that no one is upset about that. I am MORE upset about an adult not being vaccinated, because a child has no choice in the matter.

I agree with you that it is an adult's responsibility to find out from their doctor if they have current immunity on their vaccines. It was an adult who brought measles to Disneyland.

 

[LinasK]

Haven't gone in where? To the doctor? I go to the doctor regularly, I have yet to be told I need a booster for measles. I am just curious as to where you are getting this information. Isn't the doctor the one who is supposed to bring it up?
I am also not sure what you mean by haven't gone as adults or teens? Measles vaccine would have been given as a young child, not as a teen.

Ask your doctor to check for you. Bring it up.

 

[blue22]

Haven't gone in where? To the doctor? I go to the doctor regularly, I have yet to be told I need a booster for measles. I am just curious as to where you are getting this information. Isn't the doctor the one who is supposed to bring it up?
I am also not sure what you mean by haven't gone as adults or teens? Measles vaccine would have been given as a young child, not as a teen.

Vaccines adults need
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/downloads/adult/adult-schedule-easy-read-bw.pdf

If your doctor has never asked if you've had these vaccines, it's more than concerning...

 

[Nova]

Some of us who are adults predate the measles vaccine. We actually had the measles and survived, which one would think would provide plenty of antibodies. Still, I have no idea how long they last. I'll ask my doctor when I see him next week.

 

[jjenny]

Vaccines adults need
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/downloads/adult/adult-schedule-easy-read-bw.pdf

If your doctor has never asked if you've had these vaccines, it's more than concerning...

The only one that I got as an adult was the tdap because doctor said I need that one. Nothing was said about mmr. I will ask about it as it seem to be going around.

 

[nrdsb4]

Adults know they aren't vaccinated, if they haven't gone in as adults or teens. They need boosters. You know you haven't received a booster, if you haven't gone to get one. It's really simple.

If you are talking about measles, that's not true. I posted information earlier in the thread about specifically who would need to be vaccinated, and it has to do with when one was born and when they were vaccinated.

One can be tested for immunity.

 

[nrdsb4]

Some of us who are adults predate the measles vaccine. We actually had the measles and survived, which one would think would provide plenty of antibodies. Still, I have no idea how long they last. I'll ask my doctor when I see him next week.

If you had the disease, you would be considered to have lifelong immunity to measles. If in doubt, you can get a blood test.

 

[blue22]

The only one that I got as an adult was the tdap because doctor said I need that one. Nothing was said about mmr. I will ask about it as it seem to be going around.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to target you. I've always been asked about vaccinations (it could be because I live an an area where these illnesses would/could spread like devastating wildfire!) so it's weird for me to hear of people not have the same experience.

 

[Nova]

If you had the disease, you would be considered to have lifelong immunity to measles. If in doubt, you can get a blood test.

Thank you. I have no doubt when it comes to red measles. (That is what we are discussing, isn't it?) I remember the two weeks in my bedroom with brown paper taped over all the windows because it was believed sunlight would permanently damage my eyes. I also wasn't aloud to read or watch TV. So except when an adult was available to read to me, it was the longest two weeks of my life! (This was all in 1960 or 1961.)

OTOH, I never caught what they used to call "yellow" or "German" measles. No vaccination when I was a child.

 

[blue22]

If you are talking about measles, that's not true. I posted information earlier in the thread about specifically who would need to be vaccinated, and it has to do with when one was born and when they were vaccinated.

One can be tested for immunity.

Well I wasn't specific, but I was mainly talking about adults who couldn't remember getting the disease (who lived that time) or getting the vaccine.

 

[K_Z]

Well, I thought I saw a question asking what is "shedding", but now I can't find the post to quote it.

Measles is a viral, not bacterial infection. "Shedding" refers to the time during which an exposed person is contagious to others, while the virus is multiplying in the body. The person may, or may not have any symptoms at all during that time, or may have "prodromal" symptoms that are non-specific, and could be a bunch of different things. Medical people who talk about "shedding" are worried about that contagious period where virus is being "sent out" of the infected person to other potential hosts. (The time before the symptoms and history make it more certain to diagnose.) This is particularly worrisome when it comes to people who feel ill and seek a medical appointment. If they are "shedding" virus in a clinic waiting area, they are potentially infecting lot of others. And from what I understand, measles remains airborne in an environment for hours after the contagious person has left.

Here's a nice discussion of viral "shedding."

http://www.virology.ws/2014/10/08/the-incubation-period-of-a-viral-infection/

Well, this explanation tightens the "shedding" period as not inclusive of the prodrome, but that's mincing words in real world exposure situations. Contagious is contagious.

 

[nrdsb4]

Well, I thought I saw a question asking what is "shedding", but now I can't find the post to quote it.

Measles is a viral, not bacterial infection. "Shedding" refers to the time during which an exposed person is contagious to others, while the virus is multiplying in the body. The person may, or may not have any symptoms at all during that time, or may have "prodromal" symptoms that are non-specific, and could be a bunch of different things. Medical people who talk about "shedding" are worried about that contagious period where virus is being "sent out" of the infected person to other potential hosts. (The time before the symptoms and history make it more certain to diagnose.) This is particularly worrisome when it comes to people who feel ill and seek a medical appointment. If they are "shedding" virus in a clinic waiting area, they are potentially infecting lot of others. And from what I understand, measles remains airborne in an environment for hours after the contagious person has left.

Here's a nice discussion of viral "shedding."

http://www.virology.ws/2014/10/08/the-incubation-period-of-a-viral-infection/

K_Z, but that post referred to the typical spiel anti-vaxxers give stating that innocents are actually infected by people who have received the vaccine and are "shedding virus" as a result of receiving a live vaccine. At least that's how I interpreted it. That stuff is all over the internet on anti-vaxx web sites and blogs.

ETA: I also can't find that post anymore.

 

[K_Z]

Interesting article on Slate today about a small survey the author distributed to pediatricians about talking with parents about vaccination worries.

What Do Pediatricians Really Think About Anti-Vaxxers? Do they hate them? Pity them?

http://www.slate.com/articles/healt...accine_parents_mds_frustrations_failures.html

 

[JLSChook]

Well, I thought I saw a question asking what is "shedding", but now I can't find the post to quote it.

Measles is a viral, not bacterial infection. "Shedding" refers to the time during which an exposed person is contagious to others, while the virus is multiplying in the body. The person may, or may not have any symptoms at all during that time, or may have "prodromal" symptoms that are non-specific, and could be a bunch of different things. Medical people who talk about "shedding" are worried about that contagious period where virus is being "sent out" of the infected person to other potential hosts. (The time before the symptoms and history make it more certain to diagnose.) This is particularly worrisome when it comes to people who feel ill and seek a medical appointment. If they are "shedding" virus in a clinic waiting area, they are potentially infecting lot of others. And from what I understand, measles remains airborne in an environment for hours after the contagious person has left.

Here's a nice discussion of viral "shedding."

http://www.virology.ws/2014/10/08/the-incubation-period-of-a-viral-infection/

Well, this explanation tightens the "shedding" period as not inclusive of the prodrome, but that's mincing words in real world exposure situations. Contagious is contagious.

Thanks, K_Z. It was my post and I deleted it. I figured why ask a stupid question when I can Google it myself.

I just wanted to get some opinions here as to why the anti-vaxxers blame "shedding" on the recent outbreak. Probably just another excuse to stay in denial, I suppose.

Thanks so much for the info!

 

[K_Z]

I read an article yesterday or today about the Disneyland outbreak. Labs are able to determine that all of the documented infections are of the same specific variation of the virus, which I think is called a "Phillipine" variation. It seems to me that epidemiologists and virologists are a much more authoritative source of that kind of information, than rumors and speculation from "anti-vax" sources. I think I read somewhere that the strain of attenuated (weakened) virus used in MMR vaccines is of the Schwarz variety. Scientists are using measles vaccine to try to develop a vaccine for HIV. Quite interesting.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC229349/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3495096/

Here's a nice discussion countering the "anti-vax" lobby claims of virus shedding from newly vaccinated people:

http://luckylosing.com/2011/10/13/vaccine-shedding-time-up-for-another-vaccine-myth/

 

[Hiandmighty]

5 Chicago babies under age 1 have the measles caught from the same daycare: http://time.com/3697671/chicago-babies-measles/

 

[Curiosum]

Which vaccines are required is decided on the state level. But generally, they include: polio, meningococcal disease, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis [whooping cough]), varicella (chickenpox) and hepatitis A & B. Some states also offer the HPV vaccine to middle and high school girls (since the HPV2 vaccine only works on females).

I don't think we really know how many people are unvaccinated. That's something that would be very hard to figure out because 1) It's done by self-reporting, 2) many Americans who were vaccinated may not be up-to-date on their shots, and 3) it'd be almost impossible to to account for illegal immigrants, whose population ranges from 7 to 20 million people. But we do have an idea of how many school-aged children are vaccinated, and what the rates are by state/region:

• The CDC found that 94% of kindergarteners had the MMR vaccine, 95% had the DTaP vaccine, and 93% were vaccinated against chickenpox
• Mississippi has the highest rate of MMR vaccination with 97.7% (Congrats to Mississippi for being no.1 in something other than obesity and teen pregnancies) and Colorado had the lowest with only 81.7%. Seven states + Washington DC had rates less than 90%
• DTaP vaccination rate was 95% or over in 25 states, but less than 90% in five states and DC
• Chickenpox vaccination rate was at least 95% in nine states, but less than 90% in eight states and DC
• In certain parts of Oregon, the vaccination rate among schoolchildren is less than 50%. In some areas, only a quarter are actually vaccinated
• According to a recent study, 6 out of 7 schools (public and private) has an MMR vaccination rate of 90%+
• Ohio, Colorado and West Virginia are tied for the worst MMR vaccination rate, with an average of only 86% of all children in those states being immunised

California overall has a 90.7% vaccination rate (which is well below the needed 95%, but it's not too horrible). The issue is that the anti-vaxxers tend to be concentrated in certain areas. Los Angeles, which is only 27 miles from Disneyland, has a lot of the anti-vaxxers and alternative medicine types.. Obviously, a lot of Los Angeles residents visit Disneyland due to the short distance, so it's really not surprising at all that the outbreak is so close to one of the major "hubs" for anti-vaxxers.

Can you provide the link to where you got your statistics? The WV rate surprises me because WV is the other state (besides MS) that only allows medical exemptions for school entry and I know their school age rates are high as a result. Perhaps the 86% is referring to an UTD by 2 rate (although I wouldn't think WV would be that low there either).