Measles and the MMR

glitterIsland

Measles is in the news lately. The HSE started a campaign yesterday which prompted me to check with the HSE on my vaccination status.

My vaccination records show I got one MMR in the mid 90s in primary school. I was an early 80s baby and apparently the vaccine wasn't available for babies back then.

After my time in primary school a booster came in.

I never got the booster.

So does that mean that I am not fully vaccinated against MMR? Do I need to get another vaccine? Or am I considered fully vaccinated from the one dose of MMR?

SEPT 23 1989

Never remember anyone dying of measles or mumps when I was a child in the 80’s

you got it and got over it like everything else that went around

glitterIsland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917402#Comment_121917402

It's something I don't want to gamble with. It can hit adults hard. A nurse I know said that a she had a patient on her ward with measles who went blind because he was not vaccinated.

I am newly gone deaf from the common cold and sinus. I don't want to gamble with measles. Even if I was to get the infection, I don't want to be sick.

I am interested in exploring the possibility of getting a booster now as an adult.

Does anyone know do I need to get a booster?

glitterIsland

If I need a vaccine I am going to get it. I will never adopt someone else's anti vax position.

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917456#Comment_121917456

I’m no clinician but a booster might be something a doctor could advise you on. I’m under the impression the MMR is safe to take more than once either way, I don’t think you’d be harmed by taking a new one after having one 40 years ago, were that the case. But your doctor/nurse/pharmacist is your point person for that.

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917463#Comment_121917463

You really need to ask a doctor, or a pharmacist at the very least.

glitterIsland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917402#Comment_121917402

I don't have natural immunity to rely on now as an adult because I never got measles when I was small.

glitterIsland

Is there any official guidance on MMRs. Is it recommended for adults who only got one MMR as a child to get another MMR as an adult?

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917602#Comment_121917602

Here's the official guidance:

https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/mmr-vaccine/#:~:text=MMR%20vaccine%20for%20older%20children,have%20some%20immunity%20against%20measles.

MMR vaccine for older children and adults

Anyone who has not had 2 doses of the MMR vaccine can get the vaccine.

and:

If you cannot find your vaccination records, it will not harm you to have the MMR vaccine again.

Otherwise, as already advised, talk to your doctor.

Mr. CooL ICE

I never got chicken pox as a child. Maybe i did but was asymptomatic. Went to the doctor's to get bloods taken to test for antibodies and nope, not immune. Booked myself in for the vaccine.

Have two crèche age kids so it's inevitable it'll come in to the house and I'd rather there be two patients instead of three.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917656#Comment_121917656

Yeah, get that vaccine. I didn't have it as a child either, even though all my friends did. Caught it in my mid 30s. I've never been so sick, it was awful. It's a very different disease to get as an adult than as a child.

SuperBowserWorld

So, if you are born before 1978, you are supposed to be statistically immune. I remember have measles, but not sure if it was rubella/german measles, or if I got any kind of vaccine for it.

Are there actually records available somewhere to easily find out re vaccination ?

I think in a large family, nobody really cared what the **** you had. 😆

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917693#Comment_121917693

Here's info on getting your vaccination records. There's no central database, but your local health office (for where you were as a child) should have records. The MMR was only introduced in Ireland in 1988, so if you were born before 1978. you won't have got it as part of the childhood immunisation programme.

https://www.hse.ie/eng/health/immunisation/whoweare/requestrecord.html

glitterIsland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917634#Comment_121917634

This is a huge help and thank you. I will make an appointment with tm doctor.

glitterIsland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917656#Comment_121917656

Can your children get the chickenpox vaccine too?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917402#Comment_121917402

Average of 7 deaths a year (in Ireland) from measles back then. Mumps more likely to leave kids deaf or sterile for life than dead.

You just weren't being told about it, because who goes telling kids that other kids are dying?

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917784#Comment_121917784

Yep kids can get the chickenpox vaccine too. Its not currently part of the standard vaccination program though so you have to pay out of pocket for it. I got it for myself a few years back (along with an MMR booster as I don't seem to hold immunity to things) and then got it for my son when he was young. Having seen his cousins suffer through horrible cases of chicken pox (with spots on eyelids, inside nose, private parts), it seemed a no-brainer for me.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917402#Comment_121917402

The death rate with measles isn't very high but the side-effects from it are the main problem. And why would you want to get something if you didn't have to?

Vote4Squirrels

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917676#Comment_121917676

I had chicken pox aged 9, still got some scars from scratching - no big deal.

Virus in me so I developed shingles at 44 - thought I was going to die! Horrible!!

Now I get every vaccine, booster etc offered to me!

Good luck first poster!

airy fairy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917656#Comment_121917656

Why would you get the chickenpox vaccine for yourself and then not for your children? It's not a cheap vaccine but it's priceless imo.

Toots

I found out I didn’t have sufficient MMR cover when I was pregnant with my second child (AFAIK they test for Rubella in standard pregnancy bloods) I’m an early 80s baby so I only had the one dose, as that was all we were offered. I was given a booster before I left the hospital after giving birth.

My sister in law is the same age as me and had mentioned they were hoping to try for their first, so she asked her GP for advice. He did the blood test for her and sure enough she didn’t have immunity either, so she got her MMR booster before trying for the baby.

My husband is the same age as me and I checked with my GP last week if he needed bloods done to check. They said they could do bloods if he wanted but that he was eligible for a booster under the catch up program and it wouldn’t harm him having a booster if he already had cover, so he’s just going to get the shot.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058342673/measles-and-the-mmr

What year were you born? If before 1978, the answer is No.

glitterIsland

The data information I got from the health board shows that I got one MMR in the mid 90s with no previous MMR. That was stated on the form.

I checked with my doctor and they checked the archives and there's a record of me having an MMR when I was two in 1985. But the information I got from the health board doesn't show that.

The HSE only provided me with school vaccinations and not any vaccinations from my doctor/GP from when I was a baby. Is that stuff separate?

Anyways, I have two MMRs from my youth so all should be good.