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.

Infoseepage

@overholt Got an MMR booster last fall (2024) as well. With overall population vaccination levels being too low to stop outbreaks, the next best option is for those who are vaccinated to ensure their immune response is strong and not waned over multiple decades.

Scott Miller 🇺🇦 🇺🇸

@geolaw @overholt No worries. There's a lot to keep track of!

fotoFi

@overholt Another good reason to also get the Shingrix shot. There's some evidence that it's protective against dementia.

John McChesney-Young

@RunRichRun @overholt I'm probably slightly older than either of you and I expected that Kaiser would give me a new pair of shots to supplement my single early-1960s one without question but they insisted on checking my titer and in fact I had no immunity. I might have had mild side effects but nothing literally memorable.

Stephan Matthiesen

@callunavulgaris @overholt I got measles vaccination at Boots just a few weeks ago, cost was about 30 pounds I think.

DJDOOM

I was born mid 60’s and just got the vax again. No sense risking it!

Rasmus Lindegaard

@overholt

Huskify

@overholt I am reading responses to this thread and would like to refer people to the CDC website on FAQs regarding whether or not adults need more than 2 MMR vaccines. Most adults do not need more than 2 MMR vaccines and titers are NOT recommended. The exception is for adults vaccinated with the killed vaccine between 1963 and 1967: https://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/clinical-overview/questions.html

contranym

@overholt i got tested recently in my early 40s and apparently i still have immunity. i would have preferred to just get a booster, but my dr didn't want to do that.

Huskify

@overholt I attended a clinician CDC webinar update on measles on 9/11/25 and asked this titer question specifically. The CDC response was: “CDC considers most people with documentation of 2 doses of MMR received after 12 months of age, and separated by at least 28 days, to have evidence of measles immunity…” 1/2

Myotis :fediverse:

@overholt and in the US they started to do a second one to reach high enough percent for herd immunity in 1989 - it was waning too much with age with just one. So even folk in their 30s should check their records and make sure they got two, and if not, titer to make sure you still have immunity. Or if you are worried just get a titer!
#vaccines #mmr

Huskify

@overholt “CDC does not recommend people who meet these criteria to be vaccinated with MMR even if they have a negative or equivocal result for a measles IgG test. Documented age-appropriate vaccination supersedes the results of subsequent serologic testing. However, if the person tested is a woman of reproductive age and could become pregnant and has a negative or equivocal titer for rubella, they should get a third dose of MMR. For more information, visit https://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/clinical-overview/questions.html” 2/2

Old Hippie Ⓥ Resistance!

@overholt I had measles and mumps as a child in the 1950s. It's been my understanding that I was protected for life afterwards. Is this no longer considered true?

bit101

@overholt Interesting. I'm a few years older than you. I didn't know about this. I'll ask my doctor at my next appointment.

Robyn

@andi
In some countries it could be the age- age at vaccination. For a few years in New Zealand, just over 50 years ago, it was on the schedule as a single dose at 10 months. We now know that maternal antibodies can still be present in the infant at that age resulting in a reduced immune response. Vaccinating kids that young is now only done to protect them from an outbreak, and we call it dose zero and still give 2 more later on.
@overholt

bit101

@overholt well, that's me right there..

"individuals vaccinated between 1963 and 1967 may have received a less effective, inactivated (killed) version of the measles vaccine. Anyone who received the inactivated vaccine or is unsure of the type they received should get one to two doses of the MMR vaccine,"

Some adults may need a measles booster shot. Who should get one and why? - Harvard Health

Measles vaccines have improved over the years. With the recent measles outbreaks, some adults may benefit from a measles booster shot. Learn who should get one, why it matters, and how to stay protected.

Harvard Health (www.health.harvard.edu)

Juggling With Eggs

@overholt

I had Rubella in the womb and was vaccinated against it as a kid…I was shocked when I had my immunity to it tested age 36 and discovered I had none and had to be revaccinated. Everyone has different levels of immune response to vaccines is my understanding.

Robyn

@StaceyCornelius
Sounds like your decision makers went to the same lecture series as ours.
If it's any consolation they are probably right. Even my mother who had family reasons for trying to keep us safe (posthumous child of a man who died tragically early of a communicable disease) didn't feel she had a hope of avoiding measles once we hit school age
@overholt

KPasa

@noodlemaz @Mab_813 @overholt @geolaw Chickenpox vaccine reduces the risk of shingles over having had wild type chickenpox, but you still can get shingles after the chickenpox vaccine as the vaccine contains live attenuated chicken pox virus. You will still want to get the shingles vaccine when you’re old enough if you have been vaccinated against chicken pox rather than having had an infection.

Robyn

@regordane
Unless some of your fellow travelers have brought it with them from somewhere like Bali. Which is of course also a possibility in your everyday life.
@callunavulgaris @overholt

Wandering Adventure Party

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.

Some adults may need a measles booster shot. Who should get one and why? - Harvard Health