With all the talk about the measles, I've been wondering why we "persons of a certain age" aren't being told to get vaccinated. Do I need to worry about getting the measles?
I was pretty sure that there was no MMR (measles, mumps, rubella vaccine) when I was a child. So I obviously wasn't vaccinated then. I do know I had not been vaccinated as an adult. The polio vaccine came along when I was eight or ten and I do remember how frightening polio was before that. Measles didn't carry the same terror but it certainly can be a serious threat to health and life. So why don't I need to worry about it?
The guidelines for getting vaccinated say not to bother if you were born prior to 1957. But why?
Because that's when the vaccine became widely available. That's when children stopped getting the measles. Before that everyone was exposed to the virus and became immune. Even if you never had an overt case of the measles, you had the measles. Once you've had the measles you are immune and won't get them again. Having the measles is kind of like being vaccinated against the measles.
I've written the word measles so many times here it is beginning to look weird. Have I spelled it wrong?
Anyway, glad to understand the how and why of MMR.
I was pretty sure that there was no MMR (measles, mumps, rubella vaccine) when I was a child. So I obviously wasn't vaccinated then. I do know I had not been vaccinated as an adult. The polio vaccine came along when I was eight or ten and I do remember how frightening polio was before that. Measles didn't carry the same terror but it certainly can be a serious threat to health and life. So why don't I need to worry about it?
The guidelines for getting vaccinated say not to bother if you were born prior to 1957. But why?
Because that's when the vaccine became widely available. That's when children stopped getting the measles. Before that everyone was exposed to the virus and became immune. Even if you never had an overt case of the measles, you had the measles. Once you've had the measles you are immune and won't get them again. Having the measles is kind of like being vaccinated against the measles.
I've written the word measles so many times here it is beginning to look weird. Have I spelled it wrong?
Anyway, glad to understand the how and why of MMR.
No comments:
Post a Comment