Your good health: effective or inadequate measles vaccines from the 1960s



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Dear Dr. Roach, In a recent chronicle on measles vaccine, you wrote: "Elderly people can lose their immunity and some people born between 1963 and 1967 may have received an inactive vaccine." Wait, what ?! How do we know if we have not been properly vaccinated and what should we do about it?

L.T.

There were two types of measles vaccines available between 1963 and 1967. One type was a live attenuated vaccine and three strains were administered: the Schwarz, Edmonston B and Moraten strains. If administered on or after the first birthday, these strains continue to provide lifetime immunity.

A second killed vaccine was only available during these years and was often administered in series with two or three injections. People who have received the killed vaccine may develop a condition called atypical measles (an immune-mediated disease characterized by high fever, rash, and frequent pulmonary symptoms) if exposed to a person with measles.

If you have your original vaccination record, the type of vaccine you have received should be indicated. If this is not the case or if you have received the killed vaccine, you must consider yourself insufficiently vaccinated. High levels of antibodies by blood test are not enough.

All people who are inadequately vaccinated do not need to be vaccinated. However, people who plan international travel (several areas of measles outbreaks in Europe) or people living in a region of the United States affected by measles outbreaks (measles outbreaks in New York and New Jersey in 2018) and presenting a high risk of exposure (especially first responders) should be revaccinated with two doses of MMR vaccine (no single-dose measles vaccine exists).

Dear Dr. Roach, Your recent article was pro-vaccination. I've also been pro-vaccinating until recently, when my daughter reported that the vast majority of vaccines were made with aborted fetal tissue. I checked and found that it was the truth. I am appalled that this is not announced and that I have received vaccines containing aborted fetal tissue. The fact that I have involuntarily participated in the killing of innocent children through vaccination is a betrayal of my trust in the medical profession and my personal faith. You may find that this is the main reason for the drop in vaccination rates. Prior to any vaccination, there must be informed consent with the possibility of being vaccinated with a serum that is not contaminated with fetal tissue.

JG

In July 1962, a pregnant woman was exposed to rubella and underwent a therapeutic abortion because of the high risk of serious fetal injury. The cells of this fetus (called WI-38 for the Wistar Institute) have been and continue to be used to produce the rubella vaccine, which requires a cell line. From this fetus, more than 300 million doses of rubella vaccine were produced. It is certainly not true that the production of the vaccine requires additional abortions, nor has there ever been any fetal tissue in any vaccine because the vaccines are largely purified.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center wrote an opinion in which it was written: "An individual is morally free to use the vaccine, regardless of its historical connection with abortion. The reason is that the risk to public health, if one chooses not to vaccinate, outweighs the legitimate concerns about the origins of the vaccine. This is especially important for parents, who have a moral obligation to protect the lives and health of their children and those around them. "

The tragedy of a family comes from cells that have prevented 11 million deaths and 4.5 billion cases of disease. I am of the opinion that the use of the vaccine honors this loss.

Dr. Roach regretted that he could not reply to individual letters, but would incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers can send questions via email to [email protected].

© Copyright Times Colonist

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