In the United States, adults who were vaccinated against measles decades ago may need a new dose depending on when they received the vaccine and their risk of exposure, according to public health experts fighting the biggest epidemic in the country since the elimination of the virus in 2000.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 10% of the 695 confirmed cases of measles in the current outbreak occurred among people who received one or two doses of the vaccine.
The figure illustrates what can happen when a large number of individuals, even those who have been vaccinated, are exposed to measles. The CDC recommends that people living or traveling in epidemic areas check their immunization status and consider a new dose.
Dr. Allison Bartlett, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago in Medicine, said that "continued vulnerability to infection" explains why it is routinely advised to high-risk adults such as health professionals. the health of one had one.
But knowing the status of your vaccination can be tricky, experts said.
"It's complicated and often unnecessary, because it's very difficult to revive these old recordings," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
People vaccinated in the United States since 1989 would probably have received two doses of combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR vaccine) in accordance with federal guidelines, which is still considered the standard of protection.
Anyone vaccinated between 1963 and 1989 would probably have received only a single dose, with many people having been immunized in the early years who received an inactivated version of the virus. Americans born before 1957 are considered immune because they would have been exposed to the virus directly in the event of an epidemic.
Merck & Co Inc is the only US supplier of MMR vaccine. The company said in a statement that it had "taken steps to increase the US supply" of the vaccine due to the current outbreak.
VERY CONTAGIOUS
The measles virus is highly contagious and can cause blindness, deafness, brain damage or death. It is currently spreading through hatching in many parts of the world.
According to the World Health Organization, 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated to provide "collective immunity," a form of indirect protection that prevents infection in people too young or sick to be vaccinated. US public health officials have blamed part of the current outbreak for increased vaccine skepticism, which has reduced immunity against measles in some communities.
For travelers traveling to outbreak areas abroad, the CDC recommends that adults consider taking another dose of MMR unless they have proof that they have already received two doses, to do a blood showing immunity or being born before 1957.
In general, the CDC says that two doses of measles vaccine should provide 97% protection. one dose should provide 93% protection. However, immunity can decrease with time.
This has happened even in adults with two documented doses of the vaccine, said Dr. Michael Phillips, chief epidemiologist at NYU Langone Health, which serves part of New York City, a hot spot of the American epidemic.
He told children that "the vaccine is really effective," but in some adults, memory-sensitive T cells, which recognize and attack germs, do not fight the virus as effectively as before.
There are rapid blood tests to detect a person's immunity based on the level of measles antibodies, but these tests are not 100% reliable.
Adults who have doubts about their immunity should be given another dose. Schaffner said: "It's safe, there's no risk, we're just lifting your sleeve."
12PICTURES
Treatment, preventive care and measles vaccinations around the world
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A child was vaccinated against measles by a family doctor on April 16, 2018 in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
Measles still leaves young victims in Romania, where nearly 40 children have died in an epidemic, many of which accuse parents of being misled by alarmist stories that it is dangerous to vaccinate them. About 12,000 people have contracted measles since the end of 2016 in the second poorest country in the European Union, of which 46 have died. Of the deaths, 39 were children under three years old who had not yet been vaccinated, making Romania one of the countries most affected by the measles epidemic in Europe. / AFP PHOTO / Daniel MIHAILESCU (The photo credit should read: DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP / Getty Images)
A family doctor is preparing a measles vaccine during a consultation held on April 16, 2018 in the Romanian capital, Bucharest. – Measles still has young lives in Romania, where nearly 40 children died in an epidemic, many of which accused parents of being misled by alarmist stories that it is dangerous to vaccinate them. About 12,000 people have contracted measles since the end of 2016 in the second poorest country in the European Union, of which 46 have died. Of the deaths, 39 were children under three years old who had not yet been vaccinated, making Romania one of the countries most affected by the measles epidemic in Europe. (Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP) (The photo credit should read: DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP / Getty Images)
A nurse was seen vaccinating schoolchildren at her school in Lhokseumawe on August 4, 2018 in Aceh, Indonesia. Vaccination against measles and rubella for Indonesian schoolchildren is part of the Indonesian government's health program aimed at ensuring the physical immunity of two dangerous diseases, rubella and measles among Indonesian children. (Photo by Fachrul Reza / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Artists dressed in superhero costumes comfort a primary school student while receiving a German measles vaccine, also called rubella, in Pekanbaru, Riau province, on August 1, 2018, as part of the program. health of Indonesian governments to fight against childhood diseases. (Photo by WAHYUDI / AFP) (Photo credit should match WAHYUDI / AFP / Getty Images)
ALEPPO, SYRIA – APRIL 17: A Syrian child is vaccinated on April 17, 2018 during the measles vaccination campaign in the Al-Bab district of Aleppo, Syria. receive the measles vaccine Al-Bab district of Aleppo. (Photo by Omer Alven / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
A Venezuelan woman is vaccinated against measles in Cucuta, Colombia, on March 21, 2018, at the Simon Bolivar International Brigade, on the border with Venezuela. / AFP PHOTO / Schneyder Mendoza
The Venezuelan, Yan Manuel, receives free measles vaccine offered by a volunteer, after presenting his identity card at the border of Pacaraima, in the state of Roraima, Brazil, on August 19, 2018. REUTERS / Nacho Doce
A member of the Free Revolutionary Police carried out a measles vaccine inspection in the Idlib countryside in the south of the country on 17 September 2014. Fifteen children died after being vaccinated against measles in the north of the country. Syria, stopping the program, said Wednesday humanitarian workers. a tragedy that could undermine confidence in health services in areas controlled by the opposition. The Free Revolutionary Police is a recently launched unarmed police movement that works in areas controlled by the Free Syrian Army to solve daily problems in Idlib, said the group. Photo taken on 17 September 2014. REUTERS / Khalil Ashawi (SYRIA – Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT HEALTH)
A girl receives measles immunization drops at a health center in the BASECO complex in Tondo, Manila, September 3, 2014. Philippine President Benigno Aquino said that on September 11, 2014, between 11 and 13 million people in the country were at risk of measles, polio and rubella (German measles), and asked the public to cooperate to eradicate preventable diseases, at the launch Monday of a national mass immunization campaign against measles and polio, local media reported. REUTERS / Erik De Castro (PHILIPPINES – Tags: SOCIETY OF HEALTH)
A vial of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines as well as an information leaflet are visible at the Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts on February 26, 2015. REUTERS / Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES – Tags: HEALTH)
Rowan Walters, four years old, is being held by her mother while she received an MMR injection at the pediatric outpatient department of Morriston Hospital in Swansea, South Wales, USA. April 6, 2013. Following an increase in the number of confirmed measles cases in South Wales, parents in the region were urged to vaccinate their children and hospitals in the region opened Saturday clinics. home, local media reported. REUTERS / Rebecca Naden (BRITAIN – Tags: SOCIETY HEALTH)
A health worker in Ciudad Juarez, on the Mexican border with El Paso, Texas, distributes leaflets to passing motorists and people as part of a measles prevention program on February 16, 2015. The California public health officials confirmed three more measles cases in an outbreak that began in late December, bringing to 113 the total number of people who would have been infected in the state. Health officials in Arizona, where seven cases of measles have been documented, said the outbreak would likely be over in this state if no other infections were reported over the weekend. Across the United States, more than 150 people have been diagnosed with measles, most of them being linked to an epidemic that, according to the authorities, would have started when an infected person from the country was diagnosed with the disease. visited Disneyland at the end of December. REUTERS / Jose Luis Gonzalez (MEXICO – Tags: SOCIETY HEALTH IMMIGRATION)
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