Get your titers done

[missy]

So as most of you know we are in a measles outbreak that is actually getting worse. Some predict this is the new normal.
I got my MMR vaccines in the 1960s and the year I got it was one of the years they said it was not effective. However I am on a med that does not allow me to get live vaccines. So I asked my physician to run MMR titers the other day. MMR titer is a blood test that determines if you are immune to measles, mumps, and rubella. It measures the level of antibodies in your blood that your immune system produces to fight off these diseases.


Results were back in less than 24 hours. I am "immune" to measles and am protected. My DH who got another measles vaccine last month (I asked him to because a few years ago our internist checked his titers and they were zero even after getting the vaccines a few months before that) was also checked and now finally he is "immune". So yay.

Anyway I am sharing this so others who aren't sure get their titers checked. Not everyone will be immune despite getting the vaccine and not everyone needs the vaccine because they are already immune. The only way to know for sure is check your titers. Interestingly enough Greg's titers were MUCH higher than mine (being recently vaccinated). SO I am guessing immunity wears off and is not forever. While I am still in the immune category my titers were 10 times lower than Greg's.

 

[kenny]

Thanks, I should get checked.

 

[lyra]

I have had several measles vaccines and have had titers done. I had measles as a child and it didn't give me immunity that lasted.

 

[missy]

I have had several measles vaccines and have had titers done. I had measles as a child and it didn't give me immunity that lasted.

I’m sorry. That’s what happened to my dh. But the third attempt worked. Before his last mmr vaccine he had no antibodies to the disease. Now he does. But it took three vaccines as an adult. I’m not suggesting you do that but just sharing his experience

 

[Tonks]

So as most of you know we are in a measles outbreak that is actually getting worse. Some predict this is the new normal.
I got my MMR vaccines in the 1960s and the year I got it was one of the years they said it was not effective. However I am on a med that does not allow me to get live vaccines. So I asked my physician to run MMR titers the other day. MMR titer is a blood test that determines if you are immune to measles, mumps, and rubella. It measures the level of antibodies in your blood that your immune system produces to fight off these diseases.


Results were back in less than 24 hours. I am "immune" to measles and am protected. My DH who got another measles vaccine last month (I asked him to because a few years ago our internist checked his titers and they were zero even after getting the vaccines a few months before that) was also checked and now finally he is "immune". So yay.

Anyway I am sharing this so others who aren't sure get their titers checked. Not everyone will be immune despite getting the vaccine and not everyone needs the vaccine because they are already immune. The only way to know for sure is check your titers. Interestingly enough Greg's titers were MUCH higher than mine (being recently vaccinated). SO I am guessing immunity wears off and is not forever. While I am still in the immune category my titers were 10 times lower than Greg's.

Weirdly, you can have issues responding to the MMR even if your vaccine was way more recent than the 60s. I had both my kids’ titers done and one had no immunity at all to mumps. Fine with measles and rubella, just zero immunity to mumps.

So yes, titers. Interestingly, I got pushback from my physician doing titers for me. Zero pushback on the kids.

 

[missy]

Weirdly, you can have issues responding to the MMR even if your vaccine was way more recent than the 60s. I had both my kids’ titers done and one had no immunity at all to mumps. Fine with measles and rubella, just zero immunity to mumps.

So yes, titers. Interestingly, I got pushback from my physician doing titers for me. Zero pushback on the kids.

I’m sorry you got pushback. I wonder why some doctors are resistant to running something as easy as titers. Results took less than a day. I wonder if it has anything to do with insurance but even in that case they should give you the option

 

[Tonks]

I’m sorry you got pushback. I wonder why some doctors are resistant to running something as easy as titers. Results took less than a day. I wonder if it has anything to do with insurance but even in that case they should give you the option

To the extent I understood her reasoning, it was annoyance that she kept having patients ask for them. Said she couldn’t very well do them on everyone.

She also expressed reluctance to revaccinate if titers were low. (And yes, I realize none of that is good).

 

[missy]

To the extent I understood her reasoning, it was annoyance that she kept having patients ask for them. Said she couldn’t very well do them on everyone.

She also expressed reluctance to revaccinate if titers were low. (And yes, I realize none of that is good).

That’s a very poor excuse on her part. What happened to her oath to help her patients and do no harm. It’s an important and super easy test especially now. Took less than 15 seconds

 

[finerthings]

I had mine done a couple of weeks ago and they came back positive for immunity. I had reached out to my doctor asking her if I should get another MMR shot and she said that there isn't much CDC guidance on this for adults, but she recommended the titre draw so I went ahead and did that instead of just going to CVS and getting the shot.

 

[Lookinagain]

I had a blood test for this. Why would a doctor say it's too much trouble to do a blood test? Mine showed immunity for all three.

 

[kenny]

[CHANNELING DF]

"Yes, by all means get your titers done."



[/CHANNELING DF]

 

[kenny]

Sorry ladies.
It was just sitting there.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Oh god, I liked this before I even got it.
I have breast implants, the 1st set got hard. I told a friend they looked like headights. She said, 'They look like head lice?"
I never win.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

To the extent I understood her reasoning, it was annoyance that she kept having patients ask for them. Said she couldn’t very well do them on everyone.

She also expressed reluctance to revaccinate if titers were low. (And yes, I realize none of that is good).

arnt these childhod diseases often quite serous for adults ??
an adult could then unwitting spread the disease to the unvaxinated

 

[missy]

Latest update on measles fyi

US has 800 measles cases and outbreaks in several states. Here's what you should know

New Mexico, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas have active measles outbreaks and U.S. measles cases have topped 700 as of Friday.

apnews.com

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Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

In North America, an outbreak in Ontario, Canada has sickened 925 from mid-October through April 16. That’s on top of cases in Mexico that the World Health Organization has said are linked to the Texas outbreak. A large outbreak in Chihuahua state has 433 cases as of April 18, according to data from the state health ministry.



Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S.

How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico?​

Texas state health officials said Friday there were 36 new cases of measles since Tuesday, bringing the total to 597 across 25 counties — most of them in West Texas. Four more Texans were hospitalized, for a total of 62 throughout the outbreak, and Parmer and Potter counties logger their first cases.

State health officials estimated about 4% of cases — fewer than 30 — are actively infectious.

Sixty-two percent of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has logged 371 cases since late January — just over 1% of the county’s residents.

The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Health officials in Texas said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of “what the child’s doctor described as measles pulmonary failure.” A unvaccinated child with no underlying conditions died of measles in Texas in late February — Kennedy said age 6.

New Mexico announced five new cases this week, bringing the state’s total to 63. Three more people were in the hospital this week, for a total of six since the outbreak started. Most of the state’s cases are in Lea County. Two are in Eddy County and Chaves and Doña Ana counties have one each.

State health officials say the cases are linked to Texas’ outbreak based on genetic testing. New Mexico reported its first measles-related death in an adult on March 6.

How many cases are there in Kansas?​

Kansas has 37 cases in eight counties in the southwest part of the state, health officials announced Wednesday.

Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray and Morton counties have fewer than five cases each. Haskell County has the most with eight cases, Stevens County has seven, Kiowa County has six.

The state’s first reported case, identified in Stevens County on March 13, is linked to the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks based on genetic testing, a state health department spokesperson said. But health officials have not determined how the person was exposed.

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How many cases are there in Oklahoma?​

Cases in Oklahoma remained steady at 12 total cases Friday: nine confirmed and three probable. The first two probable cases were “associated” with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks, the state health department said.

A state health department spokesperson said measles exposures were confirmed in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Rogers and Custer counties, but wouldn’t say which counties had cases.

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How many cases are there in Ohio?​

The Ohio Department of Health confirmed 30 measles cases in the state Thursday. The state county includes only Ohio residents.

There are 14 cases in Ashtabula County near Cleveland, 14 in Knox County and one each in Allen and Holmes counties, the state said. The outbreak in Ashtabula County started with an unvaccinated adult who had interacted with someone who had traveled internationally.

Health officials in Knox County, in east-central Ohio, say there are a total of 20 people with measles, but seven of them do not live in Ohio. In 2022, a measles outbreak in central Ohio sickened 85.

How many cases are there in Indiana?​

Indiana has confirmed six connected cases of measles in Allen County in the northeast part of the state — four are unvaccinated minors and two are adults whose vaccination status is unknown. The cases have no known link to other outbreaks, the Allen County Department of Health said April 9.

How many cases are there in Pennsylvania?​

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In far northwest Pennsylvania, Erie County health officials declared a measles outbreak Monday after finding two new cases linked to a measles case confirmed March 30.

The state has had nine cases overall this year, six of which are not linked to the outbreak, including international travel-related cases in Montgomery County and one in Philadelphia.

How many cases are there in Michigan?​

Montcalm County, near Grand Rapids in western Michigan, has three linked measles cases. State health officials say the cases are tied to a large measles outbreak in Ontario, Canada.

The state has seven confirmed measles cases as of Thursday, but the remaining four are not part of the Montcalm County outbreak. Michigan’s last measles outbreak was in 2019.

Where else is measles showing up in the U.S.?​

There have been 800 cases in 2025 as of Friday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 10 clusters — defined as three or more related cases.

Measles cases have been reported in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington.

Cases and outbreaks in the U.S. are frequently traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles.

What do you need to know about the MMR vaccine?​

The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old.

Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says. People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s don’t need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles vaccine made from “killed” virus should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said.

People who have documentation that they had measles are immune and those born before 1957 generally don’t need the shots because most children back then had measles and now have “presumptive immunity.”

In communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called “herd immunity.”

But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots. The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60.

What are the symptoms of measles?​

Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash.

The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC.

Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complicationssuch as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.

How can you treat measles?​

There’s no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.

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AP Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report.



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