Can You Get Measles if You Were Vaccinated as a Child

Julio Valenzuela, 11, smiles every bit he's vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella at a complimentary clinic in Lynwood, Calif., last August. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Julio Valenzuela, xi, smiles equally he's vaccinated confronting measles, mumps and rubella at a gratuitous clinic in Lynwood, Calif., last August.

Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

More ii months ago, a nasty mumps virus triggered fever, headache and painfully swollen glands among a handful of students at Ohio State University. Now the outbreak has ballooned to 234 cases at last count, and has spilled into the surrounding customs in Columbus, Ohio.

"Columbus officials are calling information technology the urban center's biggest outbreak since the development of the mumps vaccine in the 1940s," WOSU reporter Steve Brownish tells Shots. "Information technology even pushed them to open a new clinic."

So far, most of those infected are students or workers at Ohio State, Brown says. And here's what's surprising: Many of those who got ill had previously been immunized against mumps via one of the tiptop weapons against childhood diseases: the MMR vaccine. That'southward a two-dose shot near of us got when we were kids to protect against three diseases — measles, mumps and rubella.

Interestingly, a immature adult female in New York defenseless the measles in 2011 fifty-fifty though she, also, had been vaccinated, scientists reported last calendar week. "Measles Mary," as Science magazine called her, as well spread the virus to four others.

What's going on hither? Is one of our best shields confronting infectious illness unpleasing?

To answer those questions, nosotros talked with a vaccine specialist, Dr. William Schaffner at Vanderbilt Academy in Nashville. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Potent merely not perfect: Medical assistant Elissa Ortivez prepares a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine at a clinic in Walsenburg, Colo. John Moore/Getty Images hide caption

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John Moore/Getty Images

Potent just not perfect: Medical assistant Elissa Ortivez prepares a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine at a clinic in Walsenburg, Colo.

John Moore/Getty Images

Why can you nonetheless get the mumps and measles even if you lot're vaccinated?

Measles is a terrific vaccine. If you become ii doses, it's predicted to protect 99.99 percentage of people for life.

That case in New York was so unusual that it'south come to everyone's attention. On rare occasions, the virus trumps an private's protection.

The mumps vaccine, on the other manus, is not and so good. The protection charge per unit varies from study to written report. But it's usually in the mid-80s.

Both vaccines, for mumps and measles, are tamed versions of the viruses. The viruses aren't killed simply what we telephone call attenuated, live viruses.

If you don't attenuate the mumps virus enough, you get better protection only more complications with the vaccine.

So we're walking a fine line. To avoid complications, the mumps vaccine doesn't protect equally well as the measles.

We wish we had a meliorate mumps vaccine.

Then the outbreak at Ohio Country Academy is due to "vaccine failure," not declining immunization rates in the U.S.?

Yes. In the U.S., we have done a stupendous chore of comprehensively vaccinating children. Nosotros have the best vaccination tape in the world — I'thousand proud to stay, sitting up with a big grin on my face.

But every developed country hasn't gotten with the programme. So we accept mumps cases imported into the U.Due south. from Europe and the U.K.

Well, how-do-you-do — if the British vaccinated everyone, there would exist less importation and fewer outbreaks in the U.S.

With the situation in Ohio, what we'll probably find is that the vaccine protected near 85 percent of the people. So you can run into that some people who were vaccinated tin acquire the illness — if they're exposed.

With measles and rubella, protection rates of the vaccine are up in the mid- 90s. What drives these outbreaks in the U.S. are children that take been withheld from vaccines. And then information technology'south failure to vaccinate, not vaccine failure — as with mumps.

Are you saying that vaccines don't piece of work likewise when large groups of people aren't immunized?

Correct. Vaccines have ii functions: Protect the person vaccinated and provide protection to the entire community.

If you want to eliminate the infection entirely from a community, a very loftier proportion of people have to exist immunized.

If children are left unvaccinated, measles will find them and make them sick. It's one of the most contagious diseases we have.

Mumps is not quite as communicable. Just with only almost 85 per centum of a population protected past the vaccine, outbreaks tin can smolder along and infect simply enough people to keep going.

To protect yourself, the No. one priority is to make sure everyone is vaccinated. If y'all know of someone who has the mumps, avoid them.

Should adults become a booster of the MMR to protect against mumps outbreaks?

We recommend anybody gets two doses of the MMR vaccine.

Then, if there is a mumps outbreak in your community, like in Ohio, wellness workers volition effigy out which population is at take a chance and give them a tertiary dose.

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Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/04/18/304155213/why-mumps-and-measles-can-spread-even-when-were-vaccinated

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