{"id":5576,"date":"2015-02-06T11:22:23","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T17:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=5576"},"modified":"2015-02-06T11:22:23","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T17:22:23","slug":"roll-up-your-sleeve-adults-may-need-a-measles-vaccine-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/roll-up-your-sleeve-adults-may-need-a-measles-vaccine-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Roll up your sleeve: Adults may need a measles vaccine too"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Priyam Vora<\/p>\n

While the focus surrounding the current measles outbreak is on children, adults may\u00a0need a measles vaccination too.<\/p>\n

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THIS JUST IN<\/h1>\n

The Illinois Department of Public Health and the Cook County Department of Public Health\u00a0confirmed<\/a> Thursday that two children in a KinderCare Learning Center in Palatine have tested positive for measles. Both children are under the age of one. Officials are awaiting the test results for three other children, under the age of one, who are thought to have been infected too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Measles made national headlines after a recent outbreak<\/a> among visitors to Disneyland in California. Out of the 99 cases reported in California (not all were related to Disneyland), more than 60 percent occurred in people over the age of 20, according to California health officials<\/a>. The first measles case confirmed in Illinois on Jan. 27 was also contracted by an adult, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.<\/p>\n

While measles is\u00a0perceived to be a children\u2019s disease, health experts emphasize that adults\u00a0can catch the highly contagious disease and\u00a0 need protection.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just young children that need to be up to date on their vaccines, we are starting to see more adults get measles and spread it,\u201d said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC\u2019s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases<\/a> in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

VACCINE, BOOSTER OR BOTH?<\/h1>\n

People who were born before 1957 need not get a measles shot as they would have already been exposed to the disease as children, according to experts. Consequently, it is very rare to see measles in people born prior to 1957. Doctors insist anybody who has concerns to talk to their doctor or a practice nurse.<\/p>\n

Doctors also said that people who have already been infected with measles\u00a0are immune.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you already had measles as a child, you are protected for life,\u201d said Dr. Matthew Wynia, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Chicago<\/a>. \u201cGetting the real disease is highly protective, and it doesn\u2019t seem to wane very much over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Infectious diseases specialists, however, urge all teenagers and adults who do not remember getting a vaccine or are unsure, to get one immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no risk of overdose,\u201d said Nirav Shah, the director of Illinois Department of Public Health. \u201cIf you did get the vaccine, your body will remember that and will not recognize a further vaccine, so you are very unlikely to get any serious reactions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many other adults who did get their vaccination years ago as children also need to be concerned. Doctors recommend they get another booster because with each passing year, people lose their original protection from the vaccine and are now highly susceptible to the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith time, especially if you don\u2019t get natural boosting by being exposed to people with that same illness, your memory cells may tend to forget,\u201d said Dr. Marcelo Laufer, an infectious disease specialist at Miami Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amid the growing measles outbreak, doctors recommend all those not immunized as well as those previously immunized, to consider getting their measles shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, all adults born after 1957, whether in the U.S or outside it, are better off if they get at least one dose of the MMR vaccine as an adult,\u201d Wynia said.<\/p>\n

Wynia added that in certain cases, some adults may need two doses of MMR \u2013 a first dose and then a booster one month later. \u201cThis is what we recommend for people who are in an area where there is an outbreak, health care workers, and people travelling to other countries that don\u2019t have a good childhood vaccination program,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

WHO ELSE IS IMMUNE?<\/h1>\n

Apart from people born before 1957 and those who have already had measles as a child, adults who have the\u00a0records to prove that they received their two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine don’t need to get another shot.<\/p>\n

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YOU’RE SAFE<\/h1>\n