this is why you should get immunized. and then maybe checked again.

[kalmn]

my mom believes in western medicine. so does my dad. we got all our immunizations. they made sure we got chicken pox. they dragged us off to the doctor whenever they suspected we were sick. i have jumped through all the hoops myself as an adult.

according to my blood tests yesterday, i'm not currently immune to measles or mumps. (but i am to rubella.)

i suspect i am off to the doctor again right soon to get immunized for a lot of stuff.

(they did more than just mmr testing yesterday; i'm going to wait until the rest of the tests come back.)

Comments

[noveldevice]

Even natural immunity isn't lifelong for some people, but vaccines really only last five to ten years (cf., e.g., tetanus), and should continue being boosted into adulthood. It's just not a requirement so it doesn't tend to happen unless you work with an at-risk population.

I got a single unboosted mumps vaccine in 1985 or so and have been exposed multiple times since then and still haven't gotten mumps, whereas in the recent Midwest mumps epidemic, about 65% of those who came down with it had been vaccinated, and many had been either vaccinated or boosted within the previous six years.

[salexa]

Part of the reason you haven't gotten mumps is the exposure. One thing that helps maintain immunity is envirnmental exposure that reminds the immune system that it really should be fighting that. That is part of the reason that it is pretty much presumed (from what I have seen) that no one will be immune to smallpox without further vaccine... no one has been exposed to it since the early 70's.