If this is the case, why haven\u2019t providers recommended that everybody <\/em>take a titer test in the last few decades?<\/p>\n Because even if the antibody immunity that a vaccine offers starts to wane, that doesn\u2019t actually mean you have no <\/em>protection from measles, stressed Karan.<\/p>\n This is because a person\u2019s immune system \u201cis more than just antibodies,\u201d he said. \u201cYou also have T cells, other components of your immune system, that are there to fight off the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n So even if a titer test shows negative antibodies for measles, \u201cIt could actually still be that you\u2019re protected through other mechanisms of your immune system, like your cellular memory.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n However, now that measles is circulating once again in the U.S., waning immunity unfortunately presents an issue. And increased measles circulation also poses a particular infection risk to immunocompromised people, those who don\u2019t know their MMR status and babies who haven\u2019t been able to get their two shots yet, stressed Karan.<\/p>\n Yes, Karan said \u2014 an older person has a higher chance of lower titers, compared to someone whose MMR vaccine was more recent. While the length of time since you got your shots can play a factor, your immune system can also potentially weaken over time, Karan said.<\/p>\n An additional risk factor for older people is their birth year. Given how prevalent measles was in the U.S. before widespread vaccination, people born before 1957 aren\u2019t routinely offered the MMR vaccine because they\u2019re presumed to already have immunity from measles <\/a>from a previous infection. The flipside of this: someone who\u2019s 69 or older might not have actually had <\/em>measles back then, so they\u2019re lacking both infection-based immunity and the vaccine itself.<\/p>\n Also, people born between 1957 and 1969<\/a> may not have received two full MMR doses and should talk to their health care provider about possibly getting another vaccination.<\/p>\n The most likely outcome of a titer test that shows low immunity to measles is that your provider will recommend you get another dose of the MMR vaccine.<\/p>\n Getting another dose of the MMR vaccine is safe even if you do <\/em>have remaining immunity. \u201cThere is no harm in getting another dose <\/a>of MMR vaccine if you may already be immune to measles (or mumps or rubella),\u201d according to the CDC.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, \u201csome providers may just give you another dose without doing the [titer] test,\u201d Karan said.<\/p>\n Karan noted that the titer test isn\u2019t the only way to measure immunity, but it\u2019s unlikely that a provider would suggest you undergo another <\/em>test after getting your titers checked \u2014 and would most likely just recommend an additional MMR dose.<\/p>\n \u201cMost people are not going to be able to order tests that are going to look at other kinds of immune response to measles besides just this antibody test,\u201d he said. \u201cSo what they\u2019ll do is they\u2019ll just give you a dose of the vaccine. There\u2019s no health risks.\u201d<\/p>\n One situation in which a provider might not <\/em>recommend an extra MMR dose: \u201cIf you\u2019re immunocompromised to a significant degree, this might be something to discuss with your provider,\u201d Karan said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are scenarios when you don\u2019t give people a live virus vaccine,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s going to be an individual decision \u2014 and this is why the conversation has to be had with your provider before you go and do it.\u201d<\/p>\n As with all things related to health insurance in the United States, there\u2019s no clear answer to this question.<\/p>\n One thing\u2019s for sure: It\u2019ll help if your provider can show the test is medically necessary.<\/p>\n While it would depend on your individual insurance, \u201cI think the case could be made that if somebody was in a high measles area \u2014 an area that has a measles outbreak, for instance \u2014 typical public health guidance is that if you\u2019re in an outbreak zone, either you just get another dose of MMR or you get tested,\u201d Karan said.<\/p>\n Among the groups Karan said are frequently offered titer tests by providers: health care workers who\u2019ll be treating measles patients, older and immunocompromised people and those who will be traveling to areas with measles outbreaks. \u201cSo in that sense, I would suspect that you can make the argument \u2026 that if it wasn\u2019t covered, that it should be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If in doubt, check with your insurer before getting the test to make sure it\u2019ll be covered \u2014 to avoid getting stung with an unexpected bill.<\/p>\n Six years of living with COVID-19 have taught us that being vaccinated against a virus doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you won\u2019t get infected with that virus. The COVID-19 vaccine, for example, does somewhat reduce <\/a>your chances of being infected, but it also means you\u2019re much less likely to get severely ill if you do get infected.<\/p>\n However, the measles vaccine is <\/em>incredibly effective at protecting against infections, the CDC said<\/a>, and two doses of measles vaccine are \u201cabout 97% effective\u201d at preventing measles if you\u2019re exposed. (One dose is \u201cabout 93% effective.\u201d)<\/p>\n These percentages mean that \u201cabout three out of 100\u201d people vaccinated against measles will <\/em>still get measles after exposure, according to the CDC<\/a>. Karan noted that health officials are already seeing this in the South Carolina outbreak: \u201cIt\u2019s a minority, but there are still a double-digit number of cases that were fully vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n The CDC said that experts \u201caren\u2019t sure why\u201d breakthrough cases happen, but they suspect this could be due to the responsiveness of an individual\u2019s immune system to the vaccine. It\u2019s also possible that these vaccinated people are getting \u201ca much higher dose of virus when they were exposed,\u201d Karan said.<\/p>\n Regardless of why it happens, there\u2019s at least some good news about these rare cases: \u201cFully vaccinated people who get measles seem more likely to have a milder illness,\u201d the CDC said \u2014 and fully vaccinated people \u201cseem also less likely to spread the disease to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n In practice, this means that if you were vaccinated and were infected with measles, theoretically, \u201cyou would either not show symptoms at all, or you may have very mild symptoms,\u201d Karan said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou would not expect someone to have a full-blown measles infection the way someone that\u2019s not vaccinated \u2014 or who doesn\u2019t have \u2014 immunity would have.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s no national organization that maintains Americans\u2019 vaccination records<\/a>. Ways that the CDC suggests to track down your own records include:<\/p>\n The CDC has a guide <\/a>to tracking down your vaccination records.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nDoes my risk of waning immunity increase with age?<\/h2>\n
If my blood test shows my measles immunity has waned, what then?<\/h2>\n
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Does insurance cover a titer test?<\/h2>\n
Isn\u2019t the MMR vaccine supposed to prevent measles infections altogether?<\/h2>\n
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So what happens when a vaccinated person gets measles?<\/h2>\n
All this is making me paranoid about if I even got my MMR shots. How can I check?<\/h2>\n
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