My name is Terri McCulloch and I am the Vice President, Sales & Marketing for ANY LAB TEST NOW®. Don’t let the title scare you – I’ve actually got a personal story that I thought might help some of you with questions about measles, vaccinations and your own immunity.
As you’ve seen in the news, 2015’s outbreak of the year so far has been the measles, a disease that was declared eradicated from the U.S.in 2000. It is one of the easiest to contract – living on surfaces and in the air up to 2 hours after an infected person leaves that area.
So, after hearing the news, I called my mother. I now have to admit I was born in 1963 and almost 52 years old; my mother is 76. I had a number of reasons for questioning my immunity:
-
I have a grandson with Down Syndrome. Children with Down’s have lower immunity, even though he has been vaccinated.
-
I have another grandson that is 9 months old who has not been vaccinated – he actually is not old enough for his first MMR vaccine yet. My daughter is what I lovingly call a “millennial hippie” – she is a vegetarian, eats organic, has rain barrels and a garden in her backyard, and cares about people and the earth. She has concerns about vaccines so after consulting with her naturopathic pediatrician, they decided my grandson would not receive his immunizations until after age 2.
-
I’ve read that vaccines given between 1957 and 1971 were not as effective as vaccines available now.
-
I travel – a lot. Usually 2 to 3 weeks a month. When I am not traveling, I am meeting people. So, as you see, I can be a likely carrier of anything and everything unknowingly from people around me – even people who left less than 2 hours ago with the measles and may not yet know they are infected….
The last thing I wanted to do was get my grandsons sick. So, let’s get back to my mom. The conversation went like this:
Me: “Mom, did I ever have the measles growing up?”
Mom: “I think so, but I don’t remember.”
Me: “Did you get me vaccinated?”
Mom: “I don’tknow butI think so. You’re in your 50s – I don’t have your shot records!”
Big question mark….
I had to make a decision – get a measles or MMR vaccine booster, or check to see if I am immune. I made the personal decision to check my immunity and if I’m a walking hazard, I’ll then get vaccinated. I got my MMR titer, a blood test that tests for immunities to the measles, mumps and rubella, yesterday. I should have my results in just a few days. As a grandmother, I already feel a lot better, knowing I will know for sure before something happens.
