Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week. This week I’m stepping away from the news headlines (and not because there isn’t news to discuss, there is: cancer among young people, the happiness report, encouraging COVID-19 vaccine studies, more measles, and a not-so-good report about public health preparedness).
We can come back and discuss these things at a later date.
This week I want to talk about my physical yesterday because I had some of my vaccine titers checked and the results are worth sharing…
You might ask (as my husband and kids did when I came home excited about my physical) — what are vaccine titers?
A titer is a laboratory test that measures the level of antibodies in a blood sample. The antibody level in the blood is a reflection of the body's experience with or exposure to an antigen, or a foreign substance that induces an immune response in the body (like a virus). An antibody titer is used to determine —
The strength of a specific immune response
If you need a booster vaccine
Whether a vaccine helped your immune system protect itself against the specific disease.
Below I will detail what I learned about my titers for Hep B, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella/chickenpox (the results available to me now).
Hoping this post helps to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
Here are three things you need to know about my titers that will help you appreciate the power and long-lasting effects of vaccines.
Little Bit About Me…
I’m 46 years old. I started kindergarten in the fall of 1983. I went to a public K-12 school in Pennsylvania and was required to have both doses of my MMR vaccine (protecting me from measles, mumps, and rubella) before August 1983.
Fun fact — my mom and I had the same kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Mumper.
It’s been a hot second since I had my MMR vaccine (41 years, if you are counting).
When I went to kindergarten, the chickenpox/varicella-zoster vaccine was not available (it was not approved in the United States until 1995). I had a mild case of chickenpox in the third grade (spring 1987).
I did not receive my Hepatitis B vaccine until the summer of 1996 (before I left for college). This was common practice for individuals born prior to 1991. Beginning in 1991, it became common practice to vaccinate all infants and young children with the hepatitis B vaccine.
My Titer Results…
It is crazy awesome that a simple blood test can tell you if your immune system still remembers (in other words has immunity to) specific diseases. At this point in time, my lab results for my measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, and Hep B titers are in.
And for each result, my antibody levels showed that I have a strong (or positive) immune response. Meaning my body has developed a long-lasting (40+ years and counting) immune memory to measles, mumps, and rubella in response to the MMR vaccine. If I were exposed to the measles virus today, my immune system would be prepared and ready to defend me. Because I received two doses of the MMR vaccine, I will not get measles. I am protected. I will be spared illness, isolation, and quarantine. I will also break the chain of disease transmission. My body has also developed a long-lasting (nearly 30 years) immune response to the Hep B vaccine. And the antibodies created following the case of chickenpox I had in the mid-1980s are still strong.
This is the power of vaccines.
The two doses of the MMR vaccine I received in the late 1970s/early 1980s are still protecting me from measles, mumps, and rubella.
Rewriting the Future…
I talked about this a few weeks back, but it needs to be repeated…
In 1980 — because of vaccinations — smallpox was eradicated.
In 1994 — because of vaccinations — America was declared polio-free.
And in 2000 — because of vaccinations — measles was eliminated from the US.
With each of the eliminations, epidemiologists were doing their job of —
And that is why for nearly two decades news of measles and polio could only be found in history books. The work of epidemiologists — eliminating disease through vaccinations — resulted in the rewriting of history, where the scourge of smallpox, measles, and polio was eliminated. Millions and millions of people remained healthy because of vaccines. They didn’t even know they were meant to get sick. Vaccines prevented them from getting sick in the first place.
Do you see why I love being an epidemiologist?
We’ve flipped the page of our history and it is now 2024 —
Vaccination rates are dropping.
Trust in science, medicine, and public health is eroding,
And measles outbreaks are everywhere. In the past week, the total number of measles cases in the US diagnosed in the first 3 months of 2024 surpassed the total number of cases diagnosed in all of 2023. This is NOT good news…
I have been hesitant over the past four years to assume this role of fortune-teller (publicly), but I see what is happening with measles, with our collective trust in science, and with vaccination rates. The (future) history we are writing today is UNHEALTHY. And the diseases that we eliminated are returning.
This concerns me as a mom, wife, friend, teacher, epidemiologist, and human being committed to creating healthy communities.
Dr. Foege has always instructed us to —
“Be futurists. Be good ancestors. Remember — the children of the future have given
you their proxy and they are asking desperately for you to make good decisions…”
There is no simple solution to the measles problem.
No magic wand.
However, we must work to make change.
We must work to rewrite history before it happens.
We need to fight misinformation and work towards increasing vaccination rates. I am not willing to give up; nor am I willing to accept a future that includes measles body counts.
That is unacceptable.
The measles vaccine, known as the MMR, is safe and effective.
And as you can see from my medical records, the MMR provides long-lasting protection against all three diseases.
As I wrap this post up, I have three declarations to make —
I do believe we will see local spread of measles in our community before the end of 2024. With vaccination rates below 95% (what is needed for community immunity), our communities are like dry tinder in a forest. We are primed for ignition when the measles virus enters our community (spread will be lightning-quick).
I am unwilling to be an author of our future that includes measles cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. I will be using my mind, pen, and voice to rewrite history before it happens — so that measles is NOT included in future chapters.
I have been hesitant to share a lot about how my faith connects with my work as an epidemiologist. But this quote from William Penn captures my work and my calling — “Healing the world is true religion.”
Thoughts? Questions? Comments?
Interested in getting your vaccine titers checked? It is NOT cheap, but you can get it done quickly at a lab near your home (information here).
Be sure to share this post with your friends & family so that we can work together to fight misinformation, increase vaccination rates, and create healthy communities.
Epi(demiology) Matters is written by Dr. Becky Dawson, PhD MPH — an epidemiologist, teacher, mom, wife, and dedicated yogi. She is a tenured professor at Allegheny College, Research Director at a community hospital, and an exclusive contributor (all things health & medicine) at Erie News Now (NBC/CBS). Her goal is to create healthy communities for all. She writes Epi Matters — first & foremost because epidemiology does matter (to all of us) and she hopes that each post will help to educate and empower readers to be healthy and create healthy communities.
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Mine was in 1981, too. My mom just found my immunization card (handwritten card that looks like a library card). I wish everyone was able to easily have their's checked. It is a little pricy!
Interesting, I would be curious to see if my measle shot is ok. I had it in 1981 after the birth of my first child