Speaking of titers, in 2013, I had some titers drawn because I was going back to school to finish my masters (in public health) and had no idea where my childhood vaccination records were. Turned out I'd lost immunity to rubella and my measles titer was low. I didn't get the MMR then because I was trying to get pregnant at the time (and did get pregnant about two months later) and they use live vaccine.
Fast forward to 2019, when there was a measles outbreak that spread all over. I get the MMR vaccine.
This study about the MMR vaccine is pretty interesting. In a story about the study,
they talk a little about American Samoa.
Quote:
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The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that as of January 10, 2020, 82 percent of the population of American Samoa had been immunized with the MMR vaccine in response to a 2019 measles outbreak. The U.S. Department of the Interior provided funding to immunize the remaining eighteen percent of the population. The New York Times reported on May 6, 2020 that not only has American Samoa not had any COVID-19 deaths, it hasn’t had any COVID-19 cases at all.
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I knew that there is an interest in the
BCG vaccine as a potential bridge to lessen the effect of the coronavirus, but I didn't realize that MMR was also immunity boosting. If it turns out that vaccines are not only good for combating specific bugs but also are just all around good immunity boosters, I'm going to be even more pissed off at the anti-vaxxers than I already am.
BCG, interestingly enough, has been the most used vaccine in the world, but we don't use it here in the US. I guess we've never had a TB problem that healthcare officials felt warranted vaccination. They are studying it at Texas A&M with relation to Covid, so we'll see what happens.
I'm getting my coronavirus antibody test on Monday through the research study at my work. I'm very curious about the results on that one.
