{"id":31971,"date":"2025-04-14T17:33:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T22:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?p=31971"},"modified":"2025-04-14T17:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T22:45:14","slug":"measles-and-shingles-vaccinations-important-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/14\/measles-and-shingles-vaccinations-important-stuff","title":{"rendered":"MEASLES AND SHINGLES VACCINATIONS: IMPORTANT STUFF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last month, our occasionally misguided Director of Health and Human Services stated something factually incorrect, namely that immunity from MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine wanes at 4.5% a year (it does not) and that \u201colder people are essentially unvaccinated.\u201d They are not. \u201cOlder people\u201d (whatever that means) are usually very well protected from measles.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a person was born after 1957 and received the TWO required MMR stabs, they are protected against measles, despite the new epidemic brought on by exposure to infected (and unvaccinated) people, usually in crowds, like airports or Disneyworld. NOTE: So far, Illinois has no reported cases of measles in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First: You were born after 1957 (when live vaccine became available), and you know you had two injections, there is no value to getting another.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second: You were born before 1957, your protection came from the fact that measles was \u201ceverywhere,\u201d contagious as Hell, and you\u2019d get lifetime protection just being in school. It swept through my 5th grade class at Oglesby School on Chicago\u2019s South Side like a prairie fire. I had my own case in 1955 or so and I don\u2019t remember much about it. You can see these pictures<\/a> and so I probably felt pretty awful. High fever, sore throat, rash, no TV or internet but lots of comic books. In retrospect, I used to think my hearing loss was from excessive rock and roll but it was probably the measles, a very common complication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you lost your immunization records, or think you only had a single MMR shot, a simple blood test, Measles Antibody Screening Test, will check your immune status. This measures IgG (Immunoglobulin G-Measles) the lifetime protein circulating in your blood that protects if and when you get re-exposed to the measles virus. If your IgG-Measles is \u201cnegative,\u201d simply head over to a nearby pharmacy for a pair of MMR shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, if you were vaccinated between 1963 and 1967, you should be tested to see if you have adequate protection against measles. The vaccine used during those years was \u201cinactivated\u201d and later determined not as effective as those after 1967. Many Infectious Disease specialists simply say that if your immunization records show you received MMR shots during the 1960\u2019s, don\u2019t bother with the Measles Antibody Screening Test, just get the MMR shots x 2 and know for certain you\u2019re protected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measles is quite dangerous in adults. Complications include pneumonia, encephalitis and death. Better safe than etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as I said, so far this year there are NO reported cases of measles in Illinois. Really, just consider this Health Tip an advisory depending on who you\u2019ll be with and where you\u2019ll be travelling to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now for shingles vaccination information and some interesting developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the drug salesman\u2019s pitches and the pile of pre printed prescriptions I was to give to every patient when they reached age 50, I admit I wasn\u2019t wildly enthusiastic for yet another vaccine back in 2006 when Zostavax hit the market. Shingles, a rash that appears along a nerve pathway caused by varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chicken pox in kids. Shingles is easy to treat, especially when diagnosed early, using the antiviral Valtrex. The main complication, pain along the affected nerve, called \u2018post herpetic neuralgia,\u2019 is fortunately not common.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original shingles vaccine Zostavax was released in 2006, and reduced chances of getting shingles by 50%. Good, not great. Enough patients reported side effects after their injection (headache, muscle aches, fever) that it was discontinued in 2020 and replaced by Shingrix which is actually 90% effective in preventing shingles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

90% is obviously much better but the most amazing news about shingles vaccines, both of them, is how they actually reduce the chances that immunized patients will develop Alzheimer\u2019s Disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers tracked more than 280,000 adults in Wales and found that the shingles vaccine cut the risk of developing dementia by 20 percent over a seven-year period. The new findings, published in Nature<\/a>, could have implications for managing the large and growing burden of dementia. The number of Americans developing dementia each year will increase from 514,000 in 2020 to about 1 million by 2060. After age 55, the lifetime risk of developing dementia is estimated at 42 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shingles vaccines reduce the risk of reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, the cause of chickenpox in childhood and then remains dormant but apparently smoldering in nerve cells afterward. For some, the virus can get reactivated in adulthood and manifest as shingles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reactivations of the varicella-zoster virus are associated with increased dementia risk. A single episode of shingles statistically increases dementia risk by 20%. Although the virus appears superficially in a nerve, it has actually spread throughout brain tissue itself causing widespread low grade inflammation which is increasingly being recognized as important for the development of dementia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vaccine tamps down the virus, reduces your brain inflammation and reduces your Alzheimer risk. Shingrix is available by prescription, two injections, 2 to 6 months apart, usually covered by insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be well,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Edelberg, M<\/em>D<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, our occasionally misguided Director of Health and Human Services stated something factually incorrect, namely that immunity from MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine wanes at 4.5% a year (it does not) and that \u201colder people are essentially unvaccinated.\u201d They are not. \u201cOlder people\u201d (whatever that means) are usually very well protected from measles.\u00a0 If a person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":31974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[195,2819,2332,2894],"tags":[2414,2936,2934,2935,2938,2937,2933],"class_list":["post-31971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diseases","category-health-awareness","category-preventive-medicine","category-vaccines-immunization","tag-dementia-prevention","tag-immunization-facts","tag-measles-protection","tag-mmr-vaccine","tag-public-health-awareness","tag-shingles-vaccine","tag-shingrix"],"yoast_head":"\r\nMEASLES AND SHINGLES VACCINATIONS: IMPORTANT STUFF<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get the facts on MMR and shingles vaccines\u2014who needs them and how shingles shots may reduce your risk of Alzheimer's and dementia.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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