BART Measles Scare Raises More Vaccination Concerns And Questions About Who's Most Susceptible
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— This week's warning sent out to BART riders that they may have been exposed to measles is raising more questions about vaccinations and who is most susceptible to the highly-contagious disease.
If you were vaccinated for measles as a child, the chances of you contracting the illness now as an adult are very slim.
"We know that the measles vaccine is a very effective vaccine and most people who are vaccinated even just once have over a 95 percent protection rate, but there are some people who may have breakthrough infections who didn't respond to the vaccine that could be at risk," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior associate at the Center for Health Security at the University of Pittsburgh.
He said the main risk is to those who've never been vaccinated or are too young to be vaccinated. But can you be too old?
The measles vaccine didn't go into widespread use until the 1960's.
"We know that if people were born before 1957 for example; they were likely infected with measles naturally, because measles is such a highly- contagious disease that everybody basically was infected prior to the vaccine era," he said.
If you're unsure of your status, you can always go for a blood test. Adalja said some physicians are simply re-vaccinating patients because there's no harm in getting the vaccine again.
And, no need to worry about being an asymptomatic carrier. Unlike typhoid, no one is a 'Measles Mary'. Typhoid Mary of course, the infamous cook and carrier who infected dozens with that disease in the U.S. back in the early 20th century.