The CDC is telling California adults in high-risk measles areas that they may need to get another measles shot. Two areas the CDC notes as high risks are UCLA or California State University, Los Angeles.
They claim that adults before 1957, prior to the release of the measles vaccine, likely have natural immunity. But those adults born between 1957 and 1989 may not be so fortunate. The CDC says they may have received a weaker, single dose that won’t help them today.
“Most adults are protected against measles, that’s what the science says,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a teleconference April 29, “including people who were born before the measles vaccine was recommended and even people who only got a single dose of measles.”
“Health care workers are held to a higher standard,” said Dr. Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. “They could potentially expose patients.”