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Us too. Luckily they work from home. The past few months the doctors took them off tacrolimus and put them on remicaid, and that was stressful so I am hoping this outbreak doesn’t spread too far. Just when I am used to the tacro and what is worth worrying about, we’ve had to learn a whole new medicine. Re-reading Immune this week
Those medications do not have a direct effect on the body’s response to viral infections. The highest risk would be for those who are on medications like rituximab which deplete B cells, thus severely inhibiting the body’s ability to make antibodies to viral infections. These are some of those meds: rituximab (Rituxan; Genentech), ocrelizumab (Ocrevus; Genentech), ofatumumab (Kesimpta; Novartis), and inebilizumab (Uplizna; Horizon Therapeutics)
For people who are on these B-cell inhibitors, even though they were previously immunized or previously had measles, they would be unlikely to mount an adequate response, and could have a bad outcome. For this reason, if measles were to become widespread, it might be appropriate for people who are more than six months out from their previous dose of B-cell inhibiting therapy, whose B lymphocyte count is recovering, to have another MMR to try to boost their circulating antibody level against measles, before their next dose of B-cell depleting medication.
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thank you for confirming what we thought we knew about B-cell vs T-cell inhibitors. The switch from one drug to the other was largely precipitated by the length of time they’d been on tacro, not a worry specifically regarding viral infections. It’s interesting how different doctors have different feelings about immunosuppression therapy, but that’s off thread. Thanks again
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YLE’s take on the situation:
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That guy didn’t read the letter either.
Not me. The measles vaccine was developed in 1963 and combined with mumps and rubella vaccines later. I was born in the 1950’s. I clearly remember when the measles vaccine became available and my parents were so happy to have my my youngest sibling vaccinated. That was likely due to the fact that a cousin of mine tragically passed away from complications of measles a few years prior.
Sadly, we will now see more of these tragedies.
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They didn’t get you the vaccine, or did you already have actual measles by then?
If your sibling got an early measles vaccine, it may have been a less effective one, so a booster may be advised.
@ucbalumnus we had already had measles.
ETA: I have had MMR vaccines since.
I’m in that age gap between having measles and the good vaccine. I did have one dose of MMR in 1992 because I knew about the gap. But should I have another one? I guess I should ask my doctor, but I’ll take advice from strangers on the internet too!
Added: It also just occurred to me how much vaccines for typical children’s diseases made it possible for mothers to enter the workforce. My grandchildren have been home so much the past two years just with respiratory viruses. Add to that measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, rotavirus, and she would never have been able to work regularly!
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I think there are a lot of holes in the MMR vaccines for those of us born in the 50’s and 60’s. I know my older brother and sister and I had chickenpox in 1960, and then we and our two brother born in 61 and 62 all the the measles in 1962. My mother thinks I had the mumps in 1965.
Now you are all caught up on our medical history. Did anyone else have the mumps? Did I have German measles? Don’t know but I probably got a vaccine for it before I got pregnant but I’m not sure. I doubt any of my brothers ever got an MMR or the diseases.
Today I took one of those brothers to the doctor. He got a pneumonia shot and a covid. No one ever asks about the others.
I lived in New Hampshire for 3 years as a kid and my two brothers and I all had measles, mumps, and chickenpox during that time. A lot of indoor winter and if one kid got it at school, it was go’n round. Mumps bothered me the worst, pain instead of itching. If we had German measles, I don’t recall, I think we all had plain old measles.
Today pharmacist game me an RSV and HepB shot that said they had no record of. Thought I was all shot up until I read this thread!
I very much remember German measles and chickenpox. Don’t know that i had measles or mumps, though I think I remember hearing that my brother had mumps. But could have been when I was very young.
My eighties kids were the last two kids in the country to get chickenpox, I think!
Oh, kids still get them. At our grade school one family went on spring break with their cousins. All six kids got chickenpox. All six had been vaccinated.
Wow! Oh, well maybe the last two to get them instead of a vaccine (aside from the anti-vaxxers, I guess…)
Actually, it’s pretty common to get a very mild case of chicken pox despite having had a single dose of the vaccine. That’s why they added a second dose into the schedule, which tends to completely protect against even mild infections.
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Little kid got her chickenpox in 1993. There was no vaccine at that time if I remember correctly. I think it was 1995 is when it was approved.
I had a misfortune of getting chickenpox when I was a teen, brought from school by my little sister. Worst nightmare of my life. Sis had a couple of zits on her little butt, but I was bedridden for a week!
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My kids both got chickenpox in early 1990s too, before there was a shot. Both had quick, mild cases.
Yeah, eighties kids, nineties chicken pox, is what I meant. 
My third was the only one to get the chicken pox vaccine (the others had it). And then she got chicken pox. All the medical people said it would be a mild case, but I stopped counting pox at 100. And then she got shingles in her early 20s. But she’s also the one who didn’t have HepB protection at 18 despite having the shots as an infant, and just came up negative on a measles titer at 29 despite having two MMR shots as a child. Are there people who just don’t respond to vaccines?