When I was about 5 or 6, I got sick. I mean really sick. High fever, rash; the stuff of parents’ nightmares. I remember some of it – being driven to the doctor’s offi ce while lying down in the back seat of my mother’s car, having to go in through the back entrance of the doctor’s offi ce so as not to expose anyone in the waiting room, spending the next several days in my dimly lit bedroom because the sunlight hurt my eyes.
Diagnosis: German measles.
How I got it still remains a mystery. I had all my vaccines. My mother was meticulous with the healthcare of her children.
Obviously I recovered. Mom took good care of me.
But recently I learned something. The measles vaccine I got way back when might not have been the best. This is what I found out:
“Between 1963 and 1967, a less eff ective inactivated (killed-virus) measles vaccine was administered in the United States alongside the live attenuated measles vaccine. The inactivated vaccine, such as Pfizer’s “Pfizer-Vax Measles–K,” was given in a three-dose schedule and produced lower antibody levels than the live vaccine. Its protection was short-lived, often not persisting beyond six months, and it failed to provide robust, long-term immunity. In contrast, the live attenuated vaccine (e.g., Merck’s “Rubeovax”) induced a much stronger and longer-lasting immune response, with over 95% of recipients developing protective antibodies after a single dose.
The main diff erence was that the inactivated vaccine did not replicate in the body, leading to weaker and less durable immunity, while the live attenuated vaccine mimicked natural infection more closely, resulting in more eff ective and lasting protection. Additionally, children who received only the inactivated vaccine were later found to be at risk for “atypical measles,” a more severe form of the disease, if exposed to the wild virus.
The inactivated vaccine was discontinued in the U.S. by 1968 due to its inferior efficacy and safety concerns, leaving the live attenuated vaccine as the standard. This change ensured better long-term immunity and helped pave the way for the highly eff ective MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) combination vaccine introduced in 1971.”
So, the big questions was – which vaccine did I get?
My mother passed away in 2017 – so I couldn’t ask her. Any paper records of my vaccines had probably been lost, tossed, or turned to dust.
It was off to the local bloodwork center to get a titer. The only definitive way to see if I still had the antibodies.
As is the practice now – I got an email saying my blood test results were available in my on-line “chart.” I checked all the values – mumps looked good; rubella looked good. Wait, where are my measles results? What is rubeola? Did they test for the wrong thing? Back to Google. Rubeola is the scientific term for measles. I did not know that. Kind of embarrassed that I did not know that – but every day you learn something new!
My “rubeola” results were good too – I’m officially protected.
I don’t know if my case of German measles helped my immunity, or maybe Mom just got lucky that day when I got my vaccine and I got the better one. Thanks Mom.
Mike Auerbach
Pharma Group Editor-in-Chief
mauerbach@comparenetworks.comSubscribe to our e-Newsletters
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