In my nature, in my blood

[sovay]

And this year for Saint Patrick's Day I got a booster shot, because if I can't drive out the snakes from my local area (and I like snakes, so I wouldn't do that), at least I can avoid getting mumps.

(My last MMR booster was in 1992. I had bloodwork done last week to check whether the immunities were still active. Measles, yes; mumps and rubella, no. Interestingly, the last is still considered of special concern to female-bodied people of childbearing age. Either way, I don't want any.)

It will take about two weeks for my body to build up the necessary antibodies. Remind me not to get mumps before then.

In other news of the Outer Antipodes, derspatchel isn't immune to mumps either. He's getting his shot this afternoon. This is possibly more ridiculous than the fact that he can wear my glasses.

Comments

[phi]

Don't get mumps!

I discovered when I was pregnant that I had no immunity to measles, mumps, or rubella, despite having received all my childhood vaccines on schedule. And of course, there are no double blind studies on whether giving a live-virus vaccine to a pregnant person is safe for the fetus or not, so my doctor was unwilling to risk vaccinating me then. It was an awful thing to hear, and once I was no longer pregnant and was safely vaccinated, I insisted the doctor do a blood titer to make sure it took this time.

[sovay]

Don't get mumps!

It's on my anti-to-do list!

It was an awful thing to hear, and once I was no longer pregnant and was safely vaccinated, I insisted the doctor do a blood titer to make sure it took this time.

That sounds terrifying. I am glad you are no longer susceptible.

[gwynnega]

Reminder: do not get the mumps!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I love "Glittering Cloud"--such a great song.

And, I'm glad you'll avoid getting mumps. And Derspatchel should definitely avoid getting mumps as well.

Please also, while you're at it, get yourself immunized against pertussis/whooping cough, as that seems like something you'd be susceptible to, and it's not pleasant.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Driving out snakes seems unnecessary, on the whole. Not getting mumps is a much better idea.

I'm glad both of ye are getting shots, and I'd not only remind but implore ye not to get the mumps beforehand.

really immune to rubella

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

When we got married in 1980, Massachusetts still required a syphilis test before granting a license, and women were additionally required to be tested for rubella, presuming, I guess that babies are a result of marriage. When I was pregnant in 1987, I was tested again. When I went back to school in 2007, I was tested again (not just for rubella, but for all the things that I had before the shots were invented). There are lots of ailments that affect a fetus when the mother has them. I have no idea why there is the fixation on rubella.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I remember I had the mumps as a kid, the last in line of all the grandkids, and then, I gave them to my Grandpa. Cuz I do like to share and stuff.

[sovay]

I love "Glittering Cloud"--such a great song.

It's been in my head all afternoon. It's one of the songs that feels like it would make a great vid, but I don't know what for.

Please also, while you're at it, get yourself immunized against pertussis/whooping cough, as that seems like something you'd be susceptible to, and it's not pleasant.

I had whooping cough in high school: it went through the student body just as my initial vaccine expired and before I could have gotten a booster shot. It was very, very bad. I have vivid memories of coughing so hard I couldn't stand, collapsing to my knees, the sense of my body locked against itself and the sounds my throat made, raling to get a breath in. It started in the spring; I had to drop out of track and field. For months afterward, I was coughing. I like to think I had my immunization reupped after that, but it's true that I haven't checked. [edit] Lo, it's in my online records! I had the Td in October of 1996—that would be after the cough finally cleared—and the DTaP in 2006, so I should be covered for diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus. In other news, I forgot I'd been vaccinated against meningitis. I was last tested for TB in 1999.

[sovay]

I have no idea why there is the fixation on rubella.

The fetal complications are appalling. On its own, rubella is a relatively mild, if unpleasant disease, mostly comprising flu-like symptoms plus the characteristic rash; it's nastier if you catch it when older, and (like most diseases) it's bad for infants, but on the whole it's difficult to die from. The vaccine was developed not because of the inconvenience of itching for three days and staying in bed with a fever, but because of the effects on pregnancy. Miscarriages, stillbirths, children born with profound mental and physical disabilities; there are epidemics within living memory—a pandemic in the 1960's—and at least one case so high-profile it became Hollywood myth and Agatha Christie immortalized it in a Miss Marple mystery. So I think that's why.

I was honestly surprised to discover that Massachusetts no longer requires a blood test! I had it filed in the back of my head as a normal thing to go along with applying for a marriage license, but no more!

[sovay]

Cuz I do like to share and stuff.

So generous and thoughtful!

(My mother remembers mumps and scarlet fever from her childhood. I can't remember about measles; I should ask.)

[sovay]

I'm glad both of ye are getting shots, and I'd not only remind but implore ye not to get the mumps beforehand.

We do not plan on it!

[sovay]

Reminder: do not get the mumps!

Thanks; I knew there was something!

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I remember the measles too.. and getting the Polio vaccine at school. Polio was still a horrible thing and I can still remember my Grandma making sure that all of us were protected from it.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

I remember a rather straight-laced acquaintance being huffy about the blood test: "Surely, they would take my word for it."

MMR is a noble thing. Sadly, anti-vaxxers are anti-persuaded by reason.

Stay well, both of you.

Nine

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

My mother was in hospital as child (broken shoulder) with a girl in an iron lung. We got our polio shots. With reverence.

Nine

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who is 7 years older than me who had polio as a child and recovered from it, but now has the post polio syndrome that is emerging.

[sovay]

I have a friend who is 7 years older than me who had polio as a child and recovered from it, but now has the post polio syndrome that is emerging.

My father was one of the last generation of children who caught polio before the vaccine in the '50's. He deals with that now, too.

[sovay]

I remember a rather straight-laced acquaintance being huffy about the blood test: "Surely, they would take my word for it."

I don't take my word for anything! See above to asakiyume; I just checked my immunizations online to make sure there wasn't anything else I should have been asking for. Bodies are weird.