Practice Management Alert

Question: Our practice is in a state that just removed religious exemptions for refusing vaccinations required for school. What proof can we accept as evidence of immunity for measles?

New York Subscriber

Answer: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists four means of proving immunity to measles. To qualify as immune, a patient must have one of the following: 

• “written documentation of adequate vaccination:​

            o  “one or more doses of a measles-containing vaccine administered on or after the first birthday for preschool-age children and adults not at high risk;
            o _“two doses of measles-containing vaccine for school-age children and adults at high risk, including college students, healthcare personnel, and international travelers;

• “laboratory evidence of immunity;*
• “laboratory confirmation of measles; or
• “birth before 1957.”

Importantly, people who don’t have an explicitly positive test for measles IgG should be vaccinated or revaccinated, the CDC says. However, the sensitivity for these tests may vary, so make sure you check with your state public health department to find out the specifics.