Not immune to measles

[Hattie999]

Despite being fully vaccinated as a child, a recent blood test shows that I am not immune to measles!
I'm 20 weeks pregnant with my 2nd baby.
This has hit me like a tonne of bricks!
I live about an hour away from a huge outbreak in the west midlands.
There's currently no cases in my area, and the MMR uptake is fairly high in my area...
But even so, the anxiety I'm feeling is extreme.
I have a little boy who attends preschool (he's double vaccinated)
I'm no longer going out in public, apart from hospital appointments.
Can anyone else relate to this?
I'm one seriously scared Mommy

When you're not immune, you have to rely on herd immunity (you can't have MMR during pregnancy because it contains a live/attenuated rubella component).

It's like the 1.5 million people who are critically vulnerable to covid. You need to risk assess and mitigate. So be selective about where you go and who you mix with. Wear a mask if you have to be indoors with strangers. Open windows. Lobby for better ventilation/air filtration in public places. And remember that for you it's only a few months, then you can be vaccinated and there's no reason why it shouldn't "take" properly next time.

Oh wow. What has the ahealthcare professionals advised you to do? Especially with a child in school.? I would speak to your consultant / Midwife for advise. Are you now classed as high risk?

She'd be at high risk of getting measles, as it's very infectious and diseases which can cause high fever are that bit riskier in pregnancy.

That said, immunity to measles isn't routinely checked in UK; the normal tests in pregnancy cover German measles because that poses a risk specifically to the developing foetus (and it's that component which means that the MMR cannot be given in pregnancy, even though there are no known cases of harm when it has been given before pregnancy was known)

It's fairly usual for there to be little clusters of measles cases (under 20 or 30 cases) - they happen most years, but herd immunity means they run out of steam because there aren't enough vulnerable hosts about. The big concern is when one of these typical clusters tips into a bigger outbreak as happened in Wales a few years ago; and they think it's more likely (an event waiting to happen) because vaccination rates are so low.

Which doesn't really offer that much comfort to the OP, except that the uncertainty of when it could happen works in your favour - it might not happen at all in your region, or it might not happen during your pregnancy.

BTW - as you are proven not to be immune, it might be worth asking your GP about an earlier immunisation for your DC, as they won't have any transferred maternal protection (standard timing of MMR is to allow that to wear off, doesn't apply in your family)