Why do I need a titer and what's its purpose...?

[R_Clemens]

I had a full scale physical conducted on November 1st 2010, complete with MMR, Varicella, Rubella, Mumps, Hepatitis B series, Varicella, and booster immunizations. For the Nursing program, I spoke to a nurse in student health services and in order for them to clear me, they want me to have a MMR and Varicella blood titer conducted to check my blood levels to verify my immunity. With this being said, they are very expensive and I'm unable to afford it. Why do I have to undergo a titer? Are there any alternative methods? Could I just get another immunization for the MMR and varicella?

How much do Titers go for around your region?

[1wellnessnurse]

Titers are really important. For example if there is a case of chicken Pox at your facility, the first thing the employee health nurse does is check the immunity status of everyone who has been exposed. If you have no immunity, then you most likely will be furloughed for a week. This is to prevent further spread of the disease. Communicable diseases are public health issues.

With so much information and misinformation on the web, some people are opting to refuse vaccinations. This can lead to pocket outbreaks.

"Measles cases are having a banner year in the U.S. So far this year, 118 cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the highest for the January-May period since 1996" (Cevallos, 2011).

Measles cases on the rise in U.S., a risk to unvaccinated infants

May 25, 2011|By Marissa Cevallos

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/25/news/la-heb-measles-outbreak-20110525

[tntrn, ASN, RN]

I just went in for my yearly TB skin test and found out that we ALL have to have titers drawn for MMR, (unless you can verify you had the diseases.) Hep B titers also, and you can opt out of the DPT, but after talking to a doctor neighbor I will not do that.

My childhood health records from my doc (now long deceased) are 1500 miles away and who knows how difficult it would be to get copies of them 50 years after the incident.

Our Employee Health nurse told me there are so many updates coming out of the CDC that she can't keep up.

So it's not just nursing school requiring this: we're all in the same boat.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Boston just had an outbreak of measles this year....and measles numbers are at an all time high......

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/us-measles-outbreak_n_866846.html

[raincitynurse]

If they have them in your area go to a community health clinic, they operate on a sliding scale.

[DogWmn]

I just had a pre-employment physical and titer's done, I won't get the results until next week but the NP didn't like my answers on my hx record I filled out. She asked me why I didn't have immunizations as an infant...ummmm that would be because I was born in 1950 and I HAD measles mumps chicken pox . I remember going to the local high school as a 6 or 7 year old with my family to stand in line with hundreds of families for the first Polio shots and then several years later going for the "surgar cubes". On of my good friends who is a year older than me is one of the last polio patients, she only has a slight limp when she's tired and boy was she lucky.

[rn/writer, RN]

What about the handful of people who never seroconvert even after several attempts at immunization? Are they barred from seeking a career in the health care field?

My mother never developed an immunity to mumps. She had mumps three or four times as a child, and when we kids got it, so did she.