UK MMR Vaccination?

June 6, 2013 11:04 PM

I was born in the UK in 1972. I don't have childhood vaccination records, and I'm curious to know if I received MMR - i.e. was this a standard vaccination administered to children in the UK for my generation?

I definitely remember all the kids at primary school receiving a shot, which was given using a kind of pen that had a disc on the end with 5 or 6 little needles (which is why most British kids have an approx 1cm diameter round mark on their upper arm) but I don't know what that was. According to Wikipedia, the vaccine was introduced in 1971, but according to the NHS site, it wasn't introduced until 1988 - so I'm not sure what to believe.

I'm asking because I need an MMR vaccination, and I can either get the vaccination now, or get a blood test to see if I've got it and if not, then get the vaccination. Of course there's an associated cost and additional time if I get the test first, so I'm trying to work out the likelihood of having received it.

posted by forallmankind to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

For what it's worth, I was born in the UK in 1978, and just had a blood test to determine if I was immune to MMR and a bunch of other stuff ( tb, polio, chicken pox ) - I was, so I just needed a Tdap booster shot. I remember the little circular vax needles, too. I would have been about 11 or 12 when that was done, so 89 or 90.

I'd ask your doctor which is cheaper, tests or vaccination, and just go with that. At least that way you've got proof and a record if you ever need it - as well as actually being sure you're immune.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 11:13 PM on June 6, 2013

NHS Direct says 'Check with your GP if you're not sure whether you've had rubella or MMR. If in doubt, go ahead and have the MMR vaccination, it won't harm you to have a second vaccination.' It suggests you 'may' only have been vaccinated against measles, but that's not entirely clear. I'd go with revaccination if your GP agrees.

The six-needle shot is the Heaf test, which determines if you need the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis/TB. The Heaf mark is temporary; the BCG is the one which scars.
posted by lokta at 11:14 PM on June 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm in the US and remember that shot too. It's the old way they tested for TB not the MMR. That's just a regular needle (and probably has been for ages).
posted by fiercekitten at 11:15 PM on June 6, 2013

I definitely remember all the kids at primary school receiving a shot, which was given using a kind of pen that had a disc on the end with 5 or 6 little needles

That was the "six pricks" -- the Heaf test in advance of the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis.

I am a little younger than you, and I'm pretty sure that I didn't receive MMR, nor some of the separate vaccines; I did receive the whooping cough vaccine. This writeup from another NHS trust suggests that I was fairly typical in that regard, and gives guidance based upon year of birth.
posted by holgate at 11:15 PM on June 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty sure you didn't as I was born in 1980 and didn't have it - I had measles vaccines as a toddler and rubella at 12. This page says it was introduced in 1988:

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/mmr-vaccine.aspx
posted by *becca* at 1:03 AM on June 7, 2013

No you wouldn't have received MMR as standard. You most likely would have had a measles jab as a toddler and rhubella at 12. Unless you have had mumps as a child you probably aren't immune to that so if you need immunity to all 3 you may as well go ahead and have MMR. If you have had the mumps then it might be worth checking your immunity to them all.
posted by plonkee at 1:04 AM on June 7, 2013

Get it. I was born in 1984 and was vaccinated against measles and rubella only.
posted by Acheman at 2:15 AM on June 7, 2013

I was born in 1971 in the UK. Most likely you would have had polio as standard when very small (on a sugar cube), BCG early at secondary school and that's the scar on your arm. I had mumps, measles and german measles as a child so am pretty sure vaccination did not come as standard for them.
posted by biffa at 2:19 AM on June 7, 2013

I was also born in 1971. I received the polio, whooping cough and measles vaccinations as a small child and the BCG one in the last year of primary school.

In early secondary school the girls got a rubella vaccination but the boys didn't.

My parents would have got me all the standard vaccinations at the time so I'm pretty sure MMR wasn't commonly available in my area.
posted by antiwiggle at 3:21 AM on June 7, 2013

Yes, was going to say that I got rubella at 12 but this was offered to girls only due to the risks associated with it in pregnancy. Presumably in later life!
posted by mippy at 3:35 AM on June 7, 2013

*becca* is right, it was around but only became an established part of infant vaccinations in 1988. I know because I was in the first round of babies who had it as standard, and my picture ended up in the newspaper after I got it, wearing a badge saying 'I just had the MMR vaccine'.
posted by dumdidumdum at 3:48 AM on June 7, 2013 [3 favorites]

I had it in the early '60's but the vaccination wore off. When I enrolled at a university at the age of 40, They drew blood and tested for titers of the vaccine and I had none, so I got the vaccination again so I could enroll.

So, you can have a blood test or just get revaccinated.

FWIW, Lederle gave mothers a cute card to keep track of the dates of vaccination of their babies. My mom faithfully filled it out (in fountain pen!) I still have it along with my certificate of live birth and my birth certificate. So I know the exact dates of my vaccinations! I got the smallpox vaccine!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:44 AM on June 7, 2013

If you need to be immune (for work) you might as well have the blood test. Some people, for whatever reason, don't always develop immunity after vaccination and could require 2 or 3 rounds for it to "take".
posted by fontophilic at 6:06 AM on June 7, 2013

The centimetre-wide scar on my left arm is from a smallpox vaccination (Australia, mid-sixties).
posted by flabdablet at 6:19 AM on June 7, 2013

I think the mark on your upper arm is from small pox vaccination, I know when I was visiting the UK at the age tender age of 4 in 1972 I had to have a small pox vaccination and now have the little circle you speak of on my arm too.

As far as I know it's OK to have the vaccinations again without having a blood test, I had to have the whole MMR ones as no one knew if I'd had them before, my mother didn't keep records and I couldn't remember and all the doctors involved said it was fine to have them twice.

Even if you've had them you could go and get a blood test if you are worried. The government did some random blood tests when I was in high school of students to check coverage rates of immunizations or something and it turned out my polio vaccinations had never "taken" even though I'd had them so I had to go through them all again anyway, luckily it wasn't shots for polio.
posted by wwax at 7:50 AM on June 7, 2013

I was born the same year as you in the UK, and when I needed my green card vaccinations, I realised I did not have my childhood vaccination records. I just got all the green card shots, since I figured that whatever I had been given as a child had probably expired anyway.
posted by Joh at 8:40 PM on June 7, 2013