Increased measles exposures sparks questions about boosters, care for immunocompromised children

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Concerns grow for families of immunocompromised and young children as measles exposures increase across the triangle.

Earlier this week, Wake & Durham county officials notified the public of possible measles exposures and Johnston County officials announced a measles case of a person living in the county. On Thursday, Orange County officials also announced a possible measles exposure.

Shannon Dingle is a single mom of six children living in Raleigh, and most of them are immunocompromised.

"We are just trying hard to stay healthy," she said. "All of them have some degree of disability, which just makes them more susceptible to the measles or anything else that's going around."

Her children aren't the only ones with health challenges.

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"There's parents like me, single parents who aren't healthy enough to be exposed to the measles," said Dingle. "I can be vaccinated, but because of my immunosuppressive medications, I have to take for one of my conditions, I don't have as strong of a response to vaccines as other people do."

She and her family fear that increasing measles exposure could result in more cases and slowly chip away at the herd immunity that keeps them safe.

Dr. Tom Moody is a pediatric infectious disease professor at Duke University, and says immunocompromised families need to make careful decisions.

"Make sure that you're being careful about being exposed to people. So that includes just the normal things, like wash your hands," he said. "If you know somebody's sick, don't go to their house."

He says the best protection against the measles is the MMR vaccine.

"We have really good data that the immunity that you get to measles lasts for your whole life," said Moody.

The first dose of the MMR vaccine starts at 1 year old, then a second dose usually at around 4 or 6 years of age. He also says children between 6 and 11 months old can get an MMR vaccine with their doctor's sign-off, if they're traveling to an area with a high rate of measles.

Dr. Moody says a booster isn't needed, but it is more of a personal decision between someone and their doctor.

"Have a discussion with your doctor about whether or not they think it's a good idea for you," he said. "So far as we can tell, there are no problems with people getting additional doses."

Dingle just urges the community to do its part to protect families like hers.

"We as a family always have like a puzzle going," she said. "If you are someone who's like a single piece, who is making decisions just for your single piece, that totally separates you from the fact that you're part of something bigger."

That "something bigger" for Dingle and her family is herd immunity. Herd immunity is reached when community vaccination rates sit at roughly 95% for measles.

Wake County public health officials say measles vaccination rates sit at 94% in the county.