Rubella Vaccination?

[RoseLodge32]

Hi everyone, hope you are well! I've just found out via some bloods that I am not Rubella immune despite having both MMR doses as a child. At first my clinic advised I should get a booster which would mean pushing out my treatment cycle to March but now that they have my vaccine history they have said that I don't need to get a booster as it's unlikely to provide me with immunity if the previous MMR doses didn't.

Has anyone been in the position before? What did you do? Does anyone know of any statistics out there which show the likeliness of a third dose working for someone in my position? I'm terrified of the thought of catching Rubella if I were to fall pregnant but even if I do have a booster, I may still not be immune!

Something I would have never thought about had this all happened naturally!

Thanks everyone x

[soccerkt6]

Hi lovely

The same thing happened to me. I ended up getting a booster just to be on the safe side and a repeat test a month later showed that I had developed immunity. About 3% of people don't develop immunity after two jabs so it's uncommon but not that rare.

Honestly, rubella is rare in the UK so I'm not sure it's really all that important to get the booster unless you're planning on travelling to countries where it's more common. And like you said, I'm sure there are plenty of women who fall pregnant naturally that don't realise they don't have immunity and they're fine. That being said, if getting the booster will make you less stressed and waiting the extra month isn't a problem, it may be worth it just to put your mind at ease. IVF can be difficult enough without added stresses like worrying about rubella! xx

[RoseLodge32 in reply to soccerkt6]

Thanks so much for coming back to me! It's really put my head in a spin as I was ready to start next week, then I was like 'never mind, we will start in March', now I'm back to thinking 'we could start next week...'!

Like you, I am leaning towards getting the booster. It might not work but as you say if it gives me some peace of mind then it might be worth it anyway. At least that way I would have done everything possible to build up some sort of immunity! xx

[FrancyItaly]

I have been in the situation and I could not continue the treatment with NHS or privately, I had to get vaccinated first. I know it’s a pain! Good luck! x

[RoseLodge32 in reply to FrancyItaly]

Ow wow! Perhaps the guidelines have changed slightly. Odd that I’ve been given the option. In some ways I’d rather be told! I am far too indecisive for this! Thank you x

[FrancyItaly in reply to RoseLodge32]

This was in summer 2020, I am not sure what the guidelines are now xx

[RoseLodge32 in reply to FrancyItaly]

So odd! Trying to get some follow-up advice from the clinic but if they can't really guide my decision any further, I will probably just get it done to be on the safe side!

[soccerkt6 in reply to RoseLodge32]

My clinic didn’t have my vaccination records initially and so said that I had to have the jab. Once I provided the records and they saw that I’d had two doses though, they left it up to me whether I wanted the booster or not. xx

[Rollercoastersmiles]

Hello! I’m in a really similar position! I went in for stims in November when they told me that from my new bloods I no longer was immune to rubella, even though I had been from my bloods last year, prior to being referred. For me, I was having a freeze all cycle so decided that I would have the MMR again between egg collection and FET so I called my GP post collection, and they did the jab really quickly for me post collection. After having it you have to wait a month before transfer (and my clinic closed briefly due to to covid) so I’m still waiting for transfer 🤞🏽Starting next month. It’s a personal preference thing. I think I’d have gone ahead with the ivf without a jab if I was having a fresh transfer anyway. I looked at the stats and I think there hasn’t been a case of rubella in the uk since 2019, where I think there were 2 cases, both from people who had come into the uk from abroad. So I thought it was fairly low risk.

[Riri88]

Hi RoseLodge32,How frustrating must that be especially if you were ‘ready to go’ for your next cycle.

I found out before going for IVF that my child MMR vaccinations had not work and they actually made me go through 2 vaccinations again a month apart and the advice not to fall pregnant within a month after the 2nd dose. And without this I would not get NHS funding for IVF so it was something I had to do.

But bloods did confirm after the new vaccinations I am now immune so it definitely can work even if it didn’t as a kid.

I can’t help you though with the decision to go ahead with the cycle or not. It is low risk indeed with minimal cases in the UK but I would not go abroad during pregnancy or even mingle with people from abroad… as I work in healthcare setting myself I would feel much safer being vaccinated then risking the pregnancy… But if you work from home and not go travelling than you might indeed be fine… difficult choice!

[Lamagarden]

I’ve had the same situation. Had vaccine as child but showed I had no immunity as an adult, pre IVF. So I got vaccinated, two doses but still showing no immunity. Have been told that I just don’t take up the immunity, so no point vaccinating again. Nurse told me at coordination appointment that Rubella very rare in UK, so it’s not really a problem 🤷‍♀️

[RoseLodge32]

Thanks so much everyone! Good to know I’m not the only one to have faced this dilemma. I think I’ll get the booster, just in case it does work and if it’s doesn’t, well! Not much else I can do really! xx