I really need some advice on this. I never got the chicken pox as a kid. When I moved to the US, I had the varicella (2doses) shots. I volunteered at a hospital and thus was required to do some blood work. Found out that I had no immunity for the chicken pox. I took the shots again . I did some blood work last week to work at another hospital. Turns out that it’s negative again. I am scheduled for 2 more shots this week. I am really curious about what’s going on . I am 22 yrs old and not looking to get chicken pox as I grow older. I appreciate any information that you can provide.
It is likely that the test is not sensitive enough. “… in a subgroup of individuals the antibody response to VZV vaccine may be low despite an adequate cell-mediated response. Commercial VZV ELISA assays were designed to measure higher titers associated with natural infection rather than the lower titer induced by the vaccine.”
You have a couple options. Ask for a more sensitive test, or be vaccinated again.
If it was me, I would attempt to get the better test simply because this is going to come up every time you change jobs in healthcare. Also, make sure to save all the documentation of your vaccinations. This will also come up in the future.
OTOH, if you have a vaccine every couple of years it won’t hurt you. (Well, for a second it will.) but you will be far better protected from shingles when you get old. And shingles really suck.
WAG: Is there any possibility that he has some physiological quirk that means that neither the varicella virus nor the vaccine can thrive inside his body? In which case he is permanently immune.
yes, that could be it.
It could be that his T cells will not accept the virus, because of differences in the HLA allelles which control signalling between T cells.
Or it may be that the natural killer cells are far better able to eat an infected T cell, eg due to the HLA system for flagging the T cell as “eat me” better.
Either way, it seems the virus is defeated before it triggers antibodies… the virus is dying off under the radar of the antibody test.
Some people are found to be relatively naturally immune to HIV because the HIV cannot successfully coopt T cells to replicate.
Its not neccessarily true that the repeat vaccination attempts won’t hurt you - being a live virus technique, the repeat vaccinations may increase the chance that you retain the virus in the neurons.
One wonders if VZV is related to MS or other diseases like that - a virus in the cells is somehow causing natural killer cell attack of the brains cells ? Could the use of live virus be putting people at greater risk of MS and similar neuron immunity attack diseases ?
Thank you all the information. I will try reaching out to my company’s HR to determine whether more sensitive testing can be carried out since this is essential for my position. I assumed that Labcorp testing would sufficient , however, ill have to do some research on tests with better sensitivity.
Thanks again.
I had something similar happen with rubella. Had the shot as a child. Later, each of my prenatal blood tests showed no immunity. I was instructed to get the shot from the pediatrician after delivery. I did that twice. The third time, I smiled and nodded.
It’s nice to hear that I might be immune anyway. I thought they just weren’t working.
Here’s hoping that you can prove your immunity without too much red tape.