# Gene Tierney, rubella, and the obsessed fan **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 23, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022 "2009-07-23T18:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/61 "2009-08-03T04:32:48Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Was, and is, except for the teratogenic effects. The reason only women are vaccinated is not that men don’t catch rubella: it’s that men don’t catch pregnancy. Wouldn’t it make sense to vaccinate everyone? A woman could get it from a man, right? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/62 "2009-08-03T04:52:54Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Wouldn’t it make sense to vaccinate everyone? A woman could get it from a man, right? Not if the vaccine were in short supply or very expensive. It would make sense to only vaccinate women. ---
**Author:** ![Tammi\_Terrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/63 "2009-08-03T11:46:49Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Where is Eve when we need her? If anyone could get to the bottom of this Eve could, I am sure… Hmm, this was mentioned earlier in the thread. Not to be snarky (really), but just requesting elucidation: what special expertise does **Eve** have that would enable her to get to the bottom of this? (And I assume we’re talking about how plausible Tierney’s account of how she contracted rubella may be.) How is Eve especially qualified to confirm Tierney’s contention or to debunk it? (Or is she just a crack researcher?) Oh, and **Jackmannii,** you’re quite welcome. There’s evidence that in the midst of the war some localities in the U.S. (e.g., Oakland, some cities in Utah) had imposed quarantines directed at a whole slew of “childhood diseases” (including German measles), but I didn’t especially find anything placed to southern California. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/64 "2009-08-03T12:59:09Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Wouldn’t it make sense to vaccinate everyone? A woman could get it from a man, right? In the US, we do. Everybody gets a rubella vaccine as part of the MMR vaccine. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/65 "2009-08-03T13:12:41Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Wouldn’t it make sense to vaccinate everyone? A woman could get it from a man, right? A woman could get it from a man if she isn’t vaccinated; so long as she is vaccinated, she isn’t at risk and therefore neither is her fetus. And, at least in Spain, the protocol is to innoculate 12yo girls compulsorily. The vaccine is optional for boys. The vaccinations are held in school, both genders get several and the girls that extra shot. There is often some sort of medical checks at the same time (whatever the branch of government that’s in charge of health prevention in that particular region wants done, it can go from weighing and measuring to including blood tests and an X-ray of the back). **Tammi Terrell** , **Eve** is, among other things, a Hollywood history published author. She’s our resident film buff. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/66 "2009-08-03T13:36:08Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > A woman could get it from a man if she isn’t vaccinated; so long as she is vaccinated, she isn’t at risk and therefore neither is her fetus. And, at least in Spain, the protocol is to innoculate 12yo girls compulsorily. The vaccine is optional for boys. The vaccinations are held in school, both genders get several and the girls that extra shot. There is often some sort of medical checks at the same time (whatever the branch of government that’s in charge of health prevention in that particular region wants done, it can go from weighing and measuring to including blood tests and an X-ray of the back). > > **Tammi Terrell** , **Eve** is, among other things, a Hollywood history published author. She’s our resident film buff. Here in the US, rubella (German Measles) is the ‘R’ part of the MMR shot that all kids get (well, all kids who are vaccinated). Not segregated by gender. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/67 "2009-08-03T15:04:51Z")
I believe you both, really! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/68 "2009-08-03T16:45:56Z")
> [@Tammi\_Terrell](#): > > Hmm, this was mentioned earlier in the thread. Not to be snarky (really), but just requesting elucidation: what special expertise does **Eve** have that would enable her to get to the bottom of this? (And I assume we’re talking about how plausible Tierney’s account of how she contracted rubella may be.) How is Eve especially qualified to confirm Tierney’s contention or to debunk it? (Or is she just a crack researcher?) She’s the author of a number of Hollywood biographies for perfomrmers of that general era, including the excellently-researched [Vamp: The Rise and Fall of Theda Bara](http://www.amazon.com/Vamp-Rise-Fall-Theda-Bara/dp/1879511320/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249317726&sr=8-1) and [Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow](http://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Girl-Life-Legends-Harlow/dp/1558594302/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022.md?page=3)