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News — Some of Zeman’s suggestions for protecting against measles include: 

• Stay up to date with vaccinations. 

• Become familiar with the research on vaccines. 

• Be thoughtful and knowledgeable about outbreaks when considering travel plans. 

“If unvaccinated, you are 1,000 times more likely to die of measles than you are to have a life-threatening reaction to the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) shot,” Zeman said. “Put another way: you are 200,000 times more likely to die from a measles case than you are to win the state lottery.  And you are 10,000 times more likely to die in an auto accident than you are to have a serious vaccine reaction to the MMR.  This is an incredibly effective tool to protect life with very low side effects.” 

Zeman says the typical schedule for the MMR vaccination is for infants from 12-15 months of age, and the second dose should be administered between 4-6 years of age. There is no upper age limit, and an individual who has never been vaccinated can get caught up at any time. Adults who want to catch up on the vaccine only have to wait 28 days between the two full-dose schedule. 

Biography :

Dr. Zeman teaches environmental health.  In the past she has taught epidemiology, anatomy and physiology for health sciences, toxicology, human diseases, environmental and occupational health regulations/policy, and complementary, alternative and integrative health. 

Dr. Zeman’s research has focused on the acute and chronic hematopoietic and immunotoxicological impacts of nitrate, children’s environmental health and learning, select pesticides and the development of methodologies for exposure assessment in epidemiological research. 

Dr. Zeman earned associates, bachelors of science and master’s of science degrees in nursing, cultural ecology and environmental science at Lewis & Clark and Southern Illinois University and a doctorate in preventive medicine, environmental and occupational health focus at the University of Iowa.