What to Do if 6 Month Baby Gets Measles

Past: Sean O'Leary, Doc, MPH, FAAP

Measles is wildly contagious. How worried should parents be if their baby is too young for the vaccine? Well-nigh one out of every 3 children under the age of 5 who catches measles ends up in the hospital. Are some babies at a greater run a risk? What, if anything, tin can parents do to protect their little ones?

Hither are some answers from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

How soon can my baby get the measles vaccine?

The recommended age for the showtime dose of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is 12 to fifteen months of age. If you live in a community experiencing an outbreak, or if you travel internationally, your babe may be vaccinated every bit early as half-dozen months of age. Talk with your pediatrician if this applies to you lot.

Babies who go 1 dose of MMR vaccine before their first birthday should get two more doses (ane dose at 12 through 15 months of historic period and another dose at least 28 days afterwards).

My baby is too young for the vaccine. Is there anything I can practise to protect her?

Wash your hands! Just equally y'all would to preclude germs at any time, utilize soap and water and scrub for at to the lowest degree 20 seconds. Remind others in your habitation or anyone who is near your infant to do the same.

Other things that can help:

Limit your babe's exposureto crowds, other children, and anyone with colds.
Go sanitary. Disinfect objects and surfaces in your home regularly.
Feed your baby breastmilk. Information technology has unique antibodies to prevent and fight infections.

Recall, the measles virus tin live for 2 hours on a surface or suspended in the air.

How likely is it that my infant will catch the measles?

The hazard posed to you and your family largely depends on where yous live and the per centum of your customs who take been vaccinated against measles. Bank check with your state or local health department for updates on the number of measles cases nearly you. If you lot have older children, cheque their schools' vaccination rates. Keep in mind that non all states require child intendance centers to disclose vaccination rates, simply information technology is worth request.

Babies at a greater run a risk for catching measles include:

Ones nether 12 months who have not received the measles vaccine.
Ones in a child intendance setting or living in crowded living weather.
Ones with older siblings.
Ones who are not breastfed.

If you are planning an international trip, consider your baby'south age.

Babies less than 6 months old who are besides young to exist vaccinated may however have some protection from the antibodies from their mother (see How Practice Vaccines Piece of work). However, if you are traveling with an infant under 6 months of age to a place with a significant number of measles cases reported, it is worth considering delaying travel as measles tin can still exist very severe in these young infants.
Babies half-dozen to 11 months old should receive the MMR vaccine (and the hepatitis A vaccine), only still require two doses of vaccine at historic period 12 months or older.
Babies 12 months and older should receive their first dose of MMR vaccine in addition to the other vaccines recommended at that age. Infants 12 months and older may also receive a second dose of the MMR vaccine every bit before long as 28 days subsequently the offset dose.

What are the signs and symptoms of measles in babies?

Infants and children can be contagious four days before they even show any symptoms!

Measles typically starts like a bad cold with symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, and conjunctivitis (pink middle). A rash then starts to develop on the head and spreads downwardly to the rest of the body. Many children also get ear infections.

While the main symptoms of measles are bad enough, the reason we vaccinate against measles are to forbid the complications associated with it―such as pneumonia and encephalitis (an infection of the brain).

What is the outlook for a child who gets measles?

Not adept. In the US, one-two out of every 1,000 children who get measles dice from it. A similar number of children suffer from encephalitis and many go on to take long-term encephalon damage. The disease is even more severe in developing countries, where every bit many as 1 out of iii children who get measles die from information technology.

Why don't babies get the MMR shot sooner?

The MMR vaccine is a live vaccine, which ways information technology contains weakened forms of the viruses. In society to work, those weakened forms of the virus demand to multiply to create an allowed response. Since the natural protection newborns get from their moms wears off gradually over a menstruation of months, the viruses may not be able to multiply the style they would when the baby is a little older. That's why we recommend the commencement dose of the MMR starting at 12 months of age. Not because it'southward too dangerous merely because that's the age at which the vaccine works all-time.

What about pregnant moms?

Most women of child-bearing historic period have been vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella―and therefore are protected confronting these diseases.

If for some reason a pregnant woman was non previously vaccinated against measles, she cannot receive the MMR vaccine until after delivery. This is because the MMR vaccine is prepared with weakened alive viruses (in dissimilarity to many vaccines that are prepared with killed viruses), so doctors commonly advise avoiding pregnancy for at least ane month afterwards receiving the vaccine to reduce the chance of becoming infected.

If a non-allowed pregnant woman she is exposed to measles, it may cause health bug to both her and her unborn babe. In a CDC study, the most mutual effect to the mothers was pneumonia and the most mutual fetal/neonatal effect was premature delivery. If she is exposed within 10 days of delivery, she is probable to crusade a serious infection in her newborn at nativity.

Practise parents and grandparents demand a booster MMR shot?

Anyone born earlier 1957 is more often than not considered immune to measles. This means they are fully protected from measles for life and no boosted vaccination is necessary.

The CDC also considers people who received ii doses of measles vaccine as children protected for life, and they do not ever need a booster dose.

If y'all're unsure whether you're immune to measles, yous should first try to observe your vaccination records or documentation of measles amnesty. If you do non have written documentation of measles immunity, y'all should get the MMR vaccine. In that location is no harm in getting another dose of MMR vaccine if you may already exist immune to measles (or mumps or rubella).

Boosted Data:

How to Protect Your Kid During a Measles Outbreak
How to Cocoon a Newborn: Only an Email Abroad
When to Keep Your Child Home from Child Care
www.cdc.gov/measles

About Dr. O'Leary:

Sean_OLeary Sean O'Leary, Medico, MPH, FAAP, is a pediatric infectious diseases expert at the Academy of Colorado and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Liaison to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Within the American University of Pediatrics (AAP), he is a fellow member of the Babyhood Immunization Back up Program Project Advisory Committee, the Committee on Infectious Diseases, the Department on Infectious Diseases, and the Council on School Health. Dr. O'Leary is likewise a Chapter Immunization Representative for the Colorado Chapter of the AAP.

The information contained on this Spider web site should not be used equally a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. At that place may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on private facts and circumstances.

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Source: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/Protecting-Your-Baby-from-a-Measles-Outbreak-FAQs.aspx