Debates regarding vaccinating newborns and children have been in the news in the past few years. Review the PDF schedule of required/suggested vaccinations from Doc Sharing and the 2014 Measles outbreak as a resource.
Answers
Measles is certainly unpleasant, but it can also be quite dangerous. As many as one in three people with measles develop complications to include pneumonia, miscarriage, brain inflammation, hospitalization and even death. Infants under one year of age, people who have a weakened immune system and non-immune pregnant women’s are at highest risk of severe illness and complications. One out of 1,000 people with measles will develop inflammation of the brain, and about one out of 1,000 will die. One of the most challenging things about containing the spread of measles is that it is highly contagious. The virus resides in the mucus of the nose and throat and once an infected person sneezes or coughs, droplets spray into the air and spread the disease to others. The most amazing part is that the droplets remain active and contagious on infected surfaces for hours. Therefore, you could be in the same place that an infected person once was, and still get sick even if you never encounter them face to face. How effective is the measles vaccine? The MMR vaccination timeframe hinges upon the passive protection that children get against measles, mumps, and rubella in the form of antibodies from their mothers. These antibodies can destroy the vaccine virus if they are present when the vaccine is given and therefore can reduce the efficacy of the vaccine. By 12 months of age, almost all infants have lost this passive protection and no longer have the antibodies that will interfere with the protection offered from the vaccine. However, this window may differ slightly by child and is often the reason we see children who contract measles before they have a chance to be vaccinated. Whenever there is an outbreak people often ask how many of cases have occurred in people who had been previously vaccinated. Although we don’t know all the specifics yet, we do know that out of the New York cases seven are adults, nine are children and four patients have been hospitalized. CBS 2 reports that most of the pediatric cases have been in children too young to be immunized and that two cases have been in patients where their parents refused to have them immunized. In regards to the adults, the vaccination status is often unknown as adults rarely have documentation of measles vaccination that they may have received as a child. However, this is a good reminder of the importance of adult vaccination. And since the recommendation of the second dose didn’t come about until the early 1990’s, it’s probably that most adults are unknowingly undervaccinated. Even though the risk of disease may be low for a fully vaccinated child or adult, we must consider that there are still people who remain vulnerable. For example, children under a year old who haven’t been vaccinated as explained above, as well as children who haven’t had their second dose who may only remain at greater risk. And of course there are those, both children and adults, who can’t receive an MMR vaccine due to various medical reasons. They must rely on protection from those of us who can.
As the year progresses, we’ll have to wait and see just how 2014 will compare to previous years in regards to measles outbreaks. In the meantime, the best way for our readers to stay informed would be to follow your local public health department’s alerts and media announcements to ensure you are getting updated on infectious disease outbreaks in your local area.