04/19/2025
I’m reposting a prior post because this is getting scary. I need my families to know that you do not need to wait to vaccinate. Research suggests that an infant at 8.5 months will have a good response to the measles vaccination (93% protected). We can give the vaccine starting at 6 months old but it’s not that great (about 58% effective 😞 This is due to T-cell immunity). BUT, a child, over 1 year old? That kiddo can have the second vaccine 28 days later. You do not need to wait until they are 4 years old. It will protect them at the same level (98%). They do not need additional measles vaccines.
I’m deeply worried about all the babies in my practice. Love all of you and hoping this outbreak calms down.
Repost:
Measles is a very scary virus. It is the most contagious virus facing humans since smallpox. Hopefully, some people remember that we eliminated smallpox WITH VACCINES.
A child with measles will infect 90% of unvaccinated people around them. The area they were in, even after they leave, is contagious for up to two hours!
But I want to talk about SSPE. It’s a complication that follows a measles infection. 1 in 609 of unvaccinated infants, under age one, who catch measles, can come down with this. 1 in 1369 for children under 5 years old. It happens a few years to a decade after infection. It starts with behavior changes, then seizures, muscle spasms, blindness and dementia. These worsen in the worst way imaginable and finally kill the child. There is no cure and almost all of the children will die...horribly.
I’m fearful for the many infants and young children with measles infections all around this country. Statistically, even if they survive measles, some of these children will die from this complication. It will come like a thief in the night and devastate yet another family.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/10/28/new-data-show-a-deadly-measles-complication-is-more-common-than-thought/?utm_term=.b6aa87ac1ce0
https://www.infectiousdiseaseadvisor.com/home/topics/prevention/decline-of-subacute-sclerosing-panencephalitis-mortality-linked-with-increased-vaccinations/s
Age-specific mortality from SSPE is reflective of changes in measles age distributions; SSPE could disappear in the US if vaccination rates remain high.
