Anyone concerned about taking their unvaccinated <1 year old?

[Ufgatorfan24]

Since I'm a first time mom, I always wonder if some of my worries/concerns are valid or not. We're scheduled to go to WDW for a couple of days in March as part of a week long Florida visit to see family. My son will have turned 1 about 10 days prior to travel and will have received his first MMR vax about a week prior to travel, so he won't be fully immune yet. Up until recently I never would have given this a second thought, but now I'm just curious to see if anyone else out there is worried about taking their <1 year old on planes, to WDW, etc. in the midst of this outbreak. i don't think we'll change our plans unless the outbreak hits FL hard by March or if our doctor recommends it, just wanted to see if anyone else had similar concerns or if I'm suffering from first time mom overthinking/hyper media overload. Thanks

I am a nurse practitioner and your child can get a MMR shot at 6 months if requested if going to a known area for potential of measles.

 

[chris31997]

Again, you are not contagious due to the vaccine. You just aren't. There is no need to delay going to Disney World for fear of infecting others.
That said, it looks like a full immunity response can take up to two weeks, so to ensure the child who has been vaccinated actually has time for an immunity response, two weeks before a trip seems like a reasonable precaution.
Of course, talk to your doctor for advice in your child's specific scenario.

I can't speak to MMR. But I do disagree with your statement and the other poster statement that says you are not contagious from a weaken virus that you get in a vaccine.

My kids both reacted to the chicken pox vaccine. DD got chicken pox from the 1st shot and a pox vatiation that to be frozen off from the booster. DS did the samething. Had to keep them both home per DR orders because they were considered contagious from the vaccine.

IF you shed off some of the MMR and come in contact with someone who has a compromised immunity you can get them sick. There is alot to think about with no easy answers. Information is the best thing you can get. This we can agree on.

 

[Lupeix]

If it really worries you, you can get the MMR vaccination early, it is recommended to do so if you are traveling out of the country for example. You can get the first dose as early as 6 months and the second one as early as 1 month after that. The reason you give the second dose is because about 2-5% of kids do not develop immunity with one dose alone. So one dose should give you good protection, but it takes 2-3 weeks to kick in. My son got his second MMR dose early before a trip to South America.

The MMR, rotavirus, shingles, intranasal influenza and varicella (chickenpox) vaccines can all be given to people who are living in the same home as someone with weakened immunity. Although trace amounts of these live vaccine viruses can be detected for about two weeks in the throat of a vaccinated child, they are not contagious. The viruses that show up are so weakened, and exist in such miniscule amounts, that they do not endanger family members, even less so people around you in an amusement park. A child can develop mild disease like symptoms, like in the case of chickenpox. Any pediatrician that says that this can be contagious has little experience with the rare side-effects of vaccination. I won't be worried about this at all, but you don't want to vaccinate your child too close to the date you are traveling, since fever and discomfort are not unusual, and you need 2-3 weeks for the immunity to kick in.

 

[DopeyDame]

I can't speak to MMR. But I do disagree with your statement and the other poster statement that says you are not contagious from a weaken virus that you get in a vaccine.

My kids both reacted to the chicken pox vaccine. DD got chicken pox from the 1st shot and a pox vatiation that to be frozen off from the booster. DS did the samething. Had to keep them both home per DR orders because they were considered contagious from the vaccine.

IF you shed off some of the MMR and come in contact with someone who has a compromised immunity you can get them sick. There is alot to think about with no easy answers. Information is the best thing you can get. This we can agree on.

I did a little reading on this last night (like you said, information is always good!) It looks like MMR and chicken pox react differently, because they are made differently. I had absolutely no idea one could be contagious after the chicken pox vaccine, so thanks for sharing.

From the CDC's info sheet on chicken pox. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/varicella.html#risks

• Mild rash, up to a month after vaccination (1 person out of 25). It is possible for these people to infect other members of their household, but this is extremely rare."

The MMR vaccine, on the other hand, does not cause one to be contagious. There is nothing listed about the risk on the MMR fact sheet, unlike on the varicella one. More than that, there is lots of documentation that it's not transmitable via the vaccine:

From http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/mmr-questions-answers.aspx#contagious
"If my child develops a mild case of measles after receiving their first MMR vaccine, are they contagious to non-vaccinated children?
No. Post-vaccination symptoms are not infectious, so your child will not pass anything on to non-vaccinated children.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/measles/faqs-dis-vac-risks.htm
"I am 2 months pregnant. Is it safe for me to have my 15-month-old child vaccinated with the MMR vaccine?
Yes. Measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine viruses are not transmitted from the vaccinated person, so MMR does not pose a risk to a pregnant household member."

http://vec.chop.edu/service/vaccine...ne/mmr-measles-mumps-and-rubella-vaccine.html
"What are the side effects of the measles vaccine?
Some children develop soreness in the local area of the shot, and occasionally a low-grade fever. Reports have also indicated rare cases of fevers greater than 103 degrees, usually five to 12 days after receiving the shot. Also some children develop a mild, measles-like rash about seven to 12 days after getting the measles vaccine. Children with this reaction can still get the measles vaccine in the future. Children with measles rash from the vaccine are not contagious to other people."

 

[MyFamily8]

http://www.nvic.org/CMSTemplates/NVIC/pdf/Live-Virus-Vaccines-and-Vaccine-Shedding.pdf look down to page 35. It is possible to shed the mmr and cases have been reported of measles spreading due to this. Even someone doing basic research can easily find this info.

Cite Your sources, please. If you're going to make outrageous, bogus claims that are dangerous to public health, please substantiate then.

FACT: In countries without the vaccine, measles is still common. Roughly 17 people per hour DIE from measles worldwide. From a completely prevent able illness. Source: http://www.cdc.gov/measles/vaccination.html

 

[Gracie09]

Its also good to look at the organization producing the "research". The NVIC is an anti-vaccine organization and therefore their "research" is biased against vaccines. Nor do they do any scientific research. They cull through others' research and pick and choose what they want to support their claims. Not exactly a holistic approach.

 

[DopeyDame]

http://www.nvic.org/CMSTemplates/NVIC/pdf/Live-Virus-Vaccines-and-Vaccine-Shedding.pdf look down to page 35. It is possible to shed the mmr and cases have been reported of measles spreading due to this. Even someone doing basic research can easily find this info.

Huh? I don't think we're reading the same article.

The following quotes come directly from YOUR source, pages 35 and 36:
"There are no reports of transmission of live attenuated measles or mumps viruses from vacinees to susceptible contacts."
"While the attenuated virus can be detected in clinical specimens following immunization, it is understood that administration of the MMR vaccine to immunocompetent individuals does not carry the risk of secondary transmission to susceptible hosts.”

I know absolutely nothing about the NVIC, so I can't make a judgement for myself as to the credibility of their research, but no - they do not say that cases of measles have spread due to shedding after the MMR vaccine.

 

[MyFamily8]

Keep reading the article. "There have been published reports of vaccine strain measles with clinical symptoms that are indistinguishable from wild-type measles. There are also a few reports of measles vaccine strain virus shedding and lab confirmed infection in children following MMR vaccination. In 2002, there was a published report by researchers in France of “a child presenting with fever 8 days after vaccination with a measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Measles virus was isolated in a throat swab taken 4 days after fever onset. This virus was then further genetically characterized as a vaccine-type virus.”

Huh? I don't think we're reading the same article.

The following quotes come directly from YOUR source, pages 35 and 36:
"There are no reports of transmission of live attenuated measles or mumps viruses from vacinees to susceptible contacts."
"While the attenuated virus can be detected in clinical specimens following immunization, it is understood that administration of the MMR vaccine to immunocompetent individuals does not carry the risk of secondary transmission to susceptible hosts.”

I know absolutely nothing about the NVIC, so I can't make a judgement for myself as to the credibility of their research, but no - they do not say that cases of measles have spread due to shedding after the MMR vaccine.

 

[Lupeix]

Keep reading the article. "There have been published reports of vaccine strain measles with clinical symptoms that are indistinguishable from wild-type measles. There are also a few reports of measles vaccine strain virus shedding and lab confirmed infection in children following MMR vaccination. In 2002, there was a published report by researchers in France of “a child presenting with fever 8 days after vaccination with a measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Measles virus was isolated in a throat swab taken 4 days after fever onset. This virus was then further genetically characterized as a vaccine-type virus.”

I just wanted to clarify that what I posted before are the official recommendations of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, one of the top 10 pediatric hospitals in the country, where I did my fellowship
http://vec.chop.edu/service/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-considerations.html

As I said before:"trace amounts of these live vaccine viruses can be detected for about two weeks in the throat of a vaccinated child" this is what people may refer to as "shedding". The 2002 report is the one people cite to show that you can detect the vaccine virus in throat swabs, but it was not contagious (I just pulled the article from PubMed to double check), and it was a single case. There has not been a single PROVEN case of a child transmitting disease from the MMR vaccine, and by that I mean actually making someone else sick, even if the child shows mild disease-like symptoms (which is possible) and has vaccine virus in throat swabs.

I want to caution people from getting medical information from the internet unless it is a site that is certified to provide accurate non-biased medical information, such as government organization like the CDC or a well-respected hospital. NVIC, despite its seriously sounding name and serious looking website is an anti-vaccination advocacy group and everything they publish is meant to support their point of view and hence is biased. For the most part, their articles cite either "junk" science or show real science out of context to make the point they want to make.
There are a lot of bogus academic journals out there, and as a consequence a lot of "junk" science published (If you want further proof, recently some scientists sent out an article that consisted only of the phrase "Get me off you ****ing mailing list" and it got published!)

In the NVIC article they leave things open for you to think that if you "shed" then you may be contagious and make someone else sick, but there is no proof that is the case. It takes a lot more than trace amounts of a weakened virus in someone's throat to actually enter the body of someone else and produce an infection.

Be careful where you get your information from, it can make you loose sleep about things that are not true. We have enough to worry with our kids already!

 

[NJlauren]

Yes I am concerned, my daughter is 7 months and we fly to Florida on Saturday (non disney) and I am worried about flying and traveling. We also are scheduled to go to Disney when she is 10 months. As of now we have not changed the plans but it is open to discussion.

Now I've done a fair amount of research and I did read as a PP mentioned you can get the vaccine at 6 months, but the nurse at my doctors office said they don't do that unless the CDC recommends it because the outbreak is bad. I'm tempted to call again because I would rather her get it. That being said I have read at 6 months it's not 100% effective nor after the first dose at 12-15 months.

In general the whole thing scares me, but my daughter goes to day care, we will right out side NYC there are tons of times she can be exposed, what is the right move I have no idea.

Do your research and do what works for your family, everyone is going to have an opinion, but do what works for you.

But to answer your question I'm concerned but enough to cancel I'm not sure yet....

 

[chris31997]

I did a little reading on this last night (like you said, information is always good!) It looks like MMR and chicken pox react differently, because they are made differently. I had absolutely no idea one could be contagious after the chicken pox vaccine, so thanks for sharing.

From the CDC's info sheet on chicken pox. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/varicella.html#risks

• Mild rash, up to a month after vaccination (1 person out of 25). It is possible for these people to infect other members of their household, but this is extremely rare."

The MMR vaccine, on the other hand, does not cause one to be contagious. There is nothing listed about the risk on the MMR fact sheet, unlike on the varicella one. More than that, there is lots of documentation that it's not transmitable via the vaccine:

From http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/mmr-questions-answers.aspx#contagious
"If my child develops a mild case of measles after receiving their first MMR vaccine, are they contagious to non-vaccinated children?
No. Post-vaccination symptoms are not infectious, so your child will not pass anything on to non-vaccinated children.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/measles/faqs-dis-vac-risks.htm
"I am 2 months pregnant. Is it safe for me to have my 15-month-old child vaccinated with the MMR vaccine?
Yes. Measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine viruses are not transmitted from the vaccinated person, so MMR does not pose a risk to a pregnant household member."

http://vec.chop.edu/service/vaccine...ne/mmr-measles-mumps-and-rubella-vaccine.html
"What are the side effects of the measles vaccine?
Some children develop soreness in the local area of the shot, and occasionally a low-grade fever. Reports have also indicated rare cases of fevers greater than 103 degrees, usually five to 12 days after receiving the shot. Also some children develop a mild, measles-like rash about seven to 12 days after getting the measles vaccine. Children with this reaction can still get the measles vaccine in the future. Children with measles rash from the vaccine are not contagious to other people."

Thanks for the info. I will look at it. I find topics like this interesting for several reasons. But the main one is that my husband had the MMR vaccine and had measles 2x, along with chicken pox 2x. Family history provides another good source of information that needs to be considered. I have talked with our kids about this. They are up to date on vaccines. Stats and family history can help and go a long in making a decision

With all that, very little would cause me not to travel

 

[supertinyluckycat]

I would be way more concerned with catching the flu. As far as i know, 0 children have died from measles in the US in recent years. Somewhere around 60 children have died from the flu this season and its only about half over.