Early MMR due to trip overseas - any advice?

[Utka]

We are going on a 2 month trip to NZ in early March, and will not be back until the very end of April.

DD2 is one at the end of Feb, and the HV is encouraging me to get her MMR done early, because of the risk of infection in some of the areas we are due to visit. NZ itself is not thought to be a problem, but we are stopping over in Singapore on the way out, and the Cook Islands in the South Pacific on the way back. Plus there's the exposure on the plane trips themselves.

Anyone got any experience of this? I don't want DD2 to be suffering from the vaccination on the journey out or the trip, since this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Obviously though, I don't want her to be at risk. I do believe in the vaccine and would be getting it done as normal if we were in the UK.

[RTKangaMummy]

I dont really know anything about MMR apart from that I believe in it and agree that planes etc may be cause for infection I am not medical

When is the due date for it to be done?

What about phoning NHS direct?

Also bumping this for you

[Twiglett]

I wouldn't TBH ... I'd wait till she was a year and a half at least

[Prettybird]

Ds got his done at just over one (+10 days to be precise) as we were going to South Africa a fortnight later. I was the one that pushed for the early date, as I couldn't be sure who we would be coming in to contact with (and my aunt is involved with pre-school projects which we were going to be visiting, in fairly deprived areas). The HV was fine with that.

If he had a reaction, I didn't notice it - but my thinking was that the worst would be over even if he had reacted.

He's now 4 and has just (last Thursday) had his re school booster. Still awaiting any potential reaction!

[HappyMumof2]

Message withdrawn

[RTKangaMummy]

when does her slip of paper thing say her appointment should be?

[Jimjams]

How old will she be- doing it before 15 months decreases the chance of it working (especially the measles bit). Doing it before 12 months always used to be counted as not being given and a booster would be given at 18 months (sometimes iit was given earlier that 12 months due to epidemics). Still don't understand why they now give it at 12-15 months as (pro-vax) stuff I've read says it dooesn't work that well if giiven that early (well not that it doesn't work that well it either works or it doesn't-just that it doesn't work in a fairly high proportion of children).

If you had measles as a kid then chances are she'll have antibodies from you up to 12 monthsish

[Utka]

Thanks for all of this - particularly the reassurance from those of you who've done it this way. Her birthday is 25/2, and we travel on 7/3 i.e. 10 days later. If she has the vaccination on her birthday (poor thing!) then the prime time for the reaction to emerge would be the date of travel. As we are in transit for effectively 3 days (not arriving in NZ until 10/3, we could have a very unpleasant journey, and not have access to healthcare should this be necessary. The key thing though is that without it she could be exposed to a greater risk.

Talked with the practice nurse this am, and she seemed to think it might not be possible before her first birthday anyway. I don't want to place her at risk, but equally am concerned that if we do it too early it may not protect her in the longer term anyway.

[Utka]

Forgot to say that I had German Measles and mumps as a child, and still have my rubella immunity. I b/f her until 2 weeks ago (ie about 10.5 months) so wonder if it's possible that she would still have some protection. The measles bit is the one I'm most worried about though.

[Jimjams]

it can be done before her 1st birthday but it wouldn't count. So say you went to the States and they wanted proof of vaccination before allowing her to attend childcare they wouldn't count MMR given before 12 months. They have fiddled around with the age of the MMR quite a bit (here and the States) but the most sensible option - in terms of wanting it to work- seems to be to leave it as long as possible.

I wouldn't worry too much about measles- someone on mumsnet wants her child to get measles naturally and her GP told her that was veyr unlikely to happen as there isn't enough of it around. I would imagine that Singapore is fairly hot on vaccinations- Cook Islands could be different- but maybe worth checking before you make a final decision.

If you decide not to vaccinate I can give you some tips on what to take in case she does get measles!

[Utka]

Just bumping this one as I've heard back from the practice nurse. DD2 can have MMR before 1 but she hadn't heard about the need to then give an additional booster at around 18 months - is there any info I can direct her to on this?

Also, we've discovered that both dds will need Typhoid and Hep A because of the stop in the Cook Islands. One of them can be done with the MMR because it's live, the other not. So we're faced with multiple vaccinations around her first birthday, all of which would kick in just at the start of our trip.

Anyone else got any further suggestions or links to check out? Many thanks

[jessicasmummy]

as far as i have been told, it is medically "unsafe" to do mmr before 13 months but any time up to 18 months old is acceptable. with regards to travel, best to discuss with HV

[Utka]

Sorry - I meant that one of the vaccinations couldn't be done with the MMR because it's live!

[Laylasmum]

utka if you want your kids to have the hep A typhoid and MMR then there no problems having them all together. the MMR is live but the other 2 are inactivated you need to query this with your practice nurse.

[Laylasmum]

UTKA also have a look at www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk
It will list all recommended vaccinations for your trip. if your trip to the cook islands is only for a couple of days staying in a top hotel then you may decide that the risk of your kids picking up Hep A or typhoid is very low. As regards singapore there are no recommended vaccinations over and above the british vaccination schedule.best to ahve a chat with nurse/GP though

[LIZS]

Utka

We live in Switzerland where dd had mmr at a year and then her booster at 18 months , but this seems to replace (as far as I can tell) the preschool mmr booster. However I don't know anyone whose child has followed this timetable and got to that point yet as the change was only made at our dr around 2 1/2 years ago.

[Jimjams]

this is from a pro vax site in India- read the second article and it goes into giving jabs at different agesw (i always thought the measles bit wasn't very reliable pre 15 months ish as well- but measles will be more of a problem in india so I guess they want to cover- just in case).