Taking a 4mo to a country with a measles outbreak

[LittleKitty1985]

We've booked a short break to a European destination, our first holiday with 4 month old DS. We've been really looking forward to it, however I've just found out it has a measles outbreak! Obviously DS is too young to be vaccinated for it.

Should I cancel the holiday?

What are the local authorities doing to contain the outbreak?

If there's an outbreak, frankly, I would be cancelling.

Measles can be spread through the air. Consequently you could be near someone who has it and never know. 5 minutes with an infected person is enough to spread the virus - it is that contagious.

Yes, of course.

go without little one if its a short break and you have someoene to leave lil one with and if you feel comfortable with leaving baby. If not, then cancel the holiday, or see if u can reschedule it. Would travel insurance cover this scenario? I personally wouldn't take the risk of going

My friends son caught measles when he was 8 months old in his home country The UK. Poor baby was hospitalised, it was horrible for them.

Personally I wouldn’t want to deal with that and not be at home with the support of family and friends.

I would personally change the holiday destination. Measles is highly infectious and I wouldn't enjoy the holiday in these circumstances.

No way would I take him there.

I'm sure you're all right, but for context the area of the UK I live in also has a measles outbreak right now, so the holiday doesn't feel much more risky than just living our usual lives.

& if the worst did happen and he caught it, we'd be back in the UK before the symptoms would appear, so we wouldn't have to deal with hospitals etc while abroad.

Urgh, I hate that anti-vaxxers have put us in this situation!!

Not sure if this would apply in the UK OP, but my cousin in the US had her baby vaccinated at 6 months because of a measles outbreak in their hometown. Maybe one to talk to your doctor about if your baby would be past or around that age when you actually go on the holiday? Obviously they might say no (and I'm sure they'd know far better than me on whether that's advised by the NHS or not) but worth checking?

Urgh, I hate that anti-vaxxers have put us in this situation!! Me too...

Sorry, forgot to mention - I seem to remember her son also still had to have it when he turned 1 too.

I don't think I'd risk it with a teeny. What age do they get measles vaccine I can't remember (mine have def had it!).

I'm in New York and lots of infants are getting immunized at six months now.

There’s measles in a lot of countries across Europe. If you haven’t looked yet go on Travel health pro website. you can look up your country for outbreak information or go to the Diseases section and look up the figures under there. Some of them are very up to date and may be broken down by region not just country.

If there is currently an outbreak where you live now, how do you know your baby isn’t incubating it already and then become ill whilst you’re away?
Personally I wouldn’t risk it.

The outbreaks could be hundreds of miles away though. In France they were concentrated in the French Alps as they had a number of young people working the ski season who were unvaccinated ( and this is the outcome of not vaccinating right here).

We've just hit 1,000 cases in the US, the worst since 1992.

It's Official: Over 1,000 U.S. Measles Cases in 2019 - Worst U.S. outbreak of measles since 1992 continues

God save us from the anti-vaxers.

I'd not be risking it. It's not worth it.

Personally, I think you are being a bit alarmist.

I doubt you would get cancellation insurance to cover it, unless the government say don't go. Countries are big, and it might not be in your area.

Measles in the US
www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html

wiki
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles

There are 300m people in the US, so what are the chances.

per the wiki article. "The risk of death among those infected is about 0.2%". So that's 2 people in the US. Higher in high risk countries.

You don't go abroad thinking I might get malaria, and so many other things. Rabies seems to kill nearly as many as measles, as far as I can see, and I bet you aren't worried about getting rabies. 20000 deaths from snake bites.

Measles is a disease that used to be regarded as a minor childhood ailment.

I appreciate the concern, but we need to keep this stuff in proportion.

IN MY OPINION. No flak please.