Child first MMR vaccine at age 3.5 years old

[MimiDuncan]

Hi All,

did any of you had their child first MMR vaccine at age 3 or more?

if yes how it went? Were there many side effects ?

I wanted to delay my little ones as he was acting very strange after his last sets of vaccines when he was 18 months old.

He had staring spells and was blinking a lot for months and I got a fright 😔

i am honestly very nervous about this MMR.

thank you.

My child caught measles, 2 weeks before she was due to have her MMR. She was terribly ill. We were in hospital for 10 days and it has affected her hearing permanently. But we were lucky. Measles kills. Vaccinate your child.

🤣

Measles, mumps and rubella are all viruses. Neutrophils are bacteria-fighting cells so neutropenia (low neutrophil count) is not really relevant / not a safety issue here. Only live bacterial immunisations are contraindicated in neutropenia. I suggest the previous poster with neutropenia follows this up because they may have been given incorrect advice (there is a lot of confusion and over-caution even among HCPs about immunocompromise).

Measles immunisation may be contraindicated for those on significantly immunosuppressive drugs such as strong oral corticosteroids, some types of chemotherapy etc - these suppress all components of the immune system.

If neutrophil count was previously below 1.5 in a child then it is reasonable to follow this up to ensure it is not a persistent finding (but this is unrelated to MMR).

I would advise against separate immunisations instead of MMR. There is no context in which they are indicated / recommended over MMR, there is evidence they are less effective in producing lasting immunity, and there is evidence of separate immunisations producing greater side effects (simply from having to have 3 instead of 1). Whilst better than nothing, the whole single / separate immunisations concept is just a sham invented by people with vested financial interests.

I hope this provides some reassurance. Please protect your child from measles. It can be very serious illness that can cause death or lasting disability. And a lifetime of worry re late onset complications such as SSPE.

In the best case scenario measles is generally a miserable illness to go through and there is now good evidence it "wipes" the memory of the immune system so that people who have had measles will suffer with weaker immunity and increased infections for an extended period afterwards. Measles is really something your little one could do without.

I was so concerned about exposing my children to measles through work I sought out early additional MMR for them at 6 months. So they've each had 3 x MMR at 6 months, 13 months and 3 years and I can't recall anything beyond a little fever and grizzly symptoms for a day or so. The normal immunisation schedule is 12/13 months and again at 3 years. There's absolutely no extra side effects or issues expected from having the first dose a bit later. Just get that protection from measles (and mumps and rubella) as soon as you can. Xxx

I don't disbelieve you have been given this advice, but it isn't correct. The Green Book contains all of the latest evidence based recommendations on immunisation in the UK and gives the following information under contraindications for MMR:

"There are very few individuals who cannot receive MMR vaccine. When there is doubt, appropriate advice should be sought from a consultant paediatrician, immunisation co-ordinator or consultant in communicable disease control rather than withholding the vaccine.
The vaccine should not be given to:
● those who are immunosuppressed (see Chapter 6 for more detail)
● those who have had a confirmed anaphylactic reaction to a previous dose of a measles-, mumps- or rubella-containing vaccine
● those who have had a confirmed anaphylactic reaction to neomycin or gelatine
● pregnant women"

If you do consult chapter 6, isolated neutropenia is not listed as a relevant condition.

It does not make any logical sense that isolated neutropenia would be a contraindication to the measles immunisation because neutrophils fight bacteria and measles is a virus. If you Google "is MMR contraindicated in neutropenia" you will encounter multiple published guidance that explicitly state severe neutropenia is not a contraindication to MMR.

I think it is likely that the HCP who gave you this advice was either underqualified, or has had a lapse in their understanding. I would honestly follow this up to protect your health - getting measles is no joke.

The only question needing asked when it comes to life saving vaccines are “would you rather a dead child?”

My DD has Down syndrome and whilst her immune system isn’t low it is slower to react to things so illnesses can last longer and worse quickly. She had a really terrible time chicken pox for example, it hit her much worse than her brothers. However, she had all of her vaccines at roughly the right time (12 and 16 weeks slightly delayed as in hospital at 12 weeks) and she has had very few side effects at all. Slight temp nothing else.

I had mine at the usual childhood age, but I had to have it again as an adult as a blood test showed I had no protection from it. Absolutely no side effects what so ever.

I had mine at 33 was somehow I'd missed out on all the childhood vaccines. It only came to light when I was pregnant with DC1.

Thank god for good herd immunity for kids born in the 70s.

I don't remember any ill effects at all.

These threads make me so angry. My child is neutropenic because they have cancer and are undergoing chemotherapy. When they eventually finish treatment, they will have to have ALL their childhood vaccines again because the chemo wipes immunity. If my child catches even something like chicken pox, they could die. Both my children were fully vaccinated, on time, as are me and my husband. Don’t read nonsense conspiracy theories on the internet, for gods sake! Listen to your very qualified, highly trained GP and get your child vaccinated!!! People from the past would think it insanity that parents today have the option of a vaccine against a potentially fatal disease and don’t take it!!!

Thank you.
did your lo got the MMR vaccine also?
if yes how she reacted ? Any side effect?

Our friends couldn’t conceive and when they did further test it was found he had male factor infertility. Their consultants felt it was due to the rubella he had as a child which also caused his deafness. He no longer speaks to his family as he feels they ruined his life.

Ds was a bit off for a couple of days, but otherwise totally fine. I'll take a couple of days of him being off colour over measles, mumps or rubella!
There is plenty of evidence that there is no link between autism and the vaccination.

I dont no why everyone gets so defensive on these threads. Op's dc has been through a lot. He had a period where his habits changed and his mother was concerned. If you suddenly noticed your baby staring an blinking and this was not normal you too would worry. She hasnt said at any point its the fault of mmr but as the symptoms occured after the last batch of vaccines she is a bit wary. Maybe some moral support would help more than the judgey posts.

when i got my mmr i stopped talking, apparentely i used to talk away about everything but then i went semi mute ( when i talked it would be gibberish and most of the time i didnt bother) and would stare off into nothing. Sometimes i would wake in the night even though i had slept all the way through until then. I don't know why this happened, I started talking a little at 5 years old but no one could understand me due to my phonics, thankfully by 8 they could and now i am fine.

My Dr HAS asked me to do a autism assessment as well as an ADHD assessment but i have yet to do these as i am managing fine. I also have a processing disorder but that is not likely to be due to anything i did or had as a baby.

People always get a hard time when asking questions about their concerns around vaccines. OP I can understand your reticence given your child's history but I think the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any potential risk. My three all had the MMR and booster and had some slight reactions to the initial MMR eg high temp and out of sorts. They are aged between 12-16yrs now and are fine.

I had no vaccines as a child as my aunt who was a nurse told my mam they were bad. I am not vaccinated against measles or mumps (got rubella aged 12 in school). I am seriously considering a measles vaccine now given the current situation. I am on methatrexate which is an immune suppressant but I think I need to be severely compromised to be refused.

my immune system is very bad, I still had the mmr. It were more risky for me not too

@KidsDr it was my haematology consultant that advised me not to, I'm also on a biologic drug

Ask how many medical professionals- people who can actually read scientific research don't vaccinate.

Your anxiety is a much bigger issue than an MMR vaccine.

It's unforgivable how much damage one low quality biased study has done to vaccine rates.

If you have a low immune system ( on immune suppressants ) you are told not to get live vaccines . You have to check about each individual one

Yep . My OH as well

Due to allergies I checked with our GP practice about the MMR and DS had them as usual other than an additional wait in the waiting room during the window when a reaction is most likely to occur.

Contacting your GP practice is best.

There is currently a push for people of any age to be vaccinated if they are unprotected. My DCs schools are currently urging families to check and vaccinate if necessary.

I'm pre-MMR age. I got immunity to Mumps and Rubella the uncomfortable way, though fortunately without lasting consequence, but even at the milder end, it's still prolonged time out of school and the disruption that entails. I had a solo Measles jab at secondary school because there was concern about rising cases, and immunity from exposure in my age group was patchy. It was also the era of teenage girls having the Rubella jab.

For the vast majority MMR is safe and effective, and vastly preferable to the increasing risks of catching the actual illnesses. It's testement to the efficacy of this vaccine that the nastiness of the illnesses they protect against have been collectively forgotten so easily because younger adults haven't been exposed to them.

Thank you. It feels very good that you UNDERSTAND what we were going through 🩷

yes she did. she said "however the staring spells ( not sure if epilepsy or not ) and blinking tic were related I believe"

Oh God!

can I ask you what age you got your MMR?

The wide eyed disingenuous bollocks on this thread is quite something to behold