Stepchild not vaccinated for MMR should i let hang out w/ newborn?

[stepmumSW5]

My stepchild (school age) is not vaccinated for MMR. I'm seriously worried about them hanging out with my newborn. Has anyone been through this?

No - have you heard of SSPE?

@Prokupatuscrakedatus just Googled it and I'm panicking

Take it your DP/DH has parental responsibility for his child? What does he think of the situation?

@stepmumSW5

Don't panic (sorry) - it is very very very rare, but it can happen.

What does your partner say about it and how old is SC?

That would be a big old no from me.

Either step child gets vaccinated or they’re not to be within several meters of new born until they’re vaccinated themselves

No, I wouldn't have them near my newborn until one or ideally both of them were fully vaccinated. Would be an absolute red line for me

I wouldn't risk it. Why is the child not vaccinated?

I think the MMR vaccine is great and extremely safe. However worth considering in your "risk matrix":

Stepchild would have to get contact with measles to have it and transmit it and the number of UK outbreaks annually is tiny.

The risk of severe measles complications such as SSPE is really, really low.

Obviously if there was an outbreak local to you the chance the chances shift around a bit but you'd still be extremely unlucky for the stepchild to have picked it up and be contagious before anybody else had a rash and triggered panic / isolation l
/ being on the news. And unless you live in an area where lots of non-vaccinators are clustered the stepchild will be protected from exposure by the presence of a local vaccinated "herd" even if relatively susceptible themselves.

No risk can be reduced to zero, in principle this risk would be closer to zero if the stepchild was vaccinated but actually I'd suspect the odds of eg being hit by a car as a pedestrian are higher, and nobody would advise you never to leave the house.

Obviously if you can persuade whoever has parental responsibility to vaccine the child it is a win-win for your worries and their health!

If both parents have parental responsibility consent can be taken from only one for the vaccination

@Iesugrist

I think the MMR vaccine is great and extremely safe. However worth considering in your "risk matrix":

Stepchild would have to get contact with measles to have it and transmit it and the number of UK outbreaks annually is tiny.

The risk of severe measles complications such as SSPE is really, really low.

Obviously if there was an outbreak local to you the chance the chances shift around a bit but you'd still be extremely unlucky for the stepchild to have picked it up and be contagious before anybody else had a rash and triggered panic / isolation l
/ being on the news. And unless you live in an area where lots of non-vaccinators are clustered the stepchild will be protected from exposure by the presence of a local vaccinated "herd" even if relatively susceptible themselves.

No risk can be reduced to zero, in principle this risk would be closer to zero if the stepchild was vaccinated but actually I'd suspect the odds of eg being hit by a car as a pedestrian are higher, and nobody would advise you never to leave the house.

Obviously if you can persuade whoever has parental responsibility to vaccine the child it is a win-win for your worries and their health!

I would agree with all this. I think it’s not worth causing serious fallings out by separating the DC completely.

@DottyWott

If both parents have parental responsibility consent can be taken from only one for the vaccination

That's good to know. My DP wantss to vaccinate the kid but he's afraid the mother might do something against it.

@Twizbe my husband wants to vaccinate but we know the mother will say no. We are j hoping we can do it even without her consent but we don't know what the consequences may be. The sk is 5 and going to school.

Absolutely wouldn’t be letting child near baby- sorry.

Turned out my DSD hadn't been vaccinated for MMR and it got picked up at a routine GP visit when she was 7. My son was 3 years old by then.

@Iesugrist

I think the MMR vaccine is great and extremely safe. However worth considering in your "risk matrix":

Stepchild would have to get contact with measles to have it and transmit it and the number of UK outbreaks annually is tiny.

The risk of severe measles complications such as SSPE is really, really low.

Obviously if there was an outbreak local to you the chance the chances shift around a bit but you'd still be extremely unlucky for the stepchild to have picked it up and be contagious before anybody else had a rash and triggered panic / isolation l
/ being on the news. And unless you live in an area where lots of non-vaccinators are clustered the stepchild will be protected from exposure by the presence of a local vaccinated "herd" even if relatively susceptible themselves.

No risk can be reduced to zero, in principle this risk would be closer to zero if the stepchild was vaccinated but actually I'd suspect the odds of eg being hit by a car as a pedestrian are higher, and nobody would advise you never to leave the house.

Obviously if you can persuade whoever has parental responsibility to vaccine the child it is a win-win for your worries and their health!

That makes no sense. Yes there is a higher chance of being hit by a car as a pedestrian, and I bet the OP takes sensible mitigation measures when she’s out and about - looking both ways when crossing the road, crossing at appropriate points, paying attention to where she’s walking etc. In addition, leaving the house is a necessary part of life so the risk/benefit analysis is different.

We all take measures to guard against risks which are small every single day - this should be one more. Yes, the odds of it happening are low but the potential reprecussions are so high that to me it’s absolutely not worth it when there’s an extra preventative step that can be taken. Instances of measles have increased in the last few years all down to the ridiculous Antivaxx movement.

It’s a shame for the stepchild but this is squarely on the father - if he actually grew a pair of testicles then he’d get his child vaccinated.

Absolutely not!

I had a situation where we were going on holiday with a friend who’s child was unvaccinated and ours was around 8months. We were worried but were able to find public health information online as to where all the recent outbreaks had been in the uk and none were near where they lived. We cared about the relationship with our friend so on balance decided the risk was low enough.

Also, the advice above that only one parent need consent, is true as long as the other parent agrees. Immunisation should not be given without consent of both parents or a court order directing it. See page 12 of this guidance assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/144250/Green-Book-Chapter-2-Consent-PDF-77K.pdf

I wouldn't let mine go to soft play (even as a spectator for older DC) before having their first MMR. If I was dad I would have his child vaccinated prior to birth of baby. GP practice won't even ask if mum consents, only one parent needs to. He can just book it himself.

Why is your Sc not vaccinated? Is the Mum an anti vaxer? .

just do it. get the father to do it. for everyone' benefit.

I have permanent hearing loss from having rubella as a child. So it would always be a no from me for letting a baby mix with a deliberately unvaccinated child.

The U.K. lost it’s measles free status last year because of the number of cases. This is the horrible side effect of anti-vax.

"I had a situation where we were going on holiday with a friend who’s child was unvaccinated and ours was around 8months. We were worried but were able to find public health information online as to where all the recent outbreaks had been in the uk and none were near where they lived. We cared about the relationship with our friend so on balance decided the risk was low enough."

I can't imagine putting a friendship ahead of the health of my child. Anti vaxxers need to hear it straight from friends. Their choices put others at risk. The only reason the risk in that situation was theoretically low is because everyone else vaccinates. If enough people choose not too then the risk rises significantly very quickly. Doesn't even take that many.

When you get a puppy, you don't let it out with unvaccinated dogs until it's covered.

Why would you treat a human baby with less care?

Dyrne without getting too much into the weeds on all your points I was mainly trying to provide reassurance over the smallness of the risk, for someone who is worried but has (realistically) not that much control over the situation!

If the dad hasn't (for whatever reason) pursued immunizing his own child for the child's own sake it is unlikely that the theoretical extra risk to his other child is going to be the tipping point, particularly if the ex-wife is unwilling? Going down the behind-ex-wife route is clearly going to end in large amounts of unhappiness for a connection you are stuck with for the long haul, even if he could be persuaded to. If someone wants to pursue this they should be informed about how big or small the risk is they're acting to prevent!

Again to reiterate - the risk would change dramatically if there was a measles outbreak locally (and should in that instance prompt isolation of the baby anyway, as well as a motivator to vaccinating the older child) but thankfully these are rare. Would also be different if you lived in eg Ukraine (outbreaks are frequent) or in a commune full of anti-vaccinators (low community protection means "breakthrough" to circulation a fair bit higher).