OMG - They think DS has measles

[RubySlippers]

After posting yesterday with my worries about DS (13.5 months) and his high temp etc we have been back to the doctors again and they are pretty sure he has measles
he is pretty unwell - crying/writhing and won't really eat or drink
they have to do swabs to confirm it, but they are treating it as measles
there has been an outbreak a few miles from us as well

thank you all
interesting about the Vit A - he loves sweet potato so will try to get him to eat some tomorrow

I think Pulsatilla is the homeopathic remedy to give but there are others depending on symptoms so check a remedy finder if you are interested.

better if the vitamin A is in the form of retinol. If you can get nordic naturals cod liver oil then that's good. Nutricentre stock it but they are a ngihtmare to deal with. If not ask for a high quality cod liver oil (preferably screened for heavy metals) from a health food shop. Cod liver oil is rank though and a poorly child with measles may well not want it. You could always massage on the skin I guess as its fat soluble, who knows a tiny bit may get through (or up the beta carotenes eg sweet potato.

fingerwoman somewhere on the internet there is a list in the UK where you can register for measles parties etc. Where in the UK are you?

will do some googling later on the Vit A
DS seems to have gone to bed ok - dosed up on calpol

sorry to hear this ruby - hope he feels better soon

Hope he's able to get over this quickly poor thing

Poor Ruby and DS, hope he has a quick recovery.
Measles parties, that sounds like a surreal joke.

someone's already mentioned it but search google images for koplik's spots- they're diagnostic for measles. If you see them then it almost certianly is. They do disappear around the time of the rash though - tend to be in full swing just before the rash hits (any sign of barking cough here and I'm shining torches in mouths), but it can help to decide whether measles or not before swab results come back.

Usually measles is unpleasant but uncomplicated (and 13 months is a 'good' age for it if you're going to get it). Hope he's better soon.

not a joke- if you decide not to vaccinate against measles then you might consider it better to be caught in childhood.

thanks all for the good wishes
he has got spots in his mouth ... doctor also saw them
has a cough which comes and goes

i have heard of CP parties but not for measles

DS had CP a while ago and it was not pretty

People used to have measles parties years ago.

"oh and most cases of measles with complications involve people with low levels of vitamin a. In fact something like 50% of measles cases have vit a deficiency as well.
In a healthy young child with a good immune system the risks are really very, very tiny"

Am curious to know where this information was obtained from.

Ruby

Wishing your son a speedy recovery without further complications. This is a serious childhood illness and if it is measles it should not be downplayed.

RubySlippers,

Wishing your ds a speedy recovery.

Fingerwoman, regarding measles being 'a normal childhood illness that we were all expected to get', are you confusing it with German measles? I believe that there is a difference between the two strains, German measles (rubella virus)is the milder form of measles and only dangerous to pregmant women. I certainly remember having German measles as a child and there being no fuss about it. However I do also remember there being a cetain degree of caution over Measles, as the potential complications for this virus was known...either that or my mum was very well read up on Dr Spock!!

People who choose not to vaccinate do often talk about measles parties, particularly measles, more than the others because its so much nastier post childhood. Others delay vaccination until just pre puberty- again because of the increase in nastiness post puberty. If you're never going to vaccinate with measles then trying to ensure its caught in childhood is something to think about for sure.

Measles is certainly often unpleasant but not usually complicated. I have a medical book here (family health encyclopaedia, orthodox) dating from just pre MMR introduction (1980 something) and it does describe measles as a usually mild illness the only problem being complications which can be easily treated by antibiotics. Paraphrasing slightly but the whole measles entry is surprisingly blase if you're used to reading the stuff around now. This was a standard orthodox family health book. Nothing alternative at all.

I hope you find that it isn't measles. My two were straight down the docs for their MMR as soon as they were eligible, def not a disease I wanted them to catch. Not exactly sure where the idea comes from that vaccines don't provide lifelong immunity provided you have each dose. One of those very contentious topics, not going to open the can of worms here, so wishing him a speedy recovery.

gess, my dad has a medical book that is very old (war years i think) and that also states that measles is a mild childhood illness.

Wishing your child a speedy recovery. Poor little thing

We think my DD may have had measles at 13 months. We had thought she had had a reaction to her MMR two days earlier. The GP and HVs refused to take us seriously despite DD being really quite poorly and losing a fair bit of weight over the 10 days or so she was ill. It is oinly when we went to speak to the pediatrician prior to her MMR boster that the measles thing came up. But everything from that time does point to that diagnosis. DD had no complications as a result of that illness, if it was indeed measles.

Am interested to know if your ds has had mmr?

Some of my dcs have had it but not all, can they still contract measles if they are 'immunised' against?

I am not trying to start a debate over rights and wrongs, as i have said some of ours have and some haven't.

I am just interested........

I hope he is up and about soon

A teen booster is given in the States...

My friend did put that question to a dept of health bod on a Radio 4 phone in in 2002. He agreed (in 2002) that lifelong MMR boosters would need to be introduced as the MMR'd generation grew and naturally acquired infection (and boosters from being exposed to measles etc incubated naturally) fell. No sign of it yet though.

Although having measles naturally is always going to be a worry during the course of the illness, you will be able to come out of it feeling pretty confident about immunity Ruby. One positive!

Yes those of us of a certain age all had measles, chicken pox and mumps as children (I especially remember mumps!) I even had whooping cough - how ancient does that sound?!

But just because some of us had these illnesses, it does not mean we want our children to catch them. Would it be inpolitic of me to ask Ruby if you had not got round to giving your son the MMR or are you against it?

Oh and btw, one of my sons had the MMR and still caught suspected mumps later on, but was not too bad with it.

Bibis yes they can if it hasn't worked.

DS1 caught rubella from a vaccinated child.