Measles in an 11 month old

[ConfusedandWorried]

DD turned 11 months on Saturday and last week she spent her first week of induction in nursery. Just been told that one of the babies in baby room was diagnosed with measles on Friday. Shall I continue with induction, or should I keep her away, and if so, for how long?

toughie.

Obviously that particular child won't be there, so there'll be no chance of getting it from him/her. But some of the other kids may have caught it. Your dd may even have got it and perhaps may pass it on to some of the other kids there.

What are the nursery suggesting?

well......I would say that it is already quite likely that she will have been exposed, so I would keep going and watch for signs.

maybe tho, keep away from anyone else you know who you haven't seen, especially if they are too young for the MMR or are pregnant (not that measles should be and issues with pregancy but still, I would still take care).

what do the nursery advise tho?

It is very contagious, ds2 had it (or something very like it - had swabs done by HPA but never got result!)
Apparently it hangs around in the air for up to three hours after the person has left the room.
So, it's possible your daughter might have been exposed.

I believe if you took her to the GP she might be able to have something called immunoglobulin, which is like an antibody injection, which could help prevent her developing it if she has been exposed.

I would not worry too much if the child is not in nursery now, although of course other children are liable to be incubating it...how about leaving it for a week?

Btw it is not something I would willingly expose a child to - it's pretty nasty

Thanks for all your thoughts.

Nursery suggested talking to the GP for advice.
GP was useless and didn't even know that babies don't have MMR until 13 months! He also completely baffled me by saying that measles wasn't life-threatening, and then changed his mind to say it was life-threatening, then said I should keep her at home for a month until she had had her MMR at 12 months??!!!

Have already cancelled all her playdates.
Think I'm going to keep her away from nursery for a week and then start induction again. If dd has got measles, nothing much I can do now, if not, then I'd rather she didn't get it.

My instinct tells me that she has got it as she had a fever this weekend and has a cold and watery eyes. I just thought it was a cold, but tomorrow will be the 4th day of this 'cold' and will see if spots appear.

Gosh, the GP sounds really pathetic
If she has it, Vitamin A is meant to be helpful, but I'm not sure in what format. It protects against liver damage I think.

Hope she is not too poorly - Ds had a high fever and then an ear infection and then the spots, after which his fever came down. Keep an eye on her and if she starts crying a lot or banging her head with her hand, it might mean she has ear infection or throat infection alongside it. (very common)

I have heard of so many babies with measles lately and it makes me quite cross, because the uptake of MMR has dropped a lot recently.

People sometimes have good reason not to vaccinate but some don't think of the babies they are putting at risk

Whole other thread though. Hope she gets well soon x

No spots, and dd seems happy as larry with no fever and no clinginess to indicate an illness.
Nursery just phoned to say that no one seems to have been infected at nursery, so I can resume all baby activities.

Also, read on NHS direct website that if breastfed and mum has had measles, the baby will have immunity. Relieved as my dd still has 3 breast feeds a day.

Thanks all for the support! No longer ConfusedandWorried.

Glad it seems more positive. Flight is right about vitamin A. I think one of the earliest symptoms is Koplik's spots, which are little white spots inside the mouth. I've never seen them but I guess you could check.

I'm glad she seems fine

Just one thing - I'm still breastfeeding mine and he has about 6-8 feeds a day, let alone at night (!) and is now 11 months.

He was still vulnerable despite my having had the illness as a child.

which will be because a mother's antibodies only protect a child for up to 6 months

this is the link: www.mmrthefacts.nhs.uk/search.php?keywords=immunity
scroll down to bit where question answered re: why MMR given around 13 months.

And, I hang my head in shame ... I misread it. It actually reads all babies have immunity through mother's placenta. (sorry, my mistake due to my enthusiasm for bf)
Fllight - wonder why your ds caught measles?

?

Yes perhaps I imagined it! I don't think it is an exact science how long the immunity lasts. He was 9/10 months old at the time.

Fllight - hope I didn't offend you? If I did, then very sorry .
was just wondering out loud really, and you're right, not an exact science, which is why they say 'around 13 months' for MMR, I guess.

thanks for all your support at a time when I've really been in a tizz.

A friend of mine's ds was exposed before his MMR and I think he had the MMR straight away as it can take less time to have its effect than the disease itself does to incubate (so in a way it's not too late to have the MMR if someone hasn't yet got the disease but has been exposed). I don't know where she found that out though or if that's current, but it might be worth a google perhaps?

Confused, no, don't worry, not offended...jsut was puzzled!!!

No worries at all. I am in an odd mood today...

Fllight - and thanks once again