Measles conerns

[kaelaAmumma2b]

So please people I need some reassurance.
Today we had some door knockers show up at our 3 month olds house and his grandma let them into the house , not thinking but no on purpose.

We have a large measles outbreak going on and we really don't know how much contact these people have had with other people today.

Please tell me I'm over worrying about this.

You are overthinking. Do you not take your baby out, to clinics, shops etc?

@LIZS
We take him to clinics but as our area right now is being hit hard (heaps of post of babies friends catching the measles locally) we try not to take him anywhere to public.

To be fair these people knock on thousands of doors a day.

It was pouring down so grandma being a kind hearted soul invited them in until it passed. My partner did ask them if they are vaccinated and they said they're almost 90% sure

This has to be a joke right?

@DtPeabodysLoosePants ,
No obviously not !
Our baby is only 4 months old , our area which is only a small suburb has 290 cases that's a lot. So as you can see even if I'm a over protective mum I am worried. I hope you understand and not take this as a joke

I can see why you're so worried - I remember when DS was about that age, freaking out over a child in a pushchair with spots all over them in a station waiting room.

But in truth you are very very unlikely to have any problem. I assume these are adults who knocked on the door - in which case they've probably had measles as kids or been immunised. 290 cases is a lot in one suburb, but realistically you are only likely to have a problem during a measles outbreak if you're routinely going to places with lots of children/young adults (like student halls of residence) in close proximity with one another

Don't get me wrong - I'm fanatically in favour of vaccination programmes, but it's important not to catastrophise about the actual risks.

Also - and as I say, I'm massively in favour of vaccination - even in the worst case scenario that your child got measles, it is still likely that they would suffer no long term consequences. We vaccinate on the basis of risk = probability times severity of outcome. The probability of the worst outcomes happening is actually very, very low (but because the worst is very bad, the risk is still high enough to make vaccination worthwhile). I'm old enough to have had measles as a kid - horrible illness at the time, but no lasting after effects for me, and most of my generation that had it (sadly, for a very small number, there were tragic outcomes - but it really was a small number).

"our area which is only a small suburb has 290 cases"

In that case you are right to be worried, since you seem to live in a catchment area of anti-vaxxers. But you can't change the past, so just keep an eye open for possible symptoms, but don't drive yourself crazy!

@BarbaraStrozzi
I just want to thank you because you have actually put my mind at ease. I understand why the other people think I'm overreacting but I asked for reassurance, which you have given.

I think because it's been so blown up on media, it has made me way more anxious. It's only the last few weeks I have become this way because it's all over everything.

Thanks Barbara , you are a lifesaver !

Thanks @SmartPlay but just had a worried with grandma , the door knockers are missionaries and she informed me that they must be vaccinated in Utah before knocking on people's doors to ensure they don't spread anything, so look like grandma had her grandson in the back of her mind after all. However I still would of preferred her not to let them in.

"but realistically you are only likely to have a problem during a measles outbreak if you're routinely going to places with lots of children/young adults (like student halls of residence) in close proximity with one another"

Not really. Measles are highly contagious!

You're welcome! I'm so glad I've helped .

I'm a research scientist, and a lot of my job is trying to communicate risk in sensible ways to the public, so they can make sensible decisions on the basis of what we tell them. I'm also a mum, so I know that all the stats in the world don't stop the occasional panic attack/sleepless night. (All you can do is keep repeating to yourself "this is really unlikely.")

@SmartPlay although i agree but @BarbaraStrozzi is also very correct about kids being the mostly affected as most of the outbreak is children whom are just to you g to be vaccinated.

@kaelaAmumma2b I didn't mean the part about mostly children, but rather that there have to a lot of them and in close proximity. And that's just not the case. Measles are so contagious, you can catch it just by passing a single infected person who sneezes 1m away from you.

Cross posted - I'm not denying that measles is highly contagious.

But OP's child is currently too young to be vaccinated, so we're talking about what sensible steps OP can take (avoiding play groups/baby groups, asking the HV to pay home visits rather than having to take her baby to clinics full of other children), and in the mean time giving OP the information to help her not to panic (because, although the risk is obviously there, it needs to be kept in proportion).

You can't make all risk go away entirely, life is about managing risk in the best way you can in the circumstances in which you find yourself, while still living a normal life and not getting too stressed about the factors you can't control.

I just want to add that the mmr doesn't cause autism.
I had health anxiety about my dcs when they were little. I think you should do some mindfulness or therapy to help calm your anxiety. It's extremely unlikely that your baby will have caught measles. I have had measles. I didn't have the vaccination because I had a fit when I was a baby.

Did you bf your baby? If so she is likely to have a degree of immunity in the first year of life.
Can you ask your health visitor about bringing the first vaccination for MMR forward given the incidence in the area.

Actually your baby is likely to have some immunity for a year regardless of whether you bf.

MMR vaccine is given later than some other childhood vaccines because antibodies transferred from the mother to the baby can provide some protection from disease and make the MMR vaccine less effective until about 1 year of age.

@BarbaraStrozzi Sure, I agree with you on that! I certainly don't want to make her panic (even more), I just wanted to stay realistic. So the door-knockers probably weren't/aren't a problem, but keeping the baby rather away from others in such a massive outbreak is surely a good idea.

I'm not an antivaxer and will be getting him a dose of mmr when he is 6 months old. I was tested for measles antibodies during pregnancy (when cases were very low) and I had very low immunity to none so he didn't get the antibodies from that. I just needed reassurance tonight which I have got , I'm fully aware there is still a slight risk. Just keeping in mind that originally I was almost convince he has been put in harms way. And although the risk is still there I can now sit and relax and just take extra precautions and look for symptoms over the next two weeks. Appreciate everyone advice , I agree with @SmartPlay it's very contagious and that is why my concerns for measles has cause somewhat anxiety. And from that the media is just all over it , which adds to my anxiety they always are stating the worst case scenario which is why I have to be a little cautious.