This is especially helpful for parents of unvaccinated children.
SAN ANTONIO — The first case of measles in Central Texas has been confirmed. With the number of cases growing across the state, there are many questions about the vaccine, especially from parents who don’t want to vaccinate their children but may be rethinking it.
Doctors say even though you may be hearing about people getting sick from measles even if they are vaccinated, that is still possible because the disease is so contagious and relies on 95% vaccination rates to reach herd immunity.
That’s just one vaccine question that parents have. Dr Mandie Tibball-Svatek, a pediatric hospitalist with University Health told KENS 5, “Why are they hesitant? This vaccine has been around since the 1960s and has been modified and made better over the course of time and works well to build immunity.”
Another question doctors have been getting: Can a child get the vaccine early?
The first dose of the MMR vaccine is typically given between 12 and 15 months of age but the MMR vaccine can be given to children as young as 6-months-old.
If your child gets the MMR vaccine early at 6 to 11 months, it is not a replacement dose but is given in addition to the two recommended doses.
“If a child 11-months-old was immunized with MMR, they would need to wait a month, which they normally would until a year of age and then they could start their routine immunization service,” said Dr. Garrett Hunt, chief of pediatric infectious disease with CHRISTUS Children’s.
If you’re wondering how measles is spread, it is through the air and via droplets. The measles virus can stay in the air for several hours after an infected person coughs or sneezes. You can get measles by breathing air contaminated by an infected person or touching an infected surface. It does not require close contact with an infected person to transmit, which makes it that much more contagious and dangerous than COVID.
“There are two different disease processes, but there are effects. With measles specifically in the children younger than five. Those effects are much higher and affecting that population more so than with COVID,” said Svatek.
Experts say there could be mild side effects like a fever, pain or soreness around the vaccination site or a rash that will subside after 6 to 12 days.