How to Minimize the Risk of Measles

Parents in the vaccine denial movement often say that the consequences of getting measles are easier for the child than the consequences of getting the vaccine. Parents in developing countries might disagree. Every year 30 million unvaccinated children come down with the disease. One million of those children die. Another 15,000 to 30,000 are left blind.

Even if your child survives the disease, and in countries like Russia, Canada, and the United States, as well as other developed countries, survival is likely with good medical care, there can still be problems. The consequences of getting measles can be multiplied by coming down with whooping cough, diphtheria, typhoid, influenza, and hepatitis, all of which are more likely after a bout with measles. It's true that once you catch measles your immune system gives you immunity to future measles infections for the rest of your life. The problem is that it forgets how to respond to other major diseases.

Still can't bring yourself to get your child vaccinated? Here's what you must do:

• Keep your child away from any other children who may have measles. That's easier said than done, because an infected child is contagious for four days before the rash appears and continues to be contagious for four days after the rash disappears. You need to keep your child away from other children who may have been exposed to measles. Typically this would be a child returning home after a trip to a developing country where measles vaccine is not used.
• Don't let your kids play with "boogers." Snotty noses are potentially dangerous. The measles virus is spread through aerosol droplets of mucus and saliva that get into the air with coughing and sneezing. The virus can survive in mucus on household surfaces for two to four hours. Touch the mucus, and you can catch the virus.
• Get treatment for your child as soon as you notice the prodrome, the initial stages, of the disease. There won't be any symptoms at all for about seven days after exposure. Then your child may have a very high fever, up to 105°F (40.6°C). There are usually also cough, red and irritated eyes, and muscle aches for up to a week before the rash breaks out. 

READ Once An Almost-Forgotten Disease, Measles Outbreak Strikes Children And Adults

• Symptoms are much less severe when the child gets vitamin A. An infant not yet six months old gets 50,000 IU of vitamin A in two doses one day apart. A baby six months to a year old gets 100,000 IU of vitamin A in two doses one day apart. Children over the age of one year get 200,000 IU of vitamin A in two doses one day apart. Vitamin A helps prevent damage to the eyes and brain. If your child is deficient in vitamin A, then there should be a third dose of the vitamin about two weeks after symptoms resolve. Most of the cases of blindness occur in children who have been given vitamin-deficient diets.

Measles causes last damage to the immune system. There are rare instances of bad reactions to the vaccine. That is not to be denied. However, there are even worse and far more common reactions to the disease itself.