Measles, to vaccinate or not to vaccinate

[Guest guest]

I have a 2 1/2 year old who has never received a vaccine.He was

born in Hollywood where it is not so uncommon, but now we are

living in Virginia and the doctors give me a pretty hard time about

it. Well this week he seems to have come down with measles.I

called his doctor and she didn't even believe me, but everything I

have read points to a classic case of measles. Tonight , I

learned that a book my friend brought over about a week ago

was on the plane with them from Miami, and my child was all

over the book.Maybe he picked it up from that.

At this point, I am almost 100% sure it is measles and don't

know if I shoud bring him in to the ped so he can be responsible

for staring an outbreak.It is highly contagious.

This whole thing is making me re-think my anti-vax agenda.

I wish I had more information about everything.

Some questions on my mind are:

Does the MMR wear off by the time you are an adult?

I'm seven months pregnant, but I had the vaccine, should I be

getting a globulin injection or something?We are talking about

measles here, not Rubella?

Is the illness really as dangerous as it is made out to be?

Is there anything that looks exactly like measles but is not?

And the big question...Do the risks of the vaccine outweigh the

benefits?

Obviously it's too late to vaccinate this child with MMR.But there

are other diseases out there and I have another child on the way.

I wish I could put my trust into the pharmaceutical companies

and

the doctors and I wish it was safe to immunize today.I had all the

shots when I was a kid , and never suffered for it but that was

thirty years ago.

Just looking for some answers.

Thanks

[Guest guest]

Hi there clovergrdn - I definitely feel some of your anguish, as my son

recently came down with the measles. Eventually his sister caught them

as well. The benefits (if any) of vaccinations definitely do not

outweigh the risks. Measles is a pretty normal part of childhood and

will build up the immune system. Try giving your child chewable or

powdered vitamin C (tablets come in 500 mg dose), every few hours, and

the measles will clear up in no time. If he doesn't want to eat, don't

worry - just encourage fluids (water and watered down juice is better).

Hope he gets better soon - praying for you.

 

Benjamin