When my daughter received her MMR shot at age 2 we found her in her crib having a seizure with 104 temperature. Within a day she began breaking out in the measles. The doctor confirmed that she in fact did get the measles from the MMR shot. I have been told by my current doctor that she will not need the booster for her MMR since she broke out in the measles. Recently the school district asked for proof of immunity with a blood test. The blood test that came back showed immunity to measles and rubella only, not mumps so we need to do the booster. I'm so worried that my daughter will have a severe reaction again. Any way around this shot for my sanity or any way to prolong it till she's older? I would love to hear your experiences. I don't want her to be exempt from school.
Talk this over with her doctor and see what s/he suggests about the timing. If waiting is the best route, or not having the MMR booster is the way to go, then you can file a medical exemption with the school.
There used to be a separate Mumps vaccine, but I see that is no longer produced or sold in the US. :(
Your local department of health may be able to order JUST the mumps booster for her, so she doesn't have to get the entire MMR booster. You should ask.
ETA: It doesn't hurt to call and ask, but when I asked this question from Google, the answer was that mumps vaccination is only available as part of the MMR. So, this might not work. But again, a phone call to your local department of health is more accurate than Google, and the worst that they can say is no. Good luck.
Hello A.,
I'll bet she's ready to handle 2nd shot...Here's my story. . .
When my child was 2 years old and got a MMR shot. She got the shot, developed a high fever and had a seizure while I was holding her. It was terrifying. After several years of me refusing any vaccines for my daughter until they could explain to me what happened...finally the light bulb went off. The MMR caused a very, very high fever ---> the high fever caused the febrile seizure---> febrile seizures occur between ages 3months - 6 years old. Basically what I learned is that the vaccine did not cause the seizere...the vaccine caused the high fever...the high fever caused the seizure. The doctors at our practice confirmed this - shame on them for not explaining this to me sooner and just forcing me to figure it out...but this gave me enough peace to move forward.
Fast forward 4 years and it's time to register for school. My daughter went to a private kindergarten program that accepted her with only 1 MMR so we did not have to worry about this until 1st grade (age 6). But when it was time to enroll her into public school for 1st grade I prayed...held my breath and let her get the vaccine. I gave her one dose of ibuprofen before and after the vaccine at the doctors recommendation (to decrease the chance of a fever). I also refused to allow any other vaccines to be given to her on that day. So she got the MMR and nothing else. She was due for chicken pox too, but we separated that from the MMR just to be safe. It went fine...no fever and no reaction. Thank God. In your case your daughter already has built up immunity to 2 out of the 3...so she has an even better chance of not experiencing this again. Chances are, your daughter's better developed immune system will handle the 2nd shot like a champ - and she'll walk right out of that office and never know how much you worried over the whole ordeal. :-)
FYI
Who gets febrile seizures?
Children aged 3 months to 5 or 6 years may have tonic-clonic seizures when they have a high fever. These are called febrile seizures (pronounced FEB-rile) and occur in 2% to 5% of all children. There is a slight tendency for them to run in families. If a child's parents, brothers or sisters, or other close relatives have had febrile seizures, the child is a bit more likely to have them.
Hope things work out for you
If the child has a seizure as a vaccine reaction why in the world would anyone recommend to go pro vaccine and potentially harm this child.
The risk she would get mumps is so little compare than having an injury/seizure from a booster vaccine!
Get the exemption from your Dr or from the health department. You can order it online. Stand up for the health of your child and follow your guts feeling.
PS. A lot of people born before 1970/1975 did never get any shots for mumps, rubella or measles. I am one of it. I did have chicken pox but non of the above.
I wonder how many of you ladies do have a MMR vaccination and occasional MMR boosters after you turned 40 or 50?
I have a friend dealing with something similar. Her daughter had a reaction similar to your daughter's, and she is so scared that she has not allowed any more vaccines. I think that's a mistake, but I'm not the one who had to go through that terrifying situation. I don't know how I would feel.
What does your doctor say? Is this reaction a one-time thing, or is your daughter prone to have a similar reaction if she were to have the MMR?
I think you have to talk to your doctor about the possibilities and possible outcomes. If your daughter is likely to have the same reaction, you might explore "opt out" options. If the doctor tells you that a reaction one time doesn't mean she'll always have a reaction, you might try again (not saying that would be easy).
I think you need to talk to your doctor. (And good for you for trying to overcome your fear! That is not easy, especially when it comes to our babies!)
I can't imagine the school pushing for the booster shot if she had a seizure from the first one. What about all the families that opt out of immunizations? How do they get around it? Can't your doctor write a note for her?
I would as the doctor to send a note. If there is a possibility that the shot could cause more harm than good then they should be ok with her not getting it.
If she had full out measles then she is immune to them. There is no reason she would get measles again. She didn't have a severe reaction, she was one of the few people who gets the full blown illness. Seizures are something you can have having measles, it can be deadly, ya know.
I would ask if they have a mumps shot, they may, if not having the immunity already means they can fight off the other two without any reaction.
It's sad for sure to see a child go through something like this. BUT just because she did it once doesn't mean she will do it again. She might, perhaps you can have her stay at the doc's office or near the hospital the day of her shot, so you can monitor her afterwards and have medical help on hand?
I support vaccines. I do. I've seen first hand, grew up with a neighbor with Polio, what can happen if a parent doesn't. Polio is a nasty horrible thing to live with for the rest of your life because a parent listened to fearful people. Yes, there are side effects but the majority if the people don't have them. Only a small small percentage do, lie you know first hand about. You do have a legal right to say no to vaccines. Your school can't require you to have them. If they do then you can fight it. I won't say it will be easy.
So there isn't any doubt in my mind that I'd do the vaccine. I might even ask the doc if she could be admitted overnight to have medical staff on hand in case there are complications. Just to be safe.
I would ask your ped lots of questions. Perhaps ask the brand of vaccine they will be using and then make some calls to get information about children who have been through this. Good luck!
A seizure from a vaccine sounds like a very serious reaction. I would think your doctor could write a note. If the benefit does not outweigh the risk than she should not get the vaccine.
My parents both had mumps as a child. They survived.
Her reaction to the MMR was to get measles. Because she's now immune to measles and she won't have a reaction to the measles and rubella part of the immunization. She didn't have a reaction to the mumps part. Not even enough of a reaction to build immunity. I wouldn't be concerned about the booster but I would ask her pediatrician. Why would there now be a serious reaction to mumps when there was insufficient reaction before?
since your daughter had such a severe reaction she may be able to get an exemption for medical reasons
By law they do have to allow for that since they can't force you go give her something that will harm her. It's because of kids like her that the rest of the kids need to be immunized! Ask for a medical exemption form from your doctor.
BTW Child Care providers in centers and homes now have to prove immunity to these diseases. I had the blood test done on my own before I knew the rule was going to be put in place just because I wanted to protect the children in my care. I was immune to everything they can give you a shot for.
I've had the mumps - it's horribly painful.
My sister had German measles - doctor made a house call she was so sick.
Since she got measles and is immune to them now - your daughter shouldn't have such a hard time with the shot this time around.
It's worth risking the shot to not get mumps.
Before middle school she'll need a booster for DTaP.
Additional:
I'm up to date with all my booster shots.
Go to Whole Child Peditrics in Yorkville, near 47 & 71. Make an appointment to see Dr Natalie, she is the founder and used to work at Dreyer. She will probably be booked out, but well worth the wait. Take her medical records and get Dr Natalies opinion.
