Tag: MMR vaccine

Is Ocular Palsy a Vaccine Injury?

Now why would anyone think that an ocular palsy could be caused by vaccines?

There is no real evidence that a cranial nerve six palsy, which causes strabismus or esotropia, is a common vaccine injury, even though Dr. Bob focused on it recently.

Is Ocular Palsy a Vaccine Injury?

What is Dr. Bob’s evidence?

A vaccine injury story from a vaccine hesitant mom who was giving her child one vaccine at a time and who became cross-eyed five days after getting the MMR vaccine.

“It is an absolutely, 100% well known vaccine reaction to live virus vaccines as you eventually discovered, it’s called ocular palsy.”

Bob Sears

Is that true?

Not exactly.

It is true that there are a handful of case reports of toddlers developing a cranial nerve six palsy after a live virus vaccine, but that doesn’t make it an “absolutely, 100% well-known vaccine reaction.”

Why not?

The story Dr. Bob tells could be published as a case report. But that wouldn’t be proof that it was caused by the MMR vaccine, as other causes weren’t ruled out, and it is easy to overlook that the child had just had a double ear infection.

“Benign isolated 6th nerve palsy of childhood is rare, and recurrences are rarer. By definition, it is not due to a threatening cause, such as an underlying intracranial lesion, and recovery is expected. This condition typically occurs following viral illnesses, infections, and immunization involving attenuated live vaccinations. In general, prognosis for benign recurrent 6th nerve palsy is excellent, and majority of patients recover full muscle function.”

Gonçalves et al on Benign Recurrent Sixth Nerve Palsy in a Child

Could the child that Dr. Bob talks about have had a viral infection causing their sixth nerve palsy?

Sure. The child even had a double ear infection the previous month.

Considering that in most of the case reports, the children developed symptoms later, between 7 or 21 days to as late as 6 weeks to 6 months after their vaccine, then the previous ear infection starts to look like a more likely cause, not the MMR vaccine.

“A previously healthy four-year-old girl was presented to our emergency room with complaints of binocular horizontal diplopia of sudden onset and strabismus.”

Gonçalves et al on Benign Recurrent Sixth Nerve Palsy in a Child

What’s different about the four-year-old girl discussed above and the child Dr. Bob talks about?

“One week prior to the event, the child had a history of fever and productive cough, and she was under treatment with amoxicillin. There was no history of live attenuated vaccine administration in the previous days.”

Gonçalves et al on Benign Recurrent Sixth Nerve Palsy in a Child

This child wasn’t recently vaccinated.

There are also case reports of children developing recurrent 6th nerve palsy without any obvious trigger – no immunization and no recent infection.

And cases from the 1950s and 60s and earlier, before we had an MMR vaccine.

“This syndrome is not a new entity, and experienced clinicians recall cases in which the combination of only fever and VI nerve palsy cautioned them against other diagnostic measures. Sir Charles Symonds, in a discussion recorded in the proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, makes reference to his observations of patients in whom VI nerve palsy followed febrile illness and was of no consequence. In the same discussion he also mentions instances in which VI nerve palsy followed otitis media, and yet there was no pain and little constitutional disturbance. The palsy he considered to be the result of an aseptic thrombosis of the inferior petrosal sinus, adjacent to the VI nerve as it passes through Dorello’s canal.”

Knox et al on Benign VI Nerve Palsies in Children

Also consider that if a live attenuated vaccine is causing such a vaccine injury, then wouldn’t you expect kids with natural measles infections to develop these 6th nerve palsies at equal, or more likely, greater rates.

What about those case reports from the 1950s and 60s and earlier? No, those early case reports weren’t about kids with measles.

The bottom line is that if you want to consider this type of ocular palsy a vaccine injury, you should also explore the possibility that it was caused by an infection or by chance. And the only folks who would say 100% that these incidents are a vaccine injury, when there is just as much, if not more, evidence saying they aren’t, are those who think that everything is a vaccine injury

More on Medical Exemptions

The Tragedy in Samoa Was Not Caused by the MMR Vaccine

Remember the two young children who died in Samoa in early July 2018, shortly after getting an MMR vaccine?

In addition to the tragic deaths of those two children, it led to the suspension of all vaccinations in the country.

The Tragedy in Samoa Was Not Caused by the MMR Vaccine

Fortunately, that suspension was eventually reversed, but they did continue to hold MMR vaccinations.

How long did they suspend MMR vaccinations?

They actually don’t restart until April 15.

And while the trial for the two nurses involved in the tragedy is delayed until June, the Director General of Health, Leausa Take Naseri, has said that their deaths were a mistake caused by human error.

And that the MMR vaccine is safe.

With measles outbreaks in many nearby countries, health experts and parents are eager to get vaccinations restarted and to get kids caught up.

Local officials say that Taylor Winterstein, the face of the VAXXED tour in Australia, is taking advantage of what happened at the Safotu District Hospital

Hopefully, they get vaccinated before anti-vaccine folks head to Samoa to try and scare folks away from getting vaccinated.

More on The Vaccine Tragedy in Samoa

Mumps on the USS Fort McHenry

Like measles, we are seeing more mumps these days.

“Beginning in 1991, the military services implemented universal recruit immunization with a single dose of MMR vaccine, regardless of prior vaccination history. Shortly thereafter, and informed by the results of population serosurveys, the Air Force transitioned to a policy of targeted MMR vaccination, limiting the administration of MMR vaccine to recruits lacking serologic evidence of immunity to measles or rubella. With recent outbreaks of mumps, concerns have arisen that the practice of not specifically screening for mumps immunity in determining the need for MMR vaccine could lead to a relative increase in mumps risk among military recruits subject to screening. “

Eick et al on Incidence of mumps and immunity to measles, mumps and rubella among US military recruits, 2000–2004

Unlike measles, the MMR vaccine provides good, but not great protection against mumps.

And although military recruits are screened to see if they have low titers for measles and rubella, they still aren’t screened for mumps. The theory is that if their measles and rubella titers are low, then their mumps titer will be low too and they will get an MMR vaccine. Of course, this misses some who just have a low mumps titer, possibly an effect of waning immunity.

Mumps on the USS Fort McHenry

And that’s why we have been seeing mumps outbreaks on college campuses and most recently, on a Navy ship, although that isn’t a reason for everyone to go out and check their titers.

A tiny handful of measles outbreaks? There have been over 700 cases in the US during the past two years! There were only 37 cases in 2004.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr has a lot to say about mumps…

He says that mumps outbreaks have devastated fully vaccinated populations at Harvard, Temple, Syracuse, Louisiana State, IU, and the U of Missouri…

And that mumps “epidemics” haven’t been covered by the media, because they don’t want to embarrass Merck…

Why won’t the media cover the mumps outbreaks! Oh, wait…

He also seems to think that these mumps cases have caused a national security threat…

Is any of this true?

The simple fact that you can find a ton of stories in the media about the mumps outbreaks (they are not epidemics) gives you a good clue that they aren’t.

What about the quarantined sailors on the USS Fort McHenry?

That is true, but consider that only 27 of 700 of them have gotten parotitis, presumed to have been caused by mumps.

While you would expect that no one would get mumps or any other vaccine-preventable disease these days, that is just under 4% of those on board the ship.

What would have happened in the pre-vaccine era?

Although deaths were rare, mumps caused a lot of considerable loss of service and sick time in the military in the pre-vaccine era.
Although deaths were rare, mumps caused a lot of considerable loss of service and sick time in the military in the pre-vaccine era.

A whole lot more people would have gotten sick!

In the pre-vaccine era, although mumps was supposed to be a common childhood illness, about 1/3 to 1/2 of military recruits had never had mumps.

That meant big outbreaks of mumps that were hard to control, unlike what we see today.

“This article reports a recent public health response to 3 imported mumps cases occurring at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, that resulted in a contact investigation for 109 close contacts across varied settings. No secondary mumps cases were identified.”

Public Health Response to Imported Mumps Cases – Fort Campbell, Kentucky, 2018

Instead, not only do fewer people get sick during mumps outbreaks these days, but fortunately, they have fewer complications.

What kind of complications?

Mumps causes kids to have fever, puffy cheeks, and a painful, swollen jaw.
Mumps causes kids to have fever, puffy cheeks, and a painful, swollen jaw.

In addition to a swollen jaw, mumps is known to cause orchitis, aseptic meningitis, oophoritis, pancreatitis, and encephalitis.

“Risk was reduced for hospitalization, mumps orchitis and mumps meningitis when patient had received 1 dose of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. The protective effect of vaccination on disease severity is critical in assessing the total effects of current and future mumps control strategies.”

Young et al on Mumps Complications and Effects of Mumps Vaccination, England and Wales, 2002–2006

Fortunately, those complications are reduced when you get vaccinated. And so are your risks of actually getting mumps in the first place!

“This study demonstrates a significant preventive effect of two-dose vaccination against mumps complications (orchitis, meningitis, or encephalitis) and hospitalization for mumps.”

Orlíkováet al on Protective effect of vaccination against mumps complications, Czech Republic, 2007-2012.

Kennedy doesn’t mention a protective effect of the MMR vaccine, does he?

Remember, vaccines aren’t perfect, but even those that don’t work as well as the others still protect you from many of the worst complications and are much better than getting the disease naturally.

Mumps was often described as one of the top diseases that incapacitated soldiers in the prevaccine era.
Mumps was often described as one of the top diseases that incapacitated soldiers in the prevaccine era.

Vaccines are safe, with few risks, and are obviously necessary.

Is the mumps vaccine a national security threat? The only threat are the folks who continue to push anti-vaccine misinformation.

More on Mumps on the USS Fort McHenry

Bob Sears on Ethan Lindenberger’s Senate Testimony

Not surprisingly, Bob Sears doesn’t seem to like that he was one of the folks who was called out by Ethan Lindenberger during his testimony before Congress.

Remember, Ethan Lindenberger was testifying at the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Hearing, Vaccines Save Lives: What Is Driving Preventable Disease Outbreaks?

Bob Sears on Ethan Lindenberger’s Senate Testimony

So what did Ethan Lindenberger have to “say” about Bob Sears?

In his written testimony that was submitted to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, he wrote:

“…the measles outbreak was made out to be a unfounded panic created by big pharmaceutical companies and meant to push legislative agendas. Del Bigtree, a celebrity in the anti-vaccine movement, spoke with “Dr. Bob Sears.” My mom and I sat down, watching this video so she could prove her beliefs were not unfounded. In this video, Dr. Bob Sears claims that in the past 15 years there hasn’t been a single death to the measles. In contrast, 449 people have had fatal reactions to the MMR vaccine.”

Testimony of Ethan Lindenberger Student at Norwalk High school Before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee March 5th, 2019

These and many other comments didn’t make it into his oral statements.

Why not?

“Although Ethan did not include this information in his verbal testimony, it was part of his original verbal statements (which were leaked), then edited out – for obvious reasons.”

Bob Sears

The obvious reason is that each witness only had five minutes to speak, not some conspiracy as Dr. Bob seems to be implying!

And his original, written statements weren’t leaked. Like the statements of every other witness, they were posted on the Senate Committee website.

After clearing up all of that, do we still need to discuss how Dr. Bob is trying to justify any of his statements about the MMR vaccine?

Even though you can guess where this is going, let’s go ahead and do it to be complete, especially since Dr. Bob really does seem to want folks to know where “the fact” of the 459 fatal reactions to the MMR vaccine come from.

You likely already know this, but they are simply reports to VAERS. And you likely also know that “inclusion of events in VAERS data does not imply causality.” That little fact is included in a disclaimer when you search the VAERS database, which is why anti-vaccine folks created their own search tool at MedAlerts – the reference Dr. Bob uses.

A report in VAERS – a death following the MMR vaccine that was found to be caused by meningococcal meningitis.

But just because we understand that these reports aren’t proof of causality doesn’t mean that we dismiss them. No one dismisses VAERS reports as unscientific, as Bob Sears claims.

“And if you are the type of doctor, or Legislator, who likes to dismiss VAERS reports as “unscientific,” then please explain why HHS even bothers to collect the data? Spend millions of dollars collecting scientific data, then do nothing with it? Who does that? And what type of scientist ignores data? Is that what Congress had in mind when it created the VAERS system as a Federal Law?”

Bob Sears

For a guy who wrote a book about vaccines, you would think he understood the purpose of VAERS…

“VAERS is used to detect possible safety problems – called “signals” – that may be related to vaccination. If a vaccine safety signal is identified through VAERS, scientists may conduct further studies to find out if the signal represents an actual risk.”

CDC on How VAERS is Used

VAERS works.

Remember, it was using VAERS data that CDC and FDA vaccine experts quickly discovered that the first RotaShield rotavirus vaccine was associated with an increased risk of intussusception.

“In addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics warned about this in a 1998 publication in Pediatrics that confirmed 48 cases of severe or fatal encephalopathy after Measles Vaccination in the 70s and 80s: 8 children died, and the rest survived but were neurologically devastated.”

Bob Sears

What about the AAP warning about encephalopathy and the measles vaccine?

Dr. Bob is talking about a 1997 paper, Acute Encephalopathy Followed by Permanent Brain Injury or Death Associated With Further Attenuated Measles Vaccines: A Review of Claims Submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which concluded that “this clustering suggests that a causal relationship between measles vaccine and encephalopathy may exist as a rare complication of measles immunization.”

“Nevertheless, with a denominator of 75,000,000 vaccinees throughout 23 years, the incidence of acute encephalopathy caused by measles vaccine in this cohort can reasonably be described as very low.”

Weibel et al on Acute Encephalopathy Followed by Permanent Brain Injury or Death Associated With Further Attenuated Measles Vaccines: A Review of Claims Submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Bob left that part out, didn’t he?

Considering how many children used to die and develop measles encephalitis each year, this small risk would still seem to greatly outweigh the risk of remaining unvaccinated and at risk to get measles.

Fortunately, even that risk is something we likely don’t have to worry about!

“We did not identify any association between MMR vaccination and encephalitis, aseptic meningitis, or autism.”

Mäkelä et al on Neurologic disorders after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination.

Although encephalopathy or encephalitis is still a table injury, studies have shown it is likely not associated with getting the MMR vaccine.

“For encephalitis and aseptic meningitis, the numbers of events observed within a 3-month risk interval after vaccination were compared with the expected numbers estimated on the basis of occurrence of encephalitis and aseptic meningitis during the subsequent 3-month intervals. “

Mäkelä et al on Neurologic disorders after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination.

And then there is the 2012 IOM report, Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality, which found inadequate evidence to be able to conclude that encephalitis was caused by vaccines.

“The last child to die from measles infection in the United States was back in 2003. Since then, over 100 fatal VAERS reports have been filed for the MMR vaccine. At what point would mandating this no longer be considered in the interest of the greater good? “

Bob Sears

Bob ignores those reports and ignores the fact that a woman died in 2015.

He also ignores the fact that you don’t even have to go all of the way back to 2003 to find the last child who died of measles.

  • a 17-year-old died of SSPE in 2004
  • a 1-year-old died of measles in 2005
  • an 11-year-old died of SSPE in 2005
  • an 8-year-old and a 12-year-old died of SSPE in 2006
  • a 19-year-old died of SSPE in 2007
  • a 13-year-old died of SSPE in 2008
  • a 17-year-old died of SSPE in 2011
  • an infant died of SSPE in 2012

More importantly though, he ignores that fact that the only reason that there aren’t even more measles deaths these days is because most people are vaccinated and protected! Even Bob used to understand this…

“I also warn them not to share their fears with their neighbors, because if too many people avoid the MMR, we’ll likely see the diseases increase significantly.”

Bob Sears in The Vaccine Book

Unfortunately, people shared their fears with their neighbors… And we are seeing the consequences of what happens when folks scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

Vaccines are safe, with few risks, and are obviously necessary.

More on Bob Sears’ Response to Ethan Lindenberger’s Senate Testimony

Who Needs an MMR Vaccine?

The MMR vaccine protects people against measles, mumps, and rubella.

It has been available since 1971, first as a single dose, then with a second dose added to the immunization schedule in 1990.

Who Needs an MMR Vaccine?

With the rise in measles cases and outbreaks, you might be wondering if you need an extra dose of the MMR vaccine.

Are you fully vaccinated and protected against measles?

Have you had one dose or two doses of the MMR vaccine?

Are you traveling out of the country or do you have any other risk factors for getting measles?

Did you get one of the original, inactivated measles vaccines that were used between 1963 and 1967, before the live vaccine became available? If you did, or you aren’t sure which vaccine you got at that time, you likely aren’t fully protected and need another dose.

Vaccine preventable diseases are just a plane ride away.
Vaccine preventable diseases are just a plane ride away.

In general, adults who have had two doses of MMR are considered to be fully vaccinated. You do not need to check your titers and you do not need another dose for measles protection.

You are also likely protected if you were born before 1957, as most people had measles back then, in the pre-vaccine era.

Confusing matters a bit, some adults who were born before the recommendation to get a second dose might still be considered fully vaccinated if they are not high risk.

What makes someone high risk?

  • traveling out of the country!
  • working in healthcare
  • being a student in college or other post-high school educational institution
  • living with someone who has a compromised immune system
  • people with HIV infection

So to be considered fully vaccinated and protected against measles, these high risk adults should have two doses of MMR.

What about kids?

If following the immunization schedule, kids will get two doses of MMR, with the first dose at age 12-15 months and a second dose when they are 4-6 years old.

There are situations in which they should get an early dose of MMR though, including:

  • infants 6 through 11 months of age who are traveling out of the United States should receive one dose of MMR vaccine, a dose that will have to be repeated when they are 12 months old.
  • children 1 to 3 years of age and older who are traveling out of the United States should receive two doses of MMR vaccine (instead of waiting to get the second dose when they are 4-6 years old), separated by at least 28 days. This second dose doesn’t have to be repeated.

Being exposed to measles or simply getting caught up in an outbreak might be another reason for young children to get an early first or second dose of MMR and for adults to get caught up.

What if you aren’t traveling out of the country, but are traveling to an area inside the United States that is experiencing a large outbreak of measles?

To help control their large outbreak, kids in Rockland County should get their MMR doses early.
To help control their large outbreak, kids in Rockland County should get their MMR doses early.

If you can’t delay your travel plans, check the local health department recommendations, and talk to your pediatrician if your child needs an early MMR.

The MMR vaccine is safe, with few risks.

Having measles isn’t.

More on Getting the MMR Vaccine

The Fatal Flaw in the Anti-Vaccine Movement

There are a ton of flaws in the “logic” of the anti-vaccine movement.

Just consider how many theories they have for why vaccines are associated with autism…

  1. It’s the MMR vaccine – the Andrew Wakefield theory
  2. It’s thimerosal – but MMR never contained thimerosal…
  3. It’s glyphosate – the Stephanie Seneff theory
  4. It’s the vaccines you get while you are pregnant
  5. It’s the vaccines you get as an infant – but you don’t get MMR until you are 12 months old
  6. It’s the vaccines you get as a toddler – but what about the kids who get diagnosed as infants?
  7. It’s just something about vaccines – but what about the autistic kids who are unvaccinated and whose parents weren’t recently vaccinated?

It’s fairly easy to see that these folks just want to blame vaccines…

The Fatal Flaw in the Anti-Vaccine Movement

That’s not necessarily the fatal flaw in the anti-vaccine movement though.

Is it that all of their ideas and theories are so easy to refute?

There are hundreds of these types of arguments that anti-vaccine folks use to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

Of course, none are true.

That it only takes a few minutes of research to prove that they aren’t true isn’t the fatal flaw in the anti-vaccine movement though.

As more people are vaccinated and diseases disappear, they forget how bad those diseases are, skip or delay getting their vaccines, and trigger outbreaks.
As more people are vaccinated and diseases disappear, they forget how bad those diseases are, skip or delay getting their vaccines, and trigger outbreaks. Photo by WHO

The fatal flaw is that when enough folks listen to them and immunization rates drop, we get outbreaks.

“I also warn them not to share their fears with their neighbors, because if too many people avoid the MMR, we’ll likely see the diseases increase significantly.”

Dr. Bob Sears in The Vaccine Book

Ironically, Dr. Bob obviously knew this would happen, warning folks not to tell anyone – in his book that likely increased fears about vaccines!

Although Wakefield and others were factors, remember that Dr. Bob‘s book about vaccines was published in 2007…

And what happens once we start to see a lot more outbreaks?

In addition to a lot of unvaccinated kids getting sick, folks line up to get their kids vaccinated and protected.

Even Dr. Jay is advocating for older (I’m going to assume he means 6 months) unvaccinated children to get an MMR to help stop the outbreaks.

This is a cycle that experts have talked about for some time.

It’s the reason that the anti-vaccine movement, which has been around for hundreds of years, can never really win. They will never take us back to the pre-vaccine era.

Yes, a woman died when she got caught up in a 2015 measles outbreak in Washington.
Yes, a woman died when she got caught up in a 2015 measles outbreak in Washington.

Anytime their ideas take hold a little too much, nature fights back. Diseases, especially measles which is extremely contagious, come back. And we have to work to control the outbreaks.

But that more kids eventually get vaccinated in outbreaks isn’t the only fatal flaw in the anti-vaccine movement.

Tragically, the other fatal flaw in the anti-vaccine movement is that since these are life-threatening diseases, people end up dying from vaccine-preventable diseases. And the risk of that happening goes way up during a large outbreak.

Vaccines aren’t perfect, but they are safe, with few risks. They are also very necessary.

It shouldn’t take an outbreak to convince you to vaccinate your kids.

More on The Fatal Flaw in the Anti-Vaccine Movement

Everything You Need to Know About the Measles Vaccine

The measles vaccine is one of the most effective vaccines we have.

It is also one of the safest, having very few serious side effects.

Everything You Need to Know About the Measles Vaccine

So why are some parents still afraid to allow their kids to get vaccinated and protected, putting them at risk to get measles, a life-threatening disease?

“Existing evidence on the safety and effectiveness of MMR vaccine supports current policies of mass immunisation aimed at global measles eradication and in order to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with mumps and rubella.”

Cochrane Systematic Review on Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella in children

Let’s see if you still are after we get all of your questions about the measles vaccine answered…

Schools in California were closed for at least two weeks in 1917 because of measles epidemics.
Schools in California were closed for at least two weeks in 1917 because of measles epidemics.
  1. How long has the measles vaccine been around? The very first measles vaccine was licensed by John Enders in 1963. An improved measles vaccine was developed by Maurice Hilleman and licensed in 1968, and that is the measles vaccine that we still use today, at least in the United States. It was combined into the MMR vaccine in 1971.
  2. How effective is the measles vaccine? A single dose of the measles vaccine is about 93% effective at preventing a measles infection. Two doses (the second dose was added to the routine immunization schedule in 1994) are up to 97% effective. That’s why almost all of the people who get measles in an outbreak are unvaccinated.
  3. How long does immunity from the measles vaccine last? Immunity from the measles vaccine is thought to be life-long. It is important to understand that the second dose isn’t a booster dose, but is instead for those few folks who don’t respond to the first dose.
  4. Who should get the measles vaccine? Everyone without a true medical contraindication should get the measles vaccine (MMR), with the first dose at 12-15 months and a second dose at 4-6 years.
  5. Can my kids get their measles vaccine early? An advanced immunization schedule is available for kids in an outbreak or if they will be traveling out of the country. The first dose can be given as early as age 6-months, but is repeated when the child is 12 months because of concerns of interference with maternal antibodies. The official second dose can be given early too, as early as 4 weeks after the first dose, as long as the child is at least 12 months old.
  6. Do I need a booster dose of the measles vaccine? People who are fully immunized do not need a booster dose of the MMR vaccine, but it is important to understand whether or not you are really fully immunized to see if you need a second dose. Some adults who are not high risk are considered fully vaccinated with only one dose, while others should have two doses. Are you at high risk to get measles? Do you travel, live in an area where there are measles outbreaks, go to college, or work as a health care professional?
  7. Should I check my measles titers? In general, it is not necessary to check your titers for measles. If you haven’t had two doses of the MMR vaccine, then get a second dose. If you have had two doses of the MMR vaccine, then you are considered protected. Keep in mind that there is no recommendation to get a third dose of MMR for measles protection, although it is sometimes recommended for mumps protection during a mumps outbreak.
  8. If my child gets a rash after getting his MMR, does that mean that he has measles? No. This is a common, very mild vaccine reaction and not a sign of measles.
  9. Can the measles vaccine cause seizures? The MMR vaccine can cause febrile seizures. It is important to remember that without other risk factors, kids who develop febrile seizures after a vaccine are at the same small risk for developing epilepsy as other kids. And know that vaccines aren’t the only cause of febrile seizures. Vaccine-preventable diseases can cause both febrile seizures and more serious non-febrile seizures.
  10. Why do people think that that the measles vaccine is associated with autism? It is well known that this idea originated with Andrew Wakefield, but the real question should be why do some people still think that vaccines are associated with autism after so much evidence has said that they aren’t?
  11. What are the risks of the measles vaccine? Like other vaccines, the MMR vaccine has mild risks or side effects, including fever, rash, and soreness at the injection site. Some more moderate reactions that can rarely occur include febrile seizures, joint pain, and a temporary low platelet count. More serious reactions are even rarer, but can include deafness, long-term seizures, coma, or lowered consciousness, brain damage, and life-threatening allergic reactions.
  12. Why are there so many reports of measles vaccine deaths? There are extremely few deaths after vaccines. The reports of measles vaccine deaths you see on the Internet are just reports to VAERS and are not actually reports that have been proven to be caused by a vaccine. As with other vaccines, the risks from having a vaccine-preventable disease are much greater than the risks of the vaccine. The only reason that it might not seem like that now is because far fewer people get measles now than they did in the pre-vaccine era, when about 500 people died with measles each year.
  13. When did they take mercury out of the measles vaccine? Measles vaccines, including the MMR, have never, ever contained mercury or thimerosal.
  14. Why do we still have outbreaks if we have had a measles vaccine since 1963? In the United States, although the endemic spread of measles was declared eliminated in 2000, many cases are still imported from other countries. As measles cases increase around the world, that is translating to an increase in outbreaks here. Even though overall vaccination rates are good, because there are many pockets of susceptible people in areas that don’t vaccinate their kids, they get hit with outbreaks.
  15. Can we eradicate measles? Because measles is so contagious, the vaccine does have failures, and some folks still don’t get vaccinated, there is some doubt that we can eradicate measles without a better vaccine. That doesn’t mean that the current measles vaccines can’t prevent outbreaks though…

Are you ready to get your kids their MMR vaccine so that they are vaccinated and protected against measles, mumps, and rubella?

If not, what other questions do you have?

While you are thinking, here is a question for you – Do know why they used to call measles a harmless killer?

More on the Everything You Need to Know About the Measles Vaccine