Dr. Eddie Hooker is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Louisville and at Wright State University. His areas of expertise include emergency medicine, epidemiology, health-services management, and public health.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
If a child has an egg allergy, can they still receive the
measles vaccine?
Although the measles vaccine is made using chick embryos, there is no evidence of increased reactions in people with an egg allergy. Therefore the CDC recommends giving MMR vaccine to egg-allergic children without any prior skin testing or the use of special protocols.
What adverse reactions can occur with the
measles vaccination?
Adverse reactions to measles vaccination (as part of the MMR) include fever (5%-15%), rash (5%), joint aches (5%), and low platelet count (thrombocytopenia;
one instance per 30,000 doses). In adult women, up to 25% will suffer joint pain that is due to the rubella component of the vaccine. The fever usually occurs
seven to 12 days after the vaccination, and the rash occurs seven to 10 days after vaccination.
Who should be revaccinated?
The following group of people should be considered unvaccinated and should receive at least
one dose of vaccine:
People vaccinated before their first birthday should be revaccinated.
Anyone known to have been vaccinated with the killed measles vaccine (KMV) should be revaccinated.
Anyone vaccinated with KMV who received their dose of live measles vaccine with
four months of their last dose of vaccine should be revaccinated.
Anyone vaccinated before 1968 in whom it is not known if the vaccine was KMV or not should be revaccinated.
Measles can be complicated by ear infections,
pneumonia, or encephalitis.
Measles infection of the brain (encephalitis) can
cause convulsions, mental retardation, and even death.
Measles in pregnant women can cause miscarriages or
premature delivery.
Measles can be prevented through vaccination.
Each person not immunized against measles is at risk for
measles and
puts others at risk.
REFERENCES:
American Academy of Pediatrics. "Measles." Red Book: 2006 Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases, 28th ed. Ed. Pickering, L.K. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics, 2006.
Perry, R.T., and N.A. Halsey. "The Clinical Significance of Measles: A review." J Infect Dis 189 (2004): S4–16.
United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Measles." Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, 4th ed. 2008. <http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/surv-manual/chpt07-measles.htm>.
United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Measles, Mumps, and Rubella -- Vaccine Use and Strategies for Elimination of Measles, Rubella, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome and Control of Mumps: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)." MMWR 47 (No. RR-8) 1998: 1–57.
United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Notes from the Field: Measles Transmission Associated
With International Air Travel -- Massachusetts and New York, July -- August 2010."
MMWR 59.33 Aug. 2010: 1073.
United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Use of Combination Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella Vaccine: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)." MMWR 59(RR03) 2010: 1-12.
World Health Organization. "Fifty-Sixth World Health Assembly. Agenda item 14.7. Reducing
Global Measles Mortality." Geneva: World Health Organization, 2003. <http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA56/ea56r20.pdf>.
The word "rash" means an outbreak of red bumps on the body. The way people use this term, "a rash" can refer to many different skin conditions. The most common of these are scaly patches of skin and red, itchy bumps or patches all over the place.
Pneumonia is inflammation of one or both lungs with consolidation. Pneumonia is frequently but not always due to infection. The infection may be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic. Symptoms may include fever, chills, cough with sputum production, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
Most sore throats are caused by viruses or mechanical causes (such as mouth breathing) and can be treated successfully at home. However, a person should be seen by a health care professional if they have a sore throat that has a rapid onset, and is associated with a fever or tenderness of the front of the neck; a sore throat that causes the person to have difficulty swallowing (not just pain swallowing) or breathing; or if a sore throat lasts for more than a week.
Diarrhea is a change is the frequency and looseness of bowel movements. Cramping, abdominal pain, and the sensation of rectal urgency are all symptoms of diarrhea. Absorbents and anti-motility medications are used to treat diarrhea.
Lymph nodes help the body's immune system fight infections. Causes of swollen lymph nodes (glands) may include infection (viral, bacterial, fungal, parasites). Symptoms of swollen lymph nodes vary greatly. They can sometimes be tender, painful or disfiguring. The treatment of swollen lymph nodes depends upon the cause.
Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degrees F. (37 degrees C.), in practice a person is usually not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C.). Fever is part of the body's own disease-fighting arsenal: rising body temperatures apparently are capable of killing off many disease- producing organisms.
Mumps is an acute viral illness caused by the mumps virus. Symptoms of mumps include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite; followed by swelling of the salivary glands.
Encephalitis is a brain inflammation that causes sudden fever, vomiting, headache, light sensitivity, stiff neck and back, drowsiness, and irritability. Meningitis is an infection that causes inflammation of the meninges that surround the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms of meningitis include high fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, and stiff neck.
German measles is a disease that's caused by a virus. Symptoms include rash and fever for two to three days. The MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine prevents this disease.
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