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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Are Measles Vaccines Safe for Your Children?

Are Measles Vaccines Safe for Your Children? For years, vaccines have been administered to young children, as well as adults as a measure of preventing the risk and spread of infectious diseases.

However, there have been changing attitudes towards the use of vaccines with some people becoming more skeptical about the idea.

This has been demonstrated by the emergence of splinter groups in the society such as the “Anti-Vaxx Movement” which advocates against the administration of vaccines to children.

One of the vaccines that have come under fire, thanks to the Anti-Vaxx Movement is the measles vaccine. So are measles vaccines safe?

Portrait of a cute sick baby boy crying. 4

If you’ve just been blessed with a newborn, am sure that as a young mum, the question giving you sleepless nights is; should I give my child a measles vaccine?

One way to answer this would be to consider the trade-off between the pros and cons of getting the vaccine.

Are Measles Vaccines Safe for Your Children?

Advantages of measles vaccines

The main advantage of taking your child for a measles vaccine is that you’ll be shielding them from the deadly disease. Children who get inoculated early enough get exposed to or contract measles.

This is something you’ll want for your loved ones, and it would be devastating to see your child suffering the terrible effects of the disease yet you could have prevented it.

According to statistics from the Center for Disease Control, more than 33,000 infant deaths are avoided in the US and up to 3 million worldwide as a result of child immunization.

For measles mainly, vaccination dramatically reduced the prevalence of the disease by a whopping 99% in 2006.

Are Measles Vaccines Safe for Your Children 1

Are Measles Vaccines Safe for Your Children?

Getting vaccinated against measles is also a great way of preventing the spread of this lethal disease. If you’ve been immunized, you won’t be able to infect other people with the illness.

This is especially important if you are around newborns who are too young to be inoculated or other people in the community who haven’t yet received the measles vaccine.

According to research, when less than 90% of kids in a particular society are immunized, this low state of vaccination creates a viable environment for infectious ailments to take root and spread.

Not only will the measles vaccine save the life of your loved ones, but it will also save you money too.

Vaccines involve a safe and secure process that, in the long run, proves to be more cost-effective when compared to the struggles of dealing with the effects of the disease if and when you contract it.

In general, a single dollar spent on a child’s immunization saves a lot of pain and suffering.

Are Measles Vaccines Safe for Your Children?

Disadvantages

On the other hand, there are various side effects that have been associated with the measles vaccine; some of which have given activists against vaccines all the more reason to push their agenda.

The CDC has listed some minor side effects of the measles vaccines to include a slight fever, redness or development of a rash around the injected region, and facial swelling.

Some effects are moderate such as a full body rash, temporary stiffness and joint pains, low platelet count and seizures. In the worst case scenario, the side effects can be severe and include a coma, brain damage, chronic seizure disorder, loss of hearing and consciousness.

In 2014, a study on the MMR-V vaccine conducted in Canada established that the danger of febrile seizures was double in kids getting the MMR-V vaccine compared to those getting the MMR and varicella vaccines separately.

Furthermore, a follow-up meta-analysis discovered that the risk of febrile seizures increased 5 to 12 days after vaccinating children between 10 and 24 months old.

In one case, an affected mother revealed that her child had a bad reaction to the MMR vaccine just hours after it was administered to him. The child started experiencing full body jerks, throwing his arms and legs in the air.

Ten months later, her child still had twitches on his arms, legs, face, and torso. Later on, doctors diagnosed the condition as “benign sleep myoclonus”; symptoms he didn’t have before the measles vaccination.

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Are Measles Vaccines Safe for Your Children?

Given the present attitudes towards vaccines, getting immunized against measles will likely get you a fair share of societal criticism from groups such as the Anti Vaccination Movement.

So before you decide to take the measles vaccines, you might want to consider all the above to make an informed decision.

Read more – Can Clinical Trials be Dangerous? Millennials Listen up!

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Rene Peters
Herm Peters is a travel blogger and Food Blogger.

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