How is your newborn protected against measles?

Anna Martin

With all the news about measles it’s understandable that parents are worried

There are a lot of scary headlines and unknowns especially when you’ve just welcomed a newborn that can’t yet get the vaccine.

Thankfully as Dr Niamh Lynch explains, there are ways to help keep both you and your little one safe and reduce the chances of contracting the illness.

The HSE recommends that babies who have reached 12 months of age receive their first doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Some babies that are over six months may be given the vaccine for one of three reasons; they have been exposed to the virus, there is a current outbreak or they are travelling to a country where measles is common.

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A post shared by Dr Niamh Lynch (@dr_niamh_lynch)

So what happens if your baby is too young to be vaccinated or has an underlying health problem, which means that they can’t be immunised?

In a video Dr Lynch shared on Instagram, she explains that young babies will have some passive immunity from you if you were vaccinated yourself or had measles as a child, and that it can last for up to a year.

“It can be further boosted by breastfeeding. But don’t worry if you’re not breastfeeding, because the placenta has done most of the heavy lifting in terms of giving your baby passive immunity while they were in the womb,” she added.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, passive immunity is provided when a person is given antibodies to a disease rather than producing them through his or her own immune system.

“For those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, or who were immune-suppressed because of chemotherapy or other reasons then those children are the most vulnerable and they are the children who rely on herd immunity,” the doctor continued.

“If worst case scenario they do develop measles then there is an immunoglobulin that they can be given to treat them and protect them from the worst effects of the measles.

“This is where society needs to do its bit and protect our most vulnerable people. For babies under six months, they likely have some passive immunity from you, for those who are very vulnerable then, unfortunately, they want to just have to be very, very careful if there’s a measles outbreak.”

Dr Lynch also reminded her followers that as of right now, though things seem scary, there is not currently a measles outbreak in Ireland, there are just a number of cases.

Earlier this week a man died in Mullingar Hospital after contracting measles following a trip to the UK.

The Irish Independent reported that hospital staff and people who travelled on the same bus as the deceased are among those being chased up on behalf of public health doctors.

They are considered contacts and they may have been exposed to the virus.

Symptoms of measles include aches and pains, a runny nose, sneezing and a cough. Sore, red eyes that may be sensitive to light are also indications that a person may have contracted the virus.

Someone may also have measles if they record a temperature of 38C or above.