Too young for the MMR shot, babies become 'sitting ducks' in measles outbreaks

Just got our 10 month an early MMR this morning. Pediatrician made it clear that this is an extra, early shot, and that the other vaccines on the schedule will happen as planned. The only limitation was at least 28 days between this and the 12 month.

Yep but it’s a very controversial study among pediatricians and doesn’t really translate well with the US vaccination schedule… Only looked at 79 patients in test group and 44 in control group Netherlands vaccinated at age 14 months and 9 years ( instead of 12 months and 4 years like the US). The study looked at set protection after 5-6 years ( so after early and routine dose, but not after the 9 year booster that kids there get) 7 of 79 did not mount a sufficient response to dose before age one ( so that’s why it’s an extra shot instead of a replacement shot) Babies under 8 months receiving early vaccine did have lower seroprotection after 5-6 years. But since we do a 4 year booster here I wonder if that would alleviate the issue or not. Study did not look at cellular immunity at all which may mean the data is inaccurate. Antibodies are not the end all be all of immunity. Essesntally it’s a risk v benefits analysis like every single medical decision. It comes down to offer protection now ( vs. none at all) or face decreased immunity later. Also the study isn’t

A "No+context" is very different from a "No". I'm also being slightly tongue-in-cheek when I urge somebody to dump a pediatrician without any context. That said, the study you cited is interesting, though there are plenty of valid critiques as well (small sample, different vaccine schedule in the Netherlands vs. U.S., failure to evaluate t-cell response, not accounting for maternal immunity). There are plenty of individual studies and systematic reviews that lean the other way. Not saying one is right or wrong (I'm not a researcher, what do I know), but they all lean toward early vaccination in a situation of increased risk, which is entirely subjective. I agree it's context based, but I would also hope a pediatrician would relay that and would, like yours, give the context behind the recommendation.

> early MMR vaccination can blunt the future immunological response. So can death from measles. This is the sort of cautious stance that was only reasonable in a state that has eradicated measles as a endemic disease within the population, but because of anti-vaccination movements, its no longer a safe stance to be overly cautious in a state what increasingly, more and more "parents" are making the choice to cause a public health crisis because of misinformation they've bought into. Measles is going to become an everyday reality in America again because of these people, and as a result, we have to adjust our risk factor assessments with regards to health and medical policies. Typical vaccination schedule in countries with serious measles infection rates is 3-6 months earlier than it is in the US for exactly this reason.

Exactly. RFK's words: "No one should take medical advice from me." RFK's actions: \*heads HHS\*

And also a greedy doctor who wanted to push his alternative MMR vaccine so he published a paper in the Lancet about how the current MMR jab causes autism. F*** you, "Dr." Wakefield.

Sadly, like Trump he's a symptom, not a cause. Kennedy found resonance with his crackpot ideas because enough people had started to think that way already. His tenure at HHS is surely going to result in worsening health outcomes but the problems we're seeing with regards to measles outbreaks and the like are a result of years of effort to disinform people and convince them to disregard reality, not the effects of any policies he's created or things he's said in the first year and change of his appointment.

Addiction has nothing to do with whether or not a person is a piece of shit.

We sure about the “former” part?

I would have agreed with you, except there was a family from Texas that made the news, even in Canada, after they lost their daughter to an outbreak in February who still have no plans to vaccinate. https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-measles-family-gaines-county-death/

Sounds like the standard conservative "it doesn't impact me so its not true" approach to knowledge.

Did you have to, or could you have said "yep, sounds like the vaccine is working" or something? I guess it doesn't really matter with these people because they take anything as confirmation of their existing beliefs.

You would think so, but the fact that history repeats itself over and over suggests humans don't! I think we as a species are very susceptible to other people's ideas and strong personalities.

It should be, but disinformation and propaganda works more effectively when people haven't experienced something themselves. I've seen people convinced there used to be measles parties and believe it was normal to get it over with, for example, because they've confused it with chicken pox.

Inaction feels better than an action that has even the slimmest of chances of going wrong. If a child has a one in million side effect the parent knows they will feel guilty forever. But a child dying from a more likely disease is just bad luck, not on their hands. The left actually has this problem too with voting. A lot of left leaning voters won't vote if the candidate has one thing that they find amoral. They can't bring themselves to support that candidate even if supporting them prevents hundreds of other amoral things from happening. Being passive makes it easier to feel guilt free.

> My child is dead/forever disabled, and if I admit I was wrong now, I'd have to grapple with the terrible guilt and regret, so doubling down is the only way to stay sane A****** response. "All part of gods plan"

(Chuckles) Yeah, fair enough. The two aren't in the same ballpark. I used to think a chicken pox vaccine was silly. It didn't take much to change my mind into realizing it was actually a very good idea. Not getting a measles vaccine is nuts.

We did it. We travel a lot and were going to some low-vaccinated spots in the U.S. We talked to our pediatrician and did an MMR at 6 mos and then did the regular schedule at 1 yr. Not worth risking it.

They're willing to sacrifice their children on the altar of republican party dogma. https://thehill.com/newsletters/health-care/5211824-parents-of-child-who-died-of-measles-defend-no-vaccine-stance/ *The parents of an unvaccinated Texas child who died from the measles told an anti-vaccine group they would not recommend other parents give their children the measles shot* *...because the couple have four other children who contracted measles and survived. “The measles wasn’t that bad, they got over it pretty quickly.”* I guess from their perspective, 80% survival rate is just fine? Truly horrible people.

Then come down hard on homeschooling how many of those parents have the necessary qualifications to teach? Make life difficult for them at every turn.