When is mmr shot given

No studies have found a link between autism and the MMR shot. Learn more. Children may also get MMRV vaccine , which protects against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella chickenpox. This vaccine is only licensed for use in children who are 12 months through 12 years of age.

Most health insurance plans cover the cost of vaccines. But you may want to check with your health insurance provider before your visit. How to Pay for Vaccines. This program helps families of eligible children who might not otherwise have access to vaccines. Safety and Prevention. Family Life. Health Issues. Tips and Tools. Our Mission. Find a Pediatrician.

Text Size. Question When should the measles vaccine be given early? Answer Article Main Image. If there is a measles outbreak in your area, or you plan on traveling somewhere where there is a measles outbreak, your pediatrician may recommend your baby receive an extra dose of the MMR vaccine.

This may be given as early as 6 months of age. Is this extra dose safe? Is it effective? Does an early dose of the measles vaccine replace the routine, first-birthday dose? Does an early, third dose of the measles vaccine affect the recommended timing of the two-standard doses in any way? Read more about booking your child's vaccination appointments. Anyone who has not had 2 doses of the MMR vaccine should ask their GP surgery for a vaccination appointment.

You may also be able to access your vaccination record online through GP online services. Read about how to access your health records. If your vaccination records are not available, or do not exist, it will not harm you to have the MMR vaccine again. You should also avoid becoming pregnant for 1 month after having the MMR vaccine. Evidence suggests there will be no harm to your baby, but it's better to let them know.

The MMR vaccine is not recommended for people with a severely weakened immune system. For example, people receiving chemotherapy. If you have a medical condition, or are taking medicine that may affect your immune system, check with your healthcare provider if it's safe for you to have the MMR vaccine. It's best to have vaccines on time, but you can still catch up on most vaccines if you miss them. The MMR vaccine is given as 2 doses of a single injection into the muscle of the thigh or upper arm.

Single vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella are not available on the NHS and are not recommended. Combined vaccines like the MMR vaccine are safe and help to reduce the number of injections your child needs. Some private clinics in the UK offer single vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella, but these vaccines are unlicensed.

This means there are no checks on their safety and effectiveness. The NHS does not keep a list of private clinics. UK has more about why the NHS uses a combined vaccine. People who are vaccinated against mumps, but still catch it, are less likely to have serious complications or be admitted to hospital.

Protection against measles, mumps and rubella starts to develop around 2 weeks after having the MMR vaccine. The MMR vaccine is very safe. Most side effects are mild and do not last long, such as:. Some children might also cry and be upset immediately after the injection. This is normal and they should feel better after a cuddle. The details of possible adverse effects were explained to the parents and they were asked to inform the investigator telephonically or at follow up.

The children having antibody levels above the cut-off for positive were considered as seroprotected. Seroconversion : It was defined as antibody concentration changing from pre-vaccination negative to post-vaccination positive. Geometric mean concentrations GMC were calculated by taking the antilog of mean logarithmic transformation of data. Pre- and post-vaccination GMC were compared using paired t-test.

Eighty four children of the recruited were followed up between wk. The mean age at recruitment was All the children had either normal nutritional status or were having grade I protein energy malnutrition as per IAP classification 7. On analysing the pre- and post-vaccination samples of the 84 children who were followed up, it was observed that the percentage seroprotection for measles rose from After MMR-II all the 84 children became seroprotected to mumps and rubella with per cent seroconversion rate.

No severe systemic or neurological adverse effects were noted in any of the subjects vaccinated. Majority of the adverse effects reported were localized to the site of vaccine administration i.

Eleven per cent developed fever for days and one of the children reported swelling in parotid region 15 days after vaccination. The percentage seroprotection for measles was around 21 per cent at yr which was very low in comparison with all the previous studies in which children had received only one dose of measles antigen containing vaccine i. MMR-I was administered after 12 months of age in all these studies. This indicates that almost four out of every five children, who were fully immunized according to the vaccination schedule practiced in Delhi, were susceptible to measles in spite of receiving two doses of measles antigen containing vaccines.

Hence there is a need to investigate the causes of low level of immunity against measles. Sub-optimal levels of measles antibodies could probably be due to immunosuppressant effect of MV received during infancy. Studies have shown that vaccination in the presence of maternal antibody can result in the development of low antibody levels to measles and a reduced immune response to subsequent revaccination that may not be sustained 8 , 9.

A study carried out by Stetler et al 10 confirmed that the immune response to re-vaccination is altered in infants first vaccinated prior to 10 months of age. A study carried out by Ceyhan et al 11 compared the immunogenicity and efficacy of one dose MMR vaccine at 12 months of age with monovalent measles vaccination at 9 months followed by MMR re-vaccination at 15 months of age.

The study demonstrated that early vaccination seemed to alter the immune response to re-vaccination as indicated by a higher vaccine failure rate This study revealed that the majority of children were seroprotected against mumps and rubella prior to receiving MMR-II.

These results were comparable to the previous studies Table II and demonstrate that there is a fair amount of protection against these diseases but its durability is not known.

There is a likelihood that these figures may fall further with time due to secondary vaccine failure; hence increasing the pool of susceptibles that might act as a fertile ground for epidemics as observed in Belgium and recently in US with mumps Following the trend observed in the developed countries, a shift in the epidemiological profile of these diseases to a higher age group akin to the one observed in developed countries 4 may not be ruled out in India.

Hence there is a need to boost the immunological responses against these two diseases as well along with measles at this age itself.