About one week after taking MMR jab at Outram Polyclinic, Oliver has a very slight fever. Last night, I felt swelling in his neck gland while massaging his neck. Swelling in neck gland is one of the MMR reactions in 1 out of 7 children.
I was so worried that night thinking that Oliver has internal bleeding when he fell from the stairs during our walk at the CC last Friday. I can still recall vividly how he rolled down the flight of stairs, about six steps before I grabbed hold of him. Although there was no bleeding, his vomitting of dinner next day worried me. Until now, I am still concern about the impact of the fall. Hope that it is really nothing serious.
MMR stands for:
Measles - a serious disease with sometime severe, potentially fatal complications
Mumps - rarely presents a serious problem in childhood, but because it can have severe consequences (such as sterility or deafness) in adulthood, early immunisation is recommended
Rubella - aka German measles is often so mild that its symptoms are missed. But because it can cause birth defects in the foetus of an infected pregnant woman, early immunisation is also receommended - both to protect the future of foetuses of girl babies and to reduce the risk of infected children exposing pregnant women, including their own mothers.
Reactions to MMR vaccine
- generally very mild
- generally occur a week or two after the jab
- 1 in 5 children will get a rash or slight fever lasting a few days from measles component
- 1 in 7 will get a rash or some swelling of the neck glands
- 1 in 100 will get achings or swelling of joints from the rubella component
- occasionally, there will be swelling of the salivary glands from the mumps component
