The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and highly effective in preventing measles, mumps and rubella. The vaccine provides lifelong protection against these infections.
Measles
What is Measles?
Measles is a virus that typically infects young children. Children with measles have cough, runny nose, fever, “pink eye”, and a rash that starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. Complication of measles virus can also infect the lungs, causing pneumonia, and the brain, causing permanent brain damage, blindness, severe diarrhea, and ear infections amongst other symptoms.
Measles if very contagious and is spread by coughing and sneezing.
What is my child’s risk of getting measles?
While few children get measles every year in the United States, recent outbreaks have increased the frequency with which this happens.
What are the symptoms of measles?
Symptoms of measles include a high fever, cough, runny nose, red watery eyes and small white spots inside of cheeks. There is also a prominent rash that usually appears 7-18 days after exposure to the virus. It starts as flat red spots on the face, then spreads to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. The spots may join, and small raised bumps may appear on the top. The rash usually lasts 5-6 days.
Does the measles vaccine cause any reactions?
Some children given measles vaccine will develop pain, redness or tenderness at the site of injection.
Mumps
What are mumps?
Mumps is a virus that typically infects children and causes a painful swelling of the gland located below the ear (parotid glands). Mumps also infect the lining of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis) and can cause permanent hearing loss. Mumps can also infect the unborn child in the first trimester of pregnancy and cause fetal death.
Mumps are a highly contagious viral illness that spreads through direct contact with discharge from the nose and throat. It can also be spread by sharing items like cups, utensils, or touching objects with unwashed hands.
What are the symptoms of mumps?
Symptoms of mumps include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, loss of appetite, swelling of the salivary glands, especially the parotid glands under the ears, puffy cheeks, tender, swollen jaw, painful chewing or swallowing, earache, or face pain.
Symptoms usually appear 16-18 days after exposure but can take up to 25 days.
What is my child’s risk of getting mumps?
Several hundred to a few thousand cases of mumps are reported every year in the United States.
Does the mumps vaccine cause any reactions?
Some children will develop pain, redness or tenderness at the site of the injection.
Rubella (German Measles)
What is rubella?
Rubella is a virus that typically infects children and causes swelling of the glands behind the ear, mind rash and fever. Rubella is a contagious viral infection.
Rubella infections are usually mild in young children. However, when a woman is infected with rubella virus during pregnancy, the virus can cause permanent and severe birth defects or miscarriage.
Rubella isn’t the same as measles, but the two illnesses share some signs and symptoms, such as the red rash. Rubella is caused by a different virus than measles, and rubella isn’t as infectious or as severe as measles.
In many countries, rubella infection is rare or even nonexistent. However, because the vaccine isn’t used everywhere, the virus still causes serious problems for babies whose mothers are infected during pregnancy.
What are the symptoms of Rubella?
Symptoms include a rash that usually appears on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. It typically lasts 1-3 days, a low-grade fever and swollen lymph nodes in the neck and behind the ears. Other symptoms include headache, cough, sore throat, runny nose, nausea, and mild pink eye. Joint pain may also occur that lasts 3-10 days.
Symptoms usually appear 2-3 weeks after exposure, and the most infectious period is usually 1-5 days after the rash appears.
What is my child’s risk of getting rubella?
In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared that rubella had been eliminated from the United States. However, because rubella is still common in many other countries, we need to keep our guard up.
Does the rubella vaccine cause any reactions?
Some children given the rubella vaccine will develop pain, redness or tenderness at the site of the injection. The vaccine can also cause a short-lived swelling of the small joints (arthritis). The arthritis caused by the rubella vaccine is temporary and occurs primarily in adolescent girls and women given the vaccine – this reaction is very rare in children.