As is customary by parents who vaccinate their children, we took Koala last week on his birthday to get his MMR shot. Not the way I’d celebrate my birthday, but you know.
According to the sites I’ve read, there is an 80% chance any given baby won’t have any side effects from the vaccine. Another site said 1 in 6 babies with the vaccine ends up with a high fever for 2-4 days about 7-12 days after they get the shot. 1 in 20 end up with the red rash accompanying the fever, which signifies a superficial case of Measles.
Guess who won both lotteries?
After puzzling over this for the last 2 1/2 days and consulting with various doctors and nurses, we got one doctor this afternoon who confirmed that Koala has a case of non-contagious vaccine-induced measles.
I’m not concerned with what the actual statistics are. I’m not bothered by whether you think vaccinating is right or wrong. And I’m definitely not considering that vaccines cause autism.
All I wonder about is… measles? Really? In the 21st century? It sounds so… Oregon Trail. So has-been. So Bubonic Plague. (And if it’s out there, and a possibility, my go-getter son just had to have it.)
But seriously, it’s pretty amazing science that you can taste a little bit of the poison and build an immunity to it. And I guess that’s what vaccines are all about. Moving us past the opportunities to contract the real thing.
Whadya got: