Measles Update!

If You Have Been Exposed

It should first be noted that although measles can be a very serious childhood illness in younger children it is very treatable, with an extremely low incidence of complications when treated properly.  If you or any of your family members have had direct exposure to someone who has recently been diagnosed, it is imperative that you receive treatment or get tested immediately. The sooner treatment begins for measles, the better the outcome. Measles can be most harmful for younger children. It is beneficial to test anyone who has been exposed to determine the right course of treatment. Testing allows us to catch the infection early and initiate treatment.

If You Have Not Been Exposed

If you have not been exposed and your family is vaccinated or unvaccinated, consider reducing their exposure to other children who are ill. Vaccinations are sometimes more helpful when used during an acute outbreak. Even one injection can provide some immunity when given to an older child or an adult. If you have previously been vaccinated and it has been many years since the vaccination, getting a booster can help provide herd immunity for the rest of your community and can keep the exposure to little ones limited. If you have an infant under the age of 6 months who has not been vaccinated, I suggest keeping them at home and eliminate or reduce exposure to other children during an active outbreak. CDC guidelines do not recommend vaccination with MMR until at least 12 months of age. Because MMR vaccine is associated with more side effects than many of the other vaccines, we general suggest waiting until 24 months of age to receive an MMR vaccination. Dr. Sears, author of The Vaccine Book, suggests even waiting until age 3 to receive an MMR vaccination.

Church daycares, daycare, schools, and playground areas are some areas that your children can have exposure to Measles and other bacteria and viruses. Listed below are some things you can do to keep your family safe through the infection season!

A Few Special Notes:

• Thus far there have been a total of 104 cases of Measles in the US in 14 different states.
• In California alone public health officials say that 19 of the 32 cases of measles they have confirmed are in people who have not been vaccinated, and of that group 14 were intentionally not vaccinated.
• Therefore, over 1/3 of these cases are in previously vaccinated patients.
• The death rate for Measles is 0.2 % which means of these 104 cases, less than one child had a 20 % chance of death!
• In the last 10 years there has not been a single death due to measles (CDC), but a reported 108 deaths due to the measles vaccine- associated with 4 different types of the vaccine (VAERS database).

Warmly,

The doctors from A Family Healing Center

Measles is a contagious respiratory disease caused by viral infection called Rubeola. It is spread via the air through coughing and sneezing. It often starts with a fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and sore throat, which is followed by a rash that spreads over the whole body. About 3 out of 10 people will have complications such as pneumonia, ear infections and diarrhea. The population most affected are young children under the age of 5 and the elderly.

• CDC Recommended Schedule
  • MMR is a two-shot series of vaccines usually given during childhood. A child should receive the first shot when he is between 12-15 months, and the second when he’s between 4-6 years of age.
• AFHC Recommended Schedule
  • An initial MMR vaccination can be administered at 24 months of age or later and a booster should be given between 4 – 6 years of age. Please contact us about our pre and post vaccination protocol.

  *If You Don’t Choose to Vaccinate:

• Make sure you look for signs of common cold and understand whether you or your children have been exposed.

• Understand if your child has been exposed, that symptoms will likely occur within 7 days.

• If your child is exposed, make sure to begin an aggressive anti-viral treatment protocol. We can help with this if needed. Please make an appointment.

• Over the next few weeks when contraction is possible due to the proximity of the cases, make sure your children are well-hydrated, eat well, are well rested, avoid sugar as much as possible and wash hands often.

• You may want to consider the following support:
  • Well balanced diet: Eliminate sugar, dairy and increase meats, vegetables and broths
  • Improve immune system with Vitamin C, Vitamin A and lots of onions and garlic
  • Improve hydration with lots of fluids
  • Perform constitutional hydrotherapy twice daily (please call us for this information.

• We have many tools as naturopathic physicians that are not available to the conventional medical system that treat the whole person and help the body recover from illness.   We utilize botanical medicines, homeopathy, drainage, nutrient supplements, IV nutrition and counseling for at-home therapies.

• If your child begins experiencing any signs or symptoms, please get them in to see a pediatrician immediately.

Feel free contact either of our offices or schedule an appointment to discuss in further detail with one of the doctors:

McMinnville Office:                                   Portland Office:

330 SE Baker St                                         2525 NW Lovejoy, Suite 208

phone: 503.883.0333                                  phone: 503.241.5007

www.afamilyhealingcenter.com                 email: [email protected]