Measles Vaccination in Infants-Reply
- Walter A. Orenstein, MD;
- Alan Bloch, MD;
- Roger H. Bernier, MD;
- K. Bart, MD;
- Alan R. Hinman, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
In Reply.— The decision to recommend measles vaccination for migrant children as young as 6 months of age during the Texas outbreak was reached after careful consideration of (1) the impact of measles in children aged 6 to 11 months; (2) the risk of measles to children of this age in the migrant population; (3) the potential consequences of vaccinating children this young; and (4) alternative means of measles prophylaxis.
Measles can be particularly severe in children younger than 1 year. Infants have consistently had the highest mortality rates and the highest death-to-case ratios.1-3 Thus, it is important to protect them when they are at high risk of exposure to measles.
At the time of the outbreak, Texas was experiencing its most severe measles outbreak in three years. The outbreak began among children seen at migrant health clinics. Many cases occurred in infants who had a high frequency of
