The measles immunization is generally regarded by the medical community as a safe vaccine. There are several side effects of the measles immunization but most are mild and short in duration. The most common side effects are high fever and mild rash. The more serious side effects of the measles immunization are a low platelet count and allergic reaction. The measles vaccination is considered truly unsafe only for people who are pregnant, are allergic to a component of the vaccine or suffer from an immune deficiency-causing disease.
The measles vaccine was first available in 1963 as a single-shot vaccination. In 1973, the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine became widely available. The MMR vaccine, which is made from using weakened but live strains of the three diseases, is used in many countries instead vaccines against the diseases individually, but single-shot vaccines still are used in some countries. These vaccines generally are given to children 12-15 months of age, though some adults also receive the vaccination.
A version of measles is injected into the vaccine recipient, so there are some safety issues. The most common side effects of the measles vaccination are a fever and a mild rash. Fever occurs in 5-15 percent of people who receive the vaccine, and 5 percent of recipients will get a mild rash. Both the rash and fever tend to appear seven to 12 days after the measles immunization and are fairly short in duration. The rash is not considered contagious, so sufferers do not have to refrain from attending school or going to work.
Less-common side effects include allergic reaction and low platelet count. Thrombocytopenia, or low platelet count, is often short-lived and is experienced by about one in every 35,000 recipients. Allergic reactions are a result of an adverse reaction to one or more ingredients in the vaccine, with the most common allergens in the vaccine being gelatin and neomycin. The most extreme side effects of measles immunization might include deafness, coma or permanent brain damage. These severe reactions have been seen, but because it happens so rarely, medical officials have not been able to establish a definite cause-and-effect relationship between the vaccination and these extreme issues.
The measles immunization is never safe for pregnant women, people who are allergic to a component of the measles vaccine or people who suffer from a disease that severely compromises their immune system, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), leukemia or lymphoma. It also is unsafe for people who are undergoing treatment for cancer with radiation, drugs or large doses of corticosteriods. The measles immunization is unsafe for the aforementioned people because the weakened disease used to create the vaccine can do irreversible damage to people already in a fragile state as a result of another medical condition.
