The MMR Vaccine for Children & Adults: Options, Side Effects, Dosing Schedule
Today, we have two vaccines to protect against measles: the MMR vaccine and the MMRV vaccine. Let’s answer your burning questions about both.
How do the MMR and MMRV vaccines work?
The MMR vaccine (named M-M-R II) protects against three infectious diseases: measles, mumps and rubella. A second type of measles vaccine, MMRV (named ProQuad), protects against these three conditions, as well as chickenpox (varicella). While M-M-R II is recommended for anyone 12 months or older, ProQuad is only recommended for children between the ages of 12 months 12 years.
What’s in them?
What are the benefits of a live vaccine?
What are measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox?
There’s a good reason why there are vaccines for these diseases—they can cause some serious and deadly health problems. Here’s a quick rundown:
Measles
- Symptoms: fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, white spots inside the mouth, and a flat, red rash that spreads
- How it spreads: travels by air through coughs and sneezes (virus can linger in the air for hours)
- Complications it can cause: ear infections leading to permanent hearing loss, pneumonia, death
Mumps
- Symptoms: swollen salivary glands under the ears, loss of appetite, fever, aches
- How it spreads: spread through saliva & mucus, i.e., coughing, sneezing, sharing utensils
- Complications it can cause: deafness, inflammation of the testicles/ovaries/brain
Rubella
- Symptoms: red rash on the face and then the rest of body, fever, headache, pink eye
- How it spreads: travels by air through coughs and sneezes
- Complications it can cause: arthritis in women, birth defects or miscarriage in pregnant women
Chickenpox
- Symptoms: itchy rash that spreads then scabs over, fever, tiredness, headache, loss of appetite
- How it’s transmitted: travels through droplets in the air from sick people breathing or talking
- Complications it can cause: bacterial skin infections, pneumonia, brain inflammation, blood stream infection, dehydration
Age recommendations and dosing schedules
When should children get the MMR or MMRV vaccine?
Should children younger than 12 months old get the vaccine?
Can adults get the MMR vaccine?
Who should NOT get the MMR and MMRV vaccines?
The MMR and MMRV vaccines aren’t recommended for everyone.
The MMR vaccine should not be given to anyone who meets one or more of these criteria:
- Has a life-threatening allergy to the MMR vaccine
- Is allergic to the antibiotic neomycin (If you’re allergic to topical ointments like Neosporin, you might be allergic to neomycin.)
- Is pregnant or has delivered in the past 4 weeks
The MMRV vaccine should not be given to anyone who meets one or more of these criteria:
- Is above the age of 12
- Has a life-threatening allergy to the MMR vaccine
- Is allergic to the antibiotic neomycin (If you’re allergic to topical ointments like Neosporin, you might be allergic to neomycin.)
- Is pregnant or has delivered in the past 4 weeks
- Has a weakened immune system or has immediate family with weakened immune systems
- Has a personal or family history of seizures
- Is taking salicylates like aspirin or magnesium salicylate
- Has tuberculosis
- Has received any other vaccines within the past 4 weeks
- Has had a recent blood transfusion
- Has any conditions that cause easy bruising or bleeding
What are potential side effects of the MMR and MMRV vaccines?
The MMR and MMRV vaccines are safe and well-tolerated, but all drugs and vaccines carry a risk of side effects. With the MMR and MMRV vaccines, the most common side effects are sore arm, fever, and mild rash. Serious events could occur but don’t happen often. They could include seizure caused by a fever, swelling of glands in the cheeks or neck, severe allergic reactions or deafness.
Can the MMR vaccine cause autism?
In 1998, a research study was published that incorrectly linked the MMR vaccine to autism in eight British children. Years later, after substantial research showed the MMR vaccine is not linked to autism, the false 1998 article was retracted. The primary author confessed that he had intentionally made up the data.
Since that time, vaccine experts at the CDC, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have performed their own studies and concluded that vaccines do not cause autism.
Researchers have acknowledged that the age at which many children are getting the MMR vaccine is the same age when signs of autism can become noticeable.
How much do the MMR and MMRV vaccines cost?
As a part of standard childhood vaccine recommendations, most insurance plans will cover these vaccines—but they can be pricey without insurance. Retail prices for the MMR and MMRV vaccines are around $100 and $200, respectively. If you need help paying for a vaccine, these GoodRx coupons may be useful.
Children 18 years old or younger can get free vaccines through the Vaccines for Children program, as long as they fall into at least one of these categories:
- Uninsured or underinsured
- Medicaid-eligible
- American Indian/Alaskan Native
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