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Mom Shares Pictures Of 5MO Baby With Measles, Urges Others To Get Vaccinated

A Chico mother shared photos of her five-month-old son Walter after he got the measles in Butte County in an attempt to urge people to get vaccinated.

There have been 11 confirmed cases of measles in Butte County since the start of 2019.

Swipe through the pictures Sara Blum shared of baby Walter. 

(credit: Sara Blum)
(credit: Sara Blum)
(credit: Sara Blum)
(credit: Sara Blum)
(credit: Sara Blum)
(credit: Sara Blum)

Sara Blum first learned that her son Walter may have been exposed to measles when he got a high fever on March 23. The next day, Blum says Walter woke up with a head to toe rash and she knew something was wrong.

Blum took Walter to urgent care immediately given her knowledge of the measles outbreak in Shasta County. She says when they got to urgent care they were notified that there was at least one case of measles confirmed in Chico and that is when Blum got worried.

READ ALSO: How Do The MMR Vaccine Side Effects Compare To Measles Side Effects?

The staff did bloodwork on Walter to be safe and sent him home for quarantine. Blum says during that time she kept Walter home due to his pre-existing immune disorder, RSV which compromised his immune system.

After almost a week, Blum says she received confirmation that her little boy tested positive for measles. Fortunately, he had minimal contact with the outside world and Blum says she worked closely with Butte County Public Health with reporting it to make sure she was completely transparent with possible exposures.

Walter is now six-months-old and Blum says he is recovering well since getting the measles in March.

RELATED: Ask Us: Do You Need A Measles Booster Shot?

While there is no way to know who Walter got the measles from, Blum is speaking out on social media saying this would have been 100 percent preventable if people would just trust doctors and science, and vaccinate their children rather than going off of their own opinions and doing their research through Facebook.

Blum's child is too young to get the measles vaccine since he is only six-months-old so now Blum is urging parents whose children are old enough to vaccinate them. Blum says this is important for the health and safety of not just their own kids, but other people as well who are unable to get the vaccine like young infants.

According to the CDC, children should get their first measles vaccine, also known as the MMR, when they are 12 to 15 months old.

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