Can you catch Mumps from MMR?

[AnalogWife]

I have a friend who wants to know how her DS has Mumps when he had all his shots. Someone else said that he was probably playing with an unvax'd kid. Are there any links available that can shed some light on this situation? Many thanks!

[Dmitrizmom]

Given that the MMR is a live virus vaccine and is known to shed in breastmilk, I would theorize that it is indeed possible to get mumps from the vaccine.

Here's a link to the package insert: http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_.../mmr_ii_pi.pdf

As to the "he's had all his shots" argument - just because a person has had all the shots does not mean that they have developed an immunity to the diseases for which they have been vaccinated. Some people don't seroconvert. Ask mamas here how many of them have been told that they don't have immunity for any of the components during pregnancy and are told that they have to get an MMR booster.

[just_lily]

I love how people who are all pro-vax think that the unvaxed are some huge risk to them. It is like you can be perfectly immune but as soon as you come into contact with someone who isn't vaxed it all wears off or something. Like kryptonite.

I would think that, in theory, it is possible to get mumps from the vax. I also think that, in theory, it would be possible to get it from someone who was recently vaxed. But both of those situations would have to happen within a few weeks of receiving the vax. How old is the child in question?

What is more likely is that a) the vaccine didn't work in his case, and b) he picked it up from someone who also didn't seroconvert or whose immunity had warn off. That is the other issue.... nobody knows how long these things last. Ask your friend if SHE is up to date on her vax?

[AnalogWife]

Thank you for the responses. That was the first insert I've ever read, and I had to stop it was making me feel a little panicky. I agree about how pro-vaxers look down on the unvaccinated, when the vax'd kids are probably more of a risk to my DS. Thank you for the hypotheses.