Mum urges vaccine push after son nearly died of measles

Sophie Dale, 27, from Chesham, was "nervous" about vaccinating son Levi because of posts on social media wrongly linking the measles vaccination to debunked autism risks.

She pushed her fears aside and booked him in for his first MMR jab - but the 11-month-old caught measles just days before his injection appointment.

He had several seizures and spent six days in hospital fighting for his life after it caused a severe case of sepsis.

Levi survived - and five years on is an "insanely clever little ball of energy", as well as being a great big brother to sister Winnie, one.

But measles cases are rising in the UK due to lower uptake of the MMR vaccine, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Sophie now advocates for the vaccine, having seen the devastating impacts of measles on her son.

She said: "Seeing him ill, the hardest part was he had always been such a happy little boy.

"He couldn't understand why his mum was allowing them to prod and poke him - even though they were saving his life I just wanted to ask them to stop hurting him.

"Even after what happened to Levi, with my second child, I was still nervous to get her vaccinations done because of the scaremongering.

"But I knew I had to do it. I get the fear around vaccinations but this is what happened to my son.

"If you're nervous and scared about vaccinating, it's so easy just to say you won't do it."

Research in 1998 wrongly suggested the MMR jab could cause autism. The work was dismissed and the researcher was struck off by the General Medical Council in 2010.

Leading up to his jab, Levi had a high temperature and some residual rash from the measles but had mainly recovered from the illness.

After six days in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury he was allowed to go home, but had a year of check-ups to test if sepsis had damaged his hearing or vision.

Sophie said: "I didn't realise how serious it was at the time.

"But I was told the measles had basically destroyed his immune system, and he developed sepsis while fighting it.

"By the grace of God he is now a-ok but sometimes I look back at the hospital pictures and I can't believe it."

She now finds it "frustrating" to see people not vaccinating their babies, because she has seen first-hand how dangerous the conditions can be.

Sophie said: "There's a lot of misinformation out there so I know how hard it is.

"But after seeing Levi in that way, I could never have forgiven myself if that had been because of a decision I had made."