Usual symptoms

• Measles usually starts with a fever and severe tiredness or lack of energy (malaise) followed by a cough, runny nose and conjunctivitis (eye infection or pink eye).
• Children with measles get a rash that looks like lace and usually starts on their face or neck and then spreads to their whole body. 

Less common symptoms

• About 9 per cent of children with measles get otitis media (middle-ear infection or ear ache).
• About 8 per cent get diarrhoea (watery poo).
• About 6 per cent get pneumonia (lung infection).

Rare symptoms

• Measles infection during pregnancy can cause miscarriages, premature labour and premature birth.

Very rare symptoms

• About 0.1 per cent of children with measles develop encephalitis (brain infection).
• Between 0.01 per cent and 0.015 per cent of people who get measles die from measles encephalitis, and many of the children who survive it have permanent brain damage.
• About 0.001 per cent of people who catch measles develop a brain disease called sub-acute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). SSPE usually develops about seven years after measles infection and people who get it always die.

In Australia, children receive the MMR vaccine, which strengthens immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella, and the MMRV vaccine which also strengthens immunity to varicella (chickenpox).

It is recommended that children get a vaccine that protects against measles at 12 months and 18 months.

It is important that children get all their vaccinations on time to ensure they have the  best possible protection against infectious diseases.

No, there is no risk that your child will catch measles because the measles-containing combination vaccines, MMR and MMRV, only contain a weakened version of the measles virus. This weakened virus trains your child’s immune system to recognise and fight the disease, but does not cause the disease. Occasionally, children receiving the vaccine may develop a high fever, fatigue, and rash similar to measles disease, but they fully recover.

Children with cancer or serious immune system diseases should not have live vaccines, including MMR and MMRV, as they can become very unwell. Your immunisation provider will screen for these conditions before giving your child their vaccine.

• About 10 per cent of children who get a vaccine that protects against measles experience local swelling, redness or pain at the injection site. These symptoms usually resolve within one or two days.   
• Between 5 and 15 per cent of children who get a vaccine that protects against measles develop a high fever and tiredness or lack of energy (malaise) between 5 and 12 days after their first dose of the vaccine. 
• About 5 per cent of children who get a vaccine that protects against measles get a rash which cannot spread to anyone else.
• Side effects are more common after the first dose of a vaccine that protects against measles, recommended at 12 months.

• Up to 1.6 per cent of children who get a vaccine that protects against measles get swollen glands, a stiff neck or joint pains.
• About 0.03 per cent of children who get a first dose of a vaccine that protects against measles experience febrile convulsions (fits). These happen when a baby or child's temperature (fever) goes up suddenly. Febrile convulsions don’t have long-term effects on a child’s health and development.
• Between 0.003 and 0.005 per cent of children who get a vaccine that protects against measles develop a blood disorder called thrombocytopenia (a low platelet count in the blood) after their first dose. Thrombocytopenia causes children to bruise or bleed very easily. It usually lasts for between one and six months and then gets better.
• About 0.0001 per cent of people have an allergic reaction after vaccination that affects their whole body, called anaphylaxis. This reaction usually happens within 15 minutes of getting the vaccination and can be treated with an injection of adrenaline. People who have this reaction usually recover quickly and don’t experience any long-term effects.

Measles rates in Australia have declined significantly since the introduction of vaccines that protect against measles among children at 12 months of age. Outbreaks occur, but these are mostly among unvaccinated people visiting or returning from countries with endemic measles.²