Parents and carers across Hartlepool are being urged to make sure their children have both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to avoid a potential measles outbreak.
00:00It was just a regular day for us. When she woke up from her nap, I brought her downstairs, usually she's up and about, running around, and she just, she was laid on the back, just staring at the ceiling, very unresponsive, I knew that wasn't right for her.
00:17So I took her temperature, and it was 39.4, I think, at the time. I rang 111, and they sent an emergency response vehicle and an ambulance for her immediately, and took her straight into the hospital, and that's when we knew less, really, because they didn't know what it was, they were doing blood tests to figure out if she had high infection markers, which she did, so they put her on antibiotics, but we didn't know what it was.
00:42This rash then came out, and we said to the doctor, she has a rash, and they said, oh, it could just be the body's natural way of fighting the infection.
00:51This consultant lady came in, she had a look at it straight away, she said, right, everyone's in full PPE, nobody comes in this room without full PPE, head to toe, and she doesn't leave this room, I think it might be measles.
01:02She went out, and she said, would you mind if I bring all the students in, because we've never seen measles, could we all come and have a look, you know, we'll PPE up.
01:09Like Dan said to my husband, we should let them come in, because this might be one of the only times they've ever seen it, or ever do see it.
01:16To be honest, I didn't know much about measles, I didn't realise how contagious it was.
01:22I also couldn't think where a nurse she could have picked this up from, but then after reading, you can pick it up with being 15 minutes in a room with somebody.
01:28And then I was worried about my son, because I was thinking, well, is he going to get it?
01:32But then I realised he'd had the vaccine, so it showed the effectiveness, really, because he hadn't picked this up, but she was too young to get the vaccine, so I hadn't been able to have it yet.
01:42The main thing I've learnt is that, you know, it was really important that we did get the vaccine, and I'm glad that we did, because it would have put my son at risk, you know, our family at risk.
01:51I think we were lucky that we got to the hospital, lucky that they figured out what it was, and just lucky that she can now have the vaccine, because she's old enough to her.
01:59There has been children recently who've passed away from measles.
02:03I can now tell my friends, my family, and other people how important it is to get them vaccinations to protect these children, because Saskia was too young for the vaccine at the time.
02:13So if you can just give them that tiny little bit of protection, why not? Why would you want to put your child in a position where they could fall ill, or even worse?
02:23The good news is it's highly preventable by a vaccine that's safe, effective, and free on the NHS.
02:30So we would highly recommend and urge people to get their children vaccinated.
02:35If you're not sure if they've been vaccinated, then you can check in their Red Book, and if you're still not sure, you can check with your GP practice,
02:44because it's never too late to catch up with vaccines that can prevent you from getting a highly infectious virus that can be very, very dangerous and potentially life-threatening.
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