Mother shares ‘heartbreaking’ photos of baby girl with measles ‘to educate about vaccinations’

‘She has had to fight this killer virus with no immunity’

A mother has shared "heartbreaking" photographs of her baby girl suffering from measles, with the hope it will encourage more parents to vaccinate their children.

The images come following the recent news from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that in the first three months of 2019, the number of cases of measles increased four-fold in comparison to the same period last year.

Over the weekend, Jilly Moss, from London shared pictures of her daughter, Alba, on Facebook.

The images show the baby lying on a bed attached to medical tubes, while being treated for measles.

Moss was asked by the doctors and nurses at Chelsea and Westminster hospital to share the photographs to highlight the severity of the condition, which can lead to blindness, encephalitis and pneumonia.

"I would like people to understand that the reason we shared such heartbreaking images of our beautiful baby is to raise awareness of what measles can do," Moss tells The Independent.

"We, as parents, did not know just how serious this virus can be."

The mother explains that Alba was too young to have an MMR vaccine administered, and so has had to "fight this killer virus with no immunity".

"It has been absolutely horrific watching our daughter fight this with her eyes swollen shut for four days," Moss writes on Facebook.

"She has been in the dark, scared with a high fever that lasted for over two weeks.

"In hospital she has been scanned, X-rayed, poked, prodded, bloods taken, lumbar punctures done, cannulas fitted, swabs taken, ECG Echos, obs done every 20 minutes, tube fed, on a drip, oxygen, pumped full of drugs, anti-inflammatory pain relief antibiotics, you name it she's had it."

Moss states that while her daughter was too young for a vaccination, her infection could have been prevented "if the protection layer of older kids above Alba had been vaccinated".

The mother adds that while the hospital staff were able to identify measles as the cause of Alba's condition, she was also showing symptoms for Kawasaki disease and meningitis.

"We need to do more people. Get your children vaccinated," she writes.

"The MMR does not cause life-threatening issues like measles does. Your babies might feel under the weather for a day or so, but believe me, you'd accept that over what we have been through."

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness which, if left untreated, can lead to serious health complications, the NHS states.

Early symptoms of the condition can include feeling generally unwell, having a runny nose, experiencing sore eyes and a fever as high as 40C.

The MMR vaccine combats measles, mumps and rubella.

For all the latest news on measles, click here.