Five-month-old Margot had to be connected to oxygen and feeding tubes to help her fight the virus
A mum has issued an urgent vaccination plea to parents after her daughter was hospitalised with measles. Baby Margot, who was just five months old at the time, spent days in hospital after her oxygen levels became “frighteningly low”.
Now her mother Georgia has echoed the calls of health professionals to ensure parents get their children vaccinated against the potentially life-threatening illness. It comes as measles cases have surged in the UK and one child recently died.
An unidentified child passed away at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, following a spike in measles cases in the city. It is believed that they were one of 17 children who had been treated for the disease at the hospital in recent weeks, and they were severely ill with measles as well as other serious health problems.
Mum Georgia House, 29, recalled how she spent five days in London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital last year with Margot. The baby, who had a cold, a cough, and a red blotchy rash, was too young at the time to be vaccinated.
She had to be connected to oxygen and feeding tubes to help her fight the virus, and at one point, her oxygen levels were “frighteningly low”. Little Margot contracted the virus while she was being treated at Chelsea and Westminster in early April 2024 – for a completely separate allergic reaction.
Georgia, from Clapham in London, said: “I was so nervous when we arrived at the hospital as she was really, really poorly. But we did feel like we were in safe hands.
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“Our doctor told us that while it would be horrible for Margot, she would be okay. But it was still heartbreaking to see someone so small hooked up to all those machines.”
At the time, Margot was just five months old and too young to be vaccinated. However, the option is available for everyone over the age of one.
“It’s so frustrating because this is all so preventable,” Georgia stated. “The reason we’ve got this spike is because of a drop in people getting vaccinated.
“The UK has lost its herd immunity. People who aren’t vaccinated are risking the lives of these little ones – and the lives of vulnerable, immunocompromised people.”
Georgia and her husband James first noticed their baby girl was unwell when she developed a cough and a cold, followed by a rash. But when they took Margot to two separate GPs, both dismissed it as either a typical cold or another allergic reaction to nuts – for which she’d been to hospital on April 2.
However, the family received a letter stating Margot had been exposed to measles during that visit, so they rushed her back to Chelsea and Westminster, on April 17. Georgia and James were shocked to learn that Margot was the fourth child to be diagnosed with measles that day at the hospital.
“The sentiment at the hospital was definitely one of anger,” Georgia recounted. “Doctors were telling me that people just don’t seem to understand how serious measles is.
“And people avoiding vaccinations has been devastating because we used to not have any cases in the UK. I don’t know if people are wary of vaccines after Covid but please, please get vaccinated.
“This is completely safe – it has been around since 1968. And it could save lives.”
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A year after her ordeal, Margot is thriving and has since been vaccinated against the disease. This year, there have been 500 cases of measles in England alone, with the increase attributed to the declining uptake of the MMR vaccine.
Early signs of measles include a high temperature, sore, red, watery eyes, coughing, sneezing, and small white spots inside the mouth. A blotchy red or brown rash typically emerges a few days later, starting on the face and behind the ears before spreading across the body.