Q: We gave the measles vaccine to our baby girl, who is 9 and half months old, last week. Suddenly, the syringe came out of the needle cap and a bit of the vaccine spilled. We could not find any medicine flowing out but I am worried whether sufficient vaccine went inside her. She didn't show any sign of fever after that. Please advise what to do?

A:Most measles vaccines (you have not given the brand name) are in 0.5 ml formulation. Hence it is not possible to say with certainty whether or not the vaccine was actually injected or not. Fever generally starts after 5 to 10 days after vaccination and lasts for a couple of days. In many children there is no fever. In any case re-vaccination is harmless. You can repeat it after a few months; say at 12 months of age. In the developed world, the usual age for measles vaccination is at 12-18 months though in developing countries it is at around 9 months. So there is no hard and fast rule.