Baby Alba Moss Was Rushed to Hospital When Her Fever Reached a Dangerous 107°F

Baby Alba Moss was taken to hospital after her temperature climbed to a life-threatening 107°F (about 42°C). What first looked like an ordinary childhood illness soon became every parent’s worst fear.

Her small body swelled and she stopped responding. Her eyes stayed closed for days. She had trouble breathing and needed oxygen. At one stage she showed no reaction at all. She was seen at hospital more than once and first given the wrong diagnosis. Only when she became critically ill did doctors confirm measles.

Alba was then about 11 months old and lived in the London area with her parents, Jilly and Richard Moss. She was still too young for the first MMR dose and had no protection of her own against this highly contagious virus. After a high fever and a rash that spread over her body, she was admitted to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. She spent about eight days there on intensive supportive care: oxygen, fluids through a vein, feeding by tube, vitamin A to lower the risk of eye damage, and close watch for serious complications such as pneumonia or inflammation of the brain.

Her mother later called the experience “absolutely horrific.” Alba’s eyes stayed swollen shut for four days, and the family feared they might lose her. She did recover and went home, but the ordeal stayed with her parents. They shared photographs from her illness to show how dangerous measles can be for babies who are not yet old enough to be vaccinated.

Measles is still one of the most infectious diseases known. Most people get better, but it can cause severe complications, especially in infants, and vaccination can prevent it. Children under 12 months depend on high immunization rates in the community until they can receive MMR. Alba’s case, widely reported in 2019, showed how vulnerable young unvaccinated children are — and why high vaccination coverage matters for those who cannot yet be immunized.

Sources
Contemporary reporting from CNN, BBC News, The Times, The Sun, ITV News, and related coverage (April–May 2019) on Alba Moss’s measles infection at about 11 months of age, her very high fever, admission to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, the initial misdiagnosis, and her mother’s public appeal for awareness.