Measles

[marko]

This article highlights the rise in measles cases.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/24/measles-infected-up-to-4-million-a-year-in-us-before-vaccine.html

But here's the quote that gets me:
"...Cheryl Healton remembers the look on her mother’s face when the then 8-year old was diagnosed with measles in 1961.

“I could tell by her reaction that my life was at risk,” said Healton, now 66 and the dean of New York University’s College of Global Public Health.

Maybe we lived under some weird mentality but just about everyone got measles back then and AFAIK, nobody's mother thought that our lives were at risk.

Two real questions here: Are measles more dangerous than they were back then?
Did your mother think there was anything horrific -life threatening- about measles when you were a kid, or was it no big deal and just part of growing up in the '50?

The only thing my mother worried about was the inconvenience.

I'm sure they're not pleasant, do have some possible risks and should be/could be easily avoided but we seem to be almost in near panic about this recent outbreak.

I hope we don't go off on some vaccination/no vaccination tangent here...

 

[mystang52]

When my best friend, who I had just played with, got the measles my Mom called the pediatrician who saw me the same day. I don't know about "horrific" but my Mom did think it was urgent. BTW, that doctor gave me a shot and my entire life I presumed it was the measles vaccine. But this happened circa 1960 so I have no idea what that shot actually was.
I live in North Jersey now, and just miles away in the next county is a serious measles outbreak. I'm immuno-compromised so I'm quite ticked off!

 

[Teacher Terry]

I never got the measles. I did get the chicken pox as did all my kids. All 3 had it at once during a hot spring with no air conditioning. The youngest was 1. He got it again at 6.

 

[Another Reader]

I remember Dr. Spock's book of childhood diseases. Pictures of what they looked like. Measles, German measles, chicken pox, mumps, Scarlet Fever. It was expected in the late fifties and early 60's that you would eventually get a couple. I got the measles in third grade and was pretty sick for about ten days. The worst part is I was not allowed to look at whatever was on the 12 inch black and white TV because supposedly your vision was at risk if you did that. I was exposed to chicken pox on a couple of occasions but never got them. I have always wondered if I would avoid shingles because I was apparently immune to the chicken pox back then.

These diseases were considered relatively minor in comparison to the really bad disease, polio. Lots of people in iron lungs back then. The polio vaccine was huge. The oral vaccine that came out later was given to almost the entire population as a public health measure. I remember going to the local public school and standing in line for the sugar cube. Imagine trying to do that today.

 

[Walt34]

These diseases were considered relatively minor in comparison to the really bad disease, polio. Lots of people in iron lungs back then. The polio vaccine was huge. The oral vaccine that came out later was given to almost the entire population as a public health measure. I remember going to the local public school and standing in line for the sugar cube. Imagine trying to do that today.

I was born in 1950 so remember all that. One event that sticks in my mind was getting the oral polio vaccine. Dad absolutely hated standing in lines (I inherited that "gene") and would go to great lengths to avoid them. He grumbled not a bit at standing in line with us to get the polio vaccine at a local school. That spoke volumes about how important he thought it was.

As I recall measles and chicken pox were considered pretty normal back then, no big deal. But I didn't know of anyone who had a bad outcome from them either.

 

[Dtail]

Got Measles, Chicken Pox and the Mumps in the past.
Worried about the Chicken Pox effect on potential future Shingles.

 

[razztazz]

Like everything else nowadays from Mexicans to cholesterol this is just more over-hyping of the fear factor. I don't know if the hypers are neurotic or the purpose is to turn everybody else into a neurotic

The worst part about measles was I was not yet in school so I didn't experience the week off from 2nd grade my brother got. When I got to 2nd grade I was hoping they'd find a new disease

This article highlights the rise in measles cases.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/24/measles-infected-up-to-4-million-a-year-in-us-before-vaccine.html

But here's the quote that gets me:
"...Cheryl Healton remembers the look on her mother’s face when the then 8-year old was diagnosed with measles in 1961.

“I could tell by her reaction that my life was at risk,” said Healton, now 66 and the dean of New York University’s College of Global Public Health.

Maybe we lived under some weird mentality but just about everyone got measles back then and AFAIK, nobody's mother thought that our lives were at risk.

Two real questions here: Are measles more dangerous than they were back then?
Did your mother think there was anything horrific -life threatening- about measles when you were a kid, or was it no big deal and just part of growing up in the '50?

The only thing my mother worried about was the inconvenience.

I'm sure they're not pleasant, do have some possible risks and should be/could be easily avoided but we seem to be almost in near panic about this recent outbreak.

I hope we don't go off on some vaccination/no vaccination tangent here...

 

[cathy63]

Two real questions here: Are measles more dangerous than they were back then?
Did your mother think there was anything horrific -life threatening- about measles when you were a kid, or was it no big deal and just part of growing up in the '50?

I believe measles is a less dangerous disease now, at least to those of us living in developed countries, because we have better access to hospitals and better treatments for the complications.

As for the scariness of the disease -- when my mother was a child (in the 1940s), her closest friend who was also a cousin died from measles. So yes, she was well aware that our lives could also be at risk if we got it, and she made sure that we were given the vaccine that had just become available.

 

[LastOfTheBoomers]

Sort of a PSA - I fell into the group that got the killed measles virus in the 1960’s fast forward to a job interview at a hospital in my 20’s they said I was not immune - fast forward to 2014 when some of these outbreaks started showing up - I had the antibody test and it confirmed what I knew (funny thing insurance didn’t cover the test to see if I need to be vaccinated, but they do cover the vaccination) took a while to get the vaccine since my doctors practice doesn’t to pediatrics - it was a little frustrating. Only had the one shot - he said I didn’t a booster - time to double check that at my next visit.

So if you fall into that age group - don’t think you are vaccinated.

 

[Gumby]

I also stood in line with my mother to get the new polio vaccine in the sugar cube. That was a terrifying disease. I got measles, mumps and rubella before they ever had the vaccine. Never got chicken pox. My hazy recollection of the measles is that it was very unpleasant.

When I joined the Navy in 1977, they vaccinated me against pretty much every disease under the sun, including smallpox.

 

[MichaelB]

Measles is bad enough. It weakens the immune system for a number of years. The real danger to children isn’t the measles, it’s the pneumonia that attacks the weakened immune system. It’s especially dangerous for pregnant women. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/complications.html

About 1 out of 4 people who get measles will be hospitalized.

As many as 1 out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children.

About 1 child out of every 1,000 who get measles will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain) that can lead to convulsions and can leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability.

Nearly 1 or 2 of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications.

Measles may cause pregnant women who have not had the MMR vaccine to give birth prematurely, or have a low-birth-weight baby.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

I believe measles is a less dangerous disease now, at least to those of us living in developed countries, because we have better access to hospitals and better treatments for the complications.

As for the scariness of the disease -- when my mother was a child (in the 1940s), her closest friend who was also a cousin died from measles. So yes, she was well aware that our lives could also be at risk if we got it, and she made sure that we were given the vaccine that had just become available.

When I was about 3, in the late 50s, I got German measles and also developed double pneumonia, which I later learned happens often to little ones.

I remember a lot of anxiety around my illness because my dad’s older sister had died from the same 2 illnesses at about the same age, 30 years earlier.

I made it OK, but the cousins all know and talk about Aunt Harriett, whom none of us ever met. Her death affected all our parents very deeply, it seems.

 

[HFWR]

Vaccines cause the autisms, the moon landing was faked, the earth is flat, secret hidden cancer cure, etc.

Certainly, the media will beat that poor horse senseless, but this anti-science disease is spreading faster that the measles.

Best sniff some essential oils, and double up on the turmeric enema...

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Maybe we lived under some weird mentality but just about everyone got measles back then and AFAIK, nobody's mother thought that our lives were at risk.

Two real questions here: Are measles more dangerous than they were back then?
Did your mother think there was anything horrific -life threatening- about measles when you were a kid, or was it no big deal and just part of growing up in the '50?

The only thing my mother worried about was the inconvenience.

I'm sure they're not pleasant, do have some possible risks and should be/could be easily avoided but we seem to be almost in near panic about this recent outbreak.

I remember riding in the back of the station wagon, the cargo area, not the back seat, when I was little. I'm sure some of you remember a time either before seat belts, or when nobody really thought it was important to wear them, or both. I mean, all of us probably rode without them at some point, and we survived, right?

That's because we only hear from the survivors.

Riding without seatbelts, or motorcycle helmets, or not getting vaccinated, is all no big deal until it isn't, at which point it's often fatal, or if you're "lucky", just permanently disabling. The fact that we can "get lucky" so often leads our monkey brains to think that it's OK to not get vaccinated/wear seatbelts/wear a helmet. Every time we do that, we feel a confirmation that it's OK. But it's not, because the consequences of one adverse event are profound.

This is why prevention is one of the hardest lessons to teach in public health.

 

[mystang52]

I have no idea why the government is pushing the measles vaccine so heavily when there are so many other causes of kids being harmed or killed. Cigarettes comes to mind, now vaping. Both are legalized at the detriment of our kids, much more so than skipping a measles vaccine I would think.
So how many things can you think of that are more harmful than not getting the measles vaccine but the government gives a pass on?

I have to confess I take this measles outbreak personally. It's not just the kids not getting vaccinated. It's their potential to infect others who then risk serious illness or death.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I have no idea why the government is pushing the measles vaccine so heavily when there are so many other causes of kids being harmed or killed. Cigarettes comes to mind, now vaping. Both are legalized at the detriment of our kids, much more so than skipping a measles vaccine I would think.
So how many things can you think of that are more harmful than not getting the measles vaccine but the government gives a pass on?

It's called herd immunity. Once a critical number of people aren't vaccinated, a disease can come back from being virtually eradicated, which endangers those too young, too old, too ill, or too immunocompromised to be vaccinated. "The government" pushes it because it's in the best interest of our whole society. And there are ALSO campaigns to prevent/reduce vaping, smoking and other hazards. We're capable of running more than one public health campaign at a time.

 

[Gumby]

And here we are completely ignoring OP Marko's request not to go off on a tangent about vaccination/no vaccination. I believe the question was "Is measles really dangerous or is it just hype?" I think if we stick to that, the thread might survive. If not, I suspect closure is in the near future.

 

[Teacher Terry]

You don’t have to get the measles shot every year like the flu shot. Plus the flu shot is not as effective as others. Yes I think the measles is dangerous. A friend got the mumps at 18 which left him sterile.

 

[marko]

and here we are completely ignoring op marko's request not to go off on a tangent about vaccination/no vaccination. I believe the question was "is measles really dangerous or is it just hype?" i think if we stick to that, the thread might survive. If not, i suspect closure is in the near future.

+1

 

[HFWR]

And here we are completely ignoring OP Marko's request not to go off on a tangent about vaccination/no vaccination. I believe the question was "Is measles really dangerous or is it just hype?" I think if we stick to that, the thread might survive. If not, I suspect closure is in the near future.

Well, if enough people think it’s pointless, or even dangerous, then see “herd immunity”.

As for the hype, consider this...

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/measles/symptoms-causes/syc-20374857

”Also called rubeola, measles can be serious and even fatal for small children. While death rates have been falling worldwide as more children receive the measles vaccine, the disease still kills more than 100,000 people a year, most under the age of 5.”

So, yeah, it’s important...

 

[6miths]

Yes it's serious. CDC says mortality rate is 1 in 500 cases. Mostly young children.

 

[Another Reader]

Having had a reaction to the flu vaccine in the Fall of 2015 that got me an ambulance ride and a few hours in the emergency room plus complications ever since, I'm a lot more circumspect about vaccinations now. I do NOT get the flu vaccine, and I compensate by staying away from public places as much as possible from December through March. I have declined all other vaccines since then, with the exception of pneumonia, because I'm just not sure what caused the problem. Pneumonia is a known problem for me, as I have had it twice.

I'm willing in general now to let the herd get the vaccines and hope the herd immunity is enough to protect me. I just don't trust the assurances of the vaccine creators and manufacturers to get every vaccine recommended.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I'm willing in general now to let the herd get the vaccines and hope the herd immunity is enough to protect me. I just don't trust the assurances of the vaccine creators and manufacturers to get every vaccine recommended.

Have you heard of the tragedy of the commons? "The tragedy of the commons is a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action."

Basically, one person can get away with, say, littering, or polluting, or not being vaccinated, maybe even a few, but if too many people decide to put their wants above those of others, the system will break down.

Now, you have a good reason to be concerned about the flu vaccine. If you don't trust vaccine manufacturers, ask your doctor, that's what they're there for! If your primary doctor can't tell you what caused the reaction, an infectious disease or allergy specialist should be able to help. There may be vaccines that wouldn't cause a reaction at all, and not only can a doctor very likely safely determine the cause of your reaction, that is important because if you don't know what caused it, you could be exposed to that same element via something else completely different.

 

[CindyBlue]

I got all the "normal" '50s-'60s childhood diseases, mumps, measles, chickenpox. I remember my mom bunking us all the same room when one of us got each one of them, to try to get everyone else to get it so she could get it all over with at the same time. I don't remember either my parents or any one of my friend's parents thinking of those diseases as anything other than "everyone got it" and it was uncomfortable but not necessarily dangerous. My hubby, who is ten years older than I am, says it was the same with him and his parents.
I guess we were all clueless about those diseases back then, all except for polio. That word scared the heck out of everyone. My aunt, who was four years older than I am, got polio before the shot was available. It left her with a permanent limp but she was an amazing girl and then woman, with a fine career and marriage, keeping a wonderful attitude about it even when it "came back" when she was an adult and put her in a wheelchair. My sister got the polio shot, which left a permanent scar on her arm, but by the time I was old enough, I got the sugar cube (which, having a very sweet tooth, I loved!)

 

[HFWR]

I remember riding in the back of the station wagon, the cargo area, not the back seat, when I was little. I'm sure some of you remember a time either before seat belts, or when nobody really thought it was important to wear them, or both. I mean, all of us probably rode without them at some point, and we survived, right?



That's because we only hear from the survivors.



Riding without seatbelts, or motorcycle helmets, or not getting vaccinated, is all no big deal until it isn't, at which point it's often fatal, or if you're "lucky", just permanently disabling. The fact that we can "get lucky" so often leads our monkey brains to think that it's OK to not get vaccinated/wear seatbelts/wear a helmet. Every time we do that, we feel a confirmation that it's OK. But it's not, because the consequences of one adverse event are profound.



This is why prevention is one of the hardest lessons to teach in public health.

There are various memes that say something to the effect of “‘Like’ if you rode in the back of a pickup, drank out of a garden hose, etc., and survived.”

Be hard for those that didn’t survive to “Like”...