Measles … I don’t understand!

As well as the potential for immediate complications from measles, there's the terrifying possibility of SSPE - very rare but absolutely devastating, and manifests years, sometimes many years and occasionally decades, after the initial infection.

It's really not a disease to take lightly, at all. My middle child didn't have his first dose of measles vaccine until around 19 months (various reasons), and two months later he had a brief faint rash and a slight fever. I still worry on and off that it was a very mild case of measles and he might yet develop SSPE, and he's nearly 17 now.

My daughter is the same Full MMR as a kid. No rubella immunity on first pregnancy. Another jab after the birth. 2 Nd pregnancy no immunity. Another jab. 3 rd pregnancy no immunity

No she means measles.

Some people don't realise that some people's parents where born near or at the beginning of the last century, and told them such stories. (My parents and old friends didn't they saw enough death of relatives and friends in childhood.)

People used to believe all sorts about the spread of diseases and now people, who should know better, spread nonsense about vaccines.

Pre vaccination, we had a large network of isolation hospitals that helped to contain some of the more deadly childhood illnesses. We also had a little more respect for the seriousness of the diseases. Everyone would have known someone who had lost a child to measles or diphtheria so if there was an outbreak in your household then you would play by the rules and isolate.
My DM caught measles off her brother by sharing comics, her brother was very poorly and ended up in hospital whereas my DM was nursed at home.

I caught measles when I was 4, along with my 3yr old sister. My DM was a nurse so was happy to nurse us at home. She set up camp beds in the living room so she could keep an eye on us, I don’t think she slept for a week. My youngest sister was 2-3mnths old and had a mild dose fortunately. My DM had nursed children with most of the childhood illnesses, so must have been going through hell with all of us infected at the same time.

My DM had seen a lot of measles damaged children and a good few deaths. She said that diphtheria was probably the worst disease to nurse. As a midwife she had seen babies born to mums who’d had rubella during pregnancy.
She would have loved Call the Midwife because it was exactly the same period that she was a midwife. Unfortunately she died 28 yrs ago so never got to see the series.
Her stories of motherhood, pregnancy, birth and disease are exactly the same as the series portrays, although if she had written the books it would have been based in a northern mill town. The series very accurately portrays the panic that accompanied measles outbreaks pre vaccination.

And no there were never such things as measles parties. Women back then were all too familiar with the mortality rates associated with measles.

Hmm I was vaccinated against it but also caught it and badly. 3 weeks in darkened room. Spots on eyes and left deaf in one ear

Yes, but that doesn't mean these parties didn't happen.

Does anyone know if you can get a third dose? I saw the nurse recently who told me that I have only had the one dose and offered the second. My mum was pro vaccine so would have got everything I needed to, but she can’t find my red book to check. This would have been almost 40 years ago so it’s not impossible the electronic notes are wrong but the app does list all my other childhood vaccines. So wondering if a third dose (if I had the second) is ok.

You mean Chicken Pox, not measles!

I’d agree it swipes your slate clean.
I’d built up a really robust immune system as a teacher, but after measles I really did catch every thing like an NQT

I had encephalitis as a complication from measles when I was 2. I am fully deaf in one ear as a result. I think I am lucky that I did not die.

My son contracted measles when he was 18 months (from nursery) after having the first dose of the vaccine. He was very poorly in hospital and it scared the life out of me. The doctor told me it was a result of poor herd immunity levels in the local community, so even though he'd had his jab, other people refusing had caused his illness. I have little time for people who won't vaccinate as a result.

Measles has the potential to kill ANY child. Roald Dahl's daughter died from measles related encephalitis. My dad, who was a robust, country lad, is nearly blind from having it aged 9 in the 60s. It is one of the scariest illnesses, I genuinely cannot fathom the ignorance behind exposing your children to it without the FREE protection we are so, so lucky to be offered.

Rant over sorry. 😂

It was similar when I started my training, we were all vaccinated against hep b and I know of a few in my cohort that were non responders to that too and came back without sufficient immunity despite vaccination.

The reason why people undergoing a transplant are vaccinated against Hep B once/ twice again before the transplant, despite having received their 3 doses as children. The vaccines work for the majority of people but in some exceptional cases, they are not enough to counter their own immunity system.

Measles has a high risk of complications even in "mild" cases. 1 in 10 cases develop ear infections and/or gastrointestinal symptoms. 1 in 20 will develop pneumonia, this is often the leading cause of death in measles patients. 1 in 200 will suffer convulsions. 1 in 1000 will develop encephalitis. Worldwide, measles is the leading cause of blindness in children. Then there are more serious complications such as SSPE which does not become apparent until years later. Overall around 1 in 5 measles cases require hospitalisation and there is no treatment for measles, only support measures and symptom management.

Measles also massively fucks your immune system and you can expect to catch absolutely everything for up to five years after because it essentially blank slates all your learned immunities.

Prior to the vaccine being introduced in the 60s, around 2.4 million people a year died from measles. Countless people grew up living with the complications of measles such as hearing or sight issues.

In essence, the vaccine has been a victim of it's own success. It's prevented so many deaths that, as a society, we're so far removed from these deaths and raft of complications that some people think they can safely dispense with the need to be vaccinated.

I'm not convinced that guardian article is correct. I'd like to see firm evidence of these measles parties. Maybe in America they had them? But in the UK, or at least in England and Wales, it was still a notifiable disease, my dad lived in the valleys, he was isolated when he had measles. There is absolutely no way his parents would have been allowed to have a party. He wasn't even allowed to mix with his siblings, he was pretty much banished to his bedroom for 10 days, and his brother had to move into his parents room!

I’ve caught both rubella and measles as a teacher. I’d even had boosters in my early 20s because our LA at the time had a programme targeting teachers for boosters due to high levels of infection.
I’ve also had an extreme reaction to a flu vaccine so I seem to have non-typical responses

If the ‘79’ in your username is your year of birth then you are three years older than me and I suspect your recollection is either false or deliberately misleading. Measles was well known as a dangerous virus during my 80s childhood. My grandfather had measles during a heavy snowfall in the 1920s and was kept indoors with the curtains tightly shut, as it was well known that measles made the eyes vulnerable and he could have been blinded by the bright light reflecting on the snow. Two of his classmates were left profoundly deaf by measles. The experience was one of the main reasons why he became a doctor and he talked about it a lot.

She should have a much higher level of protection than if she wasn't vaccinated at all.

@SabrinaThwaite I mentioned above i had recurring tonsilitis the year after i had measles and they eventually took them out because i was missing so much school

No the baby inherits immunity from the mother in the womb , but it only lasts ashort while, which is why they do not give MMR until 13 months because the inherited immunity stops the vaccine being effective

Oh really! I was told they won’t vaccinate me or test again so it just seems I have no response to rubella. I’d always advise vaccination as necessary though to protect as much as we can, if I recall there was a big uproar as people thought it was linked to autism but that myth had been debunked.

It was similar when I started my training, we were all vaccinated against hep b and I know of a few in my cohort that were non responders to that too and came back without sufficient immunity despite vaccination

I was born in the 60s and neither immunocompromised nor already unwell when I got measles. The GP still insisted my parents put blankets over the windows to protect my eyesight. They had already closed the curtains but that wasn't enough he said.

It really is not a harmless childhood infection as you seem to think.

I had measles in my 30s, neither my 10 month old or my three year old caught it.
I’d had all the boosters!

I didn’t know about measles reducing your immunity to other diseases before this thread, but throughout primary school I had recurring tonsillitis to the point where my GP (who was quite anti-hospitals) wanted me to have them removed.

I am also very short sighted - but I’m not sure whether that was due to the measles or whether it would have happened anyway (I had a short sighted parent).

In my country the chicken pox vaccine is part of the standard free childhood vaccine program. I already think chicken pox parties are crazy.