Measles … I don’t understand!

Sorry, I see the source is friends, not your mother. The principle nevertheless applies!

Nobody had measles parties because measles is so incredibly contagious, it would have been unnecessary and stupid - before vaccination, pretty much everybody got measles as a child, causing a huge amount of long term harm to a lot of people’s health. Nobody would willingly encourage their child to catch measles, unless they were very blasé about blindness, hearing damage, lung damage, brain damage, or death. There is even a rare complication from measles that can develop up to 10 years after originally catching it - subacute sclerosing panencephalitis - and measles seriously depresses the immune system for several years afterwards, so you are then at more risk from all sorts of other infections, too.

Arghhhhhh no no no not in the UK (America maybe)
Measles parties were reportedly popular in the 50s and 60s, before the MMR vaccine was introduced. There is so much wrong in this statement. In England and wales you were isolated (I can't imagine it would have been different in Scotland or N.Ireland but I don't know) so absolutely no way would you have had a party.
Next the MMR came after the initial measles vaccine. Vaccines for German measles and mumps came later. German measles or rebulla is only dangerous to the unborn child, therefore a German measles or rebulla party would not be beyond the realms of possibility, as rebulla vaccine fist appeared in 1970, a few years after the measles vaccine. In 1988 the MMR became the vaccine of choice for all three illnesses.
I think there has been confusion with German measles and measles, easy enough error, but very foolhardy to suggest measles parties, even with modern medicine, measles is still a dangerous disease. German measles is unpleasant, but no more risky than chicken pox (although dangerous for a foetus). It's why they test for rubella antibodies when you are pregnant.

"The Mirror Crack'd" is about German measles, not measles.

German measles is a fairly trivial disease, but it can cause appalling damage to babies in utero (that's what happened in that book, and provided the motive for the murder).

It's why the measles jab cannot be given to pregnant women, as it is a live virus. Even though there are no known cases of the attenuated vaccine strain causing harm to a baby during pregnancy, the risk though small is there.

So younger women in their 20s (born during the time when uptake crashed) really ought to check if they were immunised before they consider getting pregnant. Because the jab won't be given to pregnant women (German measles component to risky) so the baby will be born with no maternal protection against measles and be vert much at risk if there is an outbreak.

I don't know if the jab can be given early to the baby in those cases - there's no need to wait for the year or so for maternal protection against measles to wear off if there is none. But I don't know what the public health policy is on this. With high vaccination rates and next to no circulating disease, then there would be no compelling reason to bring the jab forward. In an outbreak, that might be something to consider.

Polio isn't even an injection!
It's 'syrup' on a sugar cube.{Or was when I had it}

A woman I know had a beastly chafing caliper on her leg from childhood polio, but that was nothing like ending up in the 'Iron lung' for life.

This lovely man caught polio aged 6.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M6yCns1g790

I vaguely remember having measles in the early sixties. The curtains had to be kept closed to keep the room dark. I also had the whooping cough also not very pleasant.

Polio parties? Have you never seen the photos of rows of children in iron lungs in polio wards in the mid-20th century? It was a deeply feared disease. Please apply some critical thinking and sprinkle a pinch of salt on your mother’s anecdotes.

Are you sure ? In my case it was German Measles - Rubella - for female children because of the risks of getting it whilst pregnant.

Me too.

There was also quarantine around those with measles then

No jab available then, so it was one of those things parents accepted their DC would have to go through, but it was still dreaded. It's so very infectious, it would sweep round a school but quarantine was attempted to protect those with younger DC (as it is worse in infants).

Parties were for German measles (less common once there was a job) and for chicken pox (a much less severe disease than measles, even though it's occasionally nasty). People didn't really bother for mumps, as it is less infectious.

The first measles jab rolled out in the late 60s - it was very effective (and still would be if it was made). It was not withdrawn because of any safety or effectiveness issues, but as a policy decision not to renew the licence (required admin every 5 or so years) because public health planners wanted MMR only.

The numbers of measles cases seem to be creeping inexorably up. Every year there are small clusters, but if one of those reaches a tipping point, the numbers shoot up (as happened in Wales a few years ago) and spread more readily to other areas (which didn't happen then, mercifully, but people were very concerned that it could).

Very young babies should have good maternal protection (assuming the mother has had either the disease or has been immunised with any version of the vaccine). but that wanes over the first year of life. That's why the jab is normally given around 12-13months. Before that it does not "take" as well, as the response might be a piggyback on remaining maternal immunity rather than the baby forming their own. That there is susceptibility in older babies (maternal protection worn off, but not yet scheduled for jab) is unimportant in a population where immunity is high (which these days means immunisation levels are high) as the disease isn't circulating. The herd protects those babies, who then get the jab at the age that doctors know it is overwhelmingly likely they will form their own (and durable) response.

shallweorderpizza
I'm here for the Malory Towers sub plot on this thread. Those girls and their peers over at St Clares were not allowed to go to school unless they had a health certificate! And there were loads of plot features about quarantine and the San.
I vividly remember the Alicia plotline, she was relieved it was measles as she thought she had been struck stupid for bullying. And yes she did fail the exams. She went to a London University College I think, maybe LSE.
And it was in the Mirror cracked that german measles featured. Agatha Christie made it quite clear that this was a deeply selfish act by the sick woman. And Miss Marple pretty much said she deserved to be murdered!
I'm very pro vax probably because of my childhood reading materials. Also I've never taken cocaine and never will because Regina Morrow died from it in that Sweet Valley High book.

They certainly did not . My dad is 84 and they all knew how dangerous measles was as they were more familiar with its killer potential. Measles cases were fully isolated.

Absolutely agree. Considering the effects of polio who in God’s name would take their kid to a ‘polio party’ and risk them being incapacitated for life, rather than get a simple vaccination. I’ve read some utterly batshit things on MN but this wins hands down !!

When are you saying this was happening? I'm 68 and when I was a child, measles was something to be feared, though it didn't terrorise mothers in the way German measles (rubella) did. My eyes were badly damaged by measles when I was 10 so I've had that to contend with for all my life virtually and I was very, very ill with it.

Measles is horrible; had it as a kid and was really poorly
Please please vaccinate

A baby in our family was hospitalised with measles, week before vaccination was due. Apparently in our area only about 70% of people vaccinate, need over 90% for herd immunity. A big immigrant community here who unfortunately don't trust officialdom. Probably justified in some of their countries of origin.

I was born in 1980 so I think I would have had the single vaccines as I don't believe the MMR existed then. I caught measles in the mid 90s as a teen, I don't think I've ever felt as ill before or since as I did with measles, including when I caught covid. I just remember lying there in the dark all day, couldn't read, couldn't watch tv as my eyes were too sore. I remember them being so red and painful that I could barely open them.
I was lucky and didn't suffer any lasting effects but it is horrendous to have. Its really not a disease to be complacent about.

I'm now immunosuppressed for unrelated reasons and it makes me so cross that some people are so blasé about vaccines and childhood diseases. These diseases still have the potential to be killers, we're just lucky that science has allowed us to minimise that risk.

When people talk about increased life expectancy these days, a big part of that is that less people die in infancy or early childhood which is a large part of what brought average life expectancy stats down.

Just take advantage of the science we have available and vaccinate your children, for their sake and for the sake of those children who, for medical reasons, can't be.

I think that was chickenpox, not measles. Having chickenpox once gives most people immunity so they used to expose their kids to get it over and done with. Measles is potentially deadly.

People are getting muddled up with German measles which is nothing like Measles proper.

As for ''polio parties'' Cannot believe that anyone would have held those - Who would risk their child, and condemn them to paralysis or even the dreaded ''Iron Lung''?

I too had Measles , and it was grim. Felt really bad with it. It swept around the school like wildfire - kids usually vomited as a first sign. I was sick in the car, but Dad still dropped me off at school as parents worked.

I was sick later at school , and they phoned Dad who carried me to step grandparents house where I was looked after for what felt like ages.

I remember the spinning antique cowl on the chimney of the house opposite, and watched it for hours while lying in bed through sore eyes.

There absolutely were NOT Polio parties. This is absolute crap!

Me neither. I think this poster is maybe thinking of chickenpox. I’m old enough to remember the school of thought that it was inevitable your child would get it, so better to get it over with early as most people then have lifetime immunity. Measles is an entirely different beast and l remember being hospitalised because of some nasty complications it caused.

NHS GPs in London are advising exactly this as infection rates are high.

Details on council website https://www.southwark.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/health-advice-and-support/measles-mumps-and-rubella-mmr-vaccination-in-southwark

Which was daft, considering the complications of measles are: encephalitis, deafness and blindness.
The Victorians isolated measles cases for a good reason.
I think you have muddled this up with chicken pox (though that also has complications).

Pre vaccine if they had parties for measles it was so they caught it young. Better to lose an infant than a teen.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/jul/26/healthandwellbeing.health

I am a 70s child and my mum's GP advised her NOT to vaccinate me against measles. I of course caught it🙄

Also had mumps and chicken pox.

I wasn't allowed near ANYONE!