Here’s how a child dies of measles

[Shuffletoesxtreme]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/child-dies-measles-vaccines/685969/

60 cases in London, where vaccinations are lowest in the country.

So what skills do you need to possess in order to choose a vaccine? Where did you do your research? The only thing we can do as parents, is look at data, and make an informed decision.

The advice I have been given is from actual doctors that I’ve seen face to face.

Whilst I completely agree with you in regards to the MMR as in although having all 3 illnesses without any harm I still vaccinated all of my kids even at the height of the 'controversy' but although we realise that febrile convulsions aren't dangerous watching them is awful 😞 my DD has seen several and that's why she is wanting to avoid anything that increases the risk and she doesn't feel the need for the slightly elevated risk for an illness that she has dealt with before. She absolutely wants them to have the MMR but not the mmrv

I'm in my early 70s and had measles as a child. I don't remember feeling ill but was kept in darkened room. I also remember the huge red spots all over. I was fortunate not to suffer any long term effects.

Two colleagues of mine, a little older than me had polio as children, and have Post-Polio Syndrome in their 60s onwards. One is permanently wheelchair-bound.

I’m one of the cohort of children from the 1970s who never got the MMR. This is because the early vaccine for measles caused atypical measles. They also did not have a mumps vaccine then and rubella (called German measles) was only given to pregnant women. In other words the measles vaccine at the time was faulty so the NHS suspended it for a few years.

I had mumps as a child, but luckily did not catch measles or rubella.
I had a rubella shot as an adult when pregnant with my first DC.

I only just got actual MMR shots in 2024 in my 50s.

My children got the MMR as babies.
I think people have forgotten just how bad these illnesses could be.

I had measles when I was 5 in the late 70s. I've never been so poorly in my life, I've never forgotten it. I made sure my kids got every vaccine going.

Maths, immunology, epidemiology and medical research skills as a start.

There are a very small number of children for whom the MMR may be a problem. Many of whom I’d imagine are already under the care of medical professionals. Otherwise, the evidence and numbers are so overwhelmingly in favour of giving the MMR, that if you have decided not to give it you have probably gone wrong with your ‘research’.

Not that I think that this is entirely relevant to this story. My guess would be that in the age of cutting back in the health service some vital vaccine outreach services have had funding cut and disappeared.

Child mortality rates from measles may at present be comparatively low to other causes of death, but they won't remain so for long if parents continue to refuse vaccinations for their children.

Measles is incredibly - viciously infectious - even before first symptoms appear. It is also an incredibly dangerous infection and even if a child survives measles, many are left with profound disabilities.

If parents continue to decline vaccination for their children, the mortality rate for measles will go up. It will increase because infacts too young for vaccination will catch it, or because adults whose immune systems are compromised by cancer catch it. Or children whose immunity has been weakens because they've had another near-eradicated disease that their parents didn't vaccinated against.

Measles is not simply a severe cold or even like flu. There are reasons why around the world parents and individuals were relieved to vaccinate their children against it.

You are here because your grandparents and great grandparents were the lucky ones.

Terrifying isn't it. So sad that children will have to get these horrible illnesses before some parents will vaccinate again

God, the level of responsibility the anti-vaxxers bear for the deaths and disabilities that some children who get measles and mumps is huge.

Not that they will ever acknowledge it.

I also feel very sorry for the small group of parents who on (genuine, not ego-puffing manipulative) doctors' advice don't get their children vaccinated on medical grounds. The genuine people get lumped in with the anti-vax religioun freaks which has to be very hard.

On another note I tried hard to get my sons vaccinated against chicken pox in the Netherlands and the authorities refused, even though I wanted to pay myself.

What's the demographic of harengay and Enfield a quick Google says 40 plus are immigrants not born here.

We have had many successful vaccination campaigns over the decades. Maybe new comers dont get that in their country so it's not on their radar. ?

We used to understand that 'research' was a word for what scientists and other academics did. They undertake years of study in preparation for doing it. If they want to publish their results other suitably qualified people have to review their articles and findings in draft first so that when they finally make it into a journal others can have some confidence that their methodology is sound and their findings can be relied upon. Even then their research will be thoroughly critiqued by others before people setting health policy decide to act on their findings and change policy.

Looking things up is not research. Reading other people's findings is not research. Doctors and other health care practitioners are qualified to evaluate research. Scientists will be too. The rest of us are not. We have to rely on what they tell us. The NHS and every other health care system in the world would not be pumping money into vaccine programmes if they did not represent value for money. They prevent disease and save money in the long run.

I don't understand how we've reached a point where unqualified people think they know better than the entire healthcare system.

Brava, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Agree 💯
There's a reason scientists and medics study multiple degrees - it takes education & training to properly interpret studies & statistics.

Essentially the Dunning-Kruger effect?

Excellent post @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

In both 2024 and 2025 there was one child death and in both cases the child had underlying immunological issues.
The reason governments want as many children vaccinated as possible is because it creates herd immunity, which protects children with auto immune conditions and other conditions which mean either they cannot be vaccinated or contracting the illness affects them worse. Vaccination is a societal responsibility to protect the most vulnerable.

Put it this way, I am a scientist and work with lots of others. Our kids are all vaccinated.

My DS was born in 1994 and whilst we were, and are, pro vaccination, it was mid Wakefield and I recall asking the HV questions about load, age, allergies and single vaccinations. As she had told me she was responsible for vaccinating my baby (I think that's the parents actually, unless there's a court order), I was very surpriswd she couldn't answer a single question and merely responded "I don't know, all I know is what's printed in the leaflet". It wasn't a great attitude.

DS had RSV/bronchiolitis as a five month baby. He wheezed for years afterwards and needed oral sterpids on occasion and there were periods of great unwellness as a baby. I am very glad my future grandchildren will also be able to be vaccinated and swerve RSV.

My experience made me feel that HV's need to be a lot more clued up and to engage with questions more. That could be impactful.

I can tell by your response that you haven’t done any research into vaccine safety. And that’s fine, the majority of people haven’t. You did what you thought was best. But without doing so you’re not in a position to preach about childhood vaccines and their safety.
You’ll be saying the government has our best interests at heart next.

I caught chickenpox as an adult and I have never felt so ill in my life. The virus will be around waiting to infect unvaccinated people as long as there are unvaccinated people for it to infect.

Like polio and smallpox the only way to eradicate these illnesses is to defeat them one vaccination at a time.

One of our neighbours caught chickenpox in his 40s and he was very ill and off work for 3 weeks! And covered from head to toe in spots.

Dear me @Twelve8Ts you do sound patronising.

So tell us, what is your medical research background and what extensive vaccine safety testing have you carried out?

Given that @RafaistheKingofClay at least named some of the skills necessary to do your own research, which you reject, what skills do we actually need to do our own research? Surely if we are so ignorant, you could teach us the beginnings? After all, presumably you reject -all- current research, so we'd have to start again from scratch?

And do you believe that the Icelandic government set off the volcanoes in the last years? After all, "follow the money".

I have a permanent hearing loss due to a bad case of measles. I don’t know if I didn’t get the jab because I was too young or if my mum just cba.

No one noticed until I started school and couldn’t hear the teacher.

I had an elderly friend whose 21 year old son died of measles.

May be due to demographic changes as well as I believe vaccine uptake is lower in some communities