First measles death suspected in Swansea

[CatherinaJTV]

www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/measles-death-suspected-Swansea/story-18746494-detail/story.html#axzz2QtsV9Z49

25 year old man found dead, measles suspected, autopsy pending.

I've just seen this on the news. We'll have to wait for results of post mortem testing, and it's not clear how long that might take.

I was just coming to post about this, how sad.

Please, please get your children vaccinated.

I've seen several threads over the last few weeks where people have sain the 'measles isn't that bad'.

Well, clearly it is that bad. (I'm sure that someone will be along in a minute to say that he had a lack of vitamin A in his diet or something )

It is sad and no one will say that deaths from complications of measles never happen. It is more severe in adulthood though and we don't know if he had any underlying conditions that may have put him in the more at risk group. Probably best not to speculate - hopefully we'll know more soon.

Don;t forget the one person who has died of measles over the last 15 years, a teenager, had a lung condition which contributed but which was barely mentioned in media reports.

Here we have ,A death is being investigated as part of the measles epidemic in Swansea' and already everyone's made their mind up. We really need to wait for he results.

Ahere are the Government stats for measles deaths It goes only to 2008 (I'll try to find one that goes to 2012). Between 1998 (15 years ago) and 2008, and excluding there were 13 deaths (11 if you exclude provisional data).

It's just been confirmed that this man did have measles

Can't do links - C&P'd:

"Public Health Wales laboratory tests have today confirmed a diagnosis of measles in a 25-year-old male from Swansea who died on Thursday 18 April," said Dr Marion Lyons, PHW's director of health protection.

"Whatever the cause of death in this case we should not be surprised if, as the outbreak grows, we start to see deaths in Wales".

Here's a link to various measles statistics As there are stats to 2012, but nothing on deaths since 2008, perhaps there have been none in that period.

It said on the BBC website that there have been no deaths since 2008.

The health expert on 5Live said 2 deaths from measles in the last 20 years.

Two deaths too many, for a disease that could have gone the way of polio.

The previous 2 deaths were in immunocompromised people. Not that this makes their deaths any less tragic - just that they were more susceptible to complications. I wonder if this man had any underlying conditions and what he actually died from.

2 deaths from acute measles. The other measles deaths were attributed to late effects of measles.
Just because you survive the initial infection, doesn't mean that SSPE won't kill you a few years down the line

Widow, SSPE is a very rare complication. You know that many MNer's children have or have had measles recently don't you? Do you really think that's a helpful comment? The vast majority will recover from measles without any long term effects.

Sorry, if it's not helpful . Personally I think lying about the fact that measles can have late effects that kill is not helpful.

Up-thread it was claimed there were only two deaths (in the UK) from measles in 20 years. That's blatantly untrue. If you talk about measles deaths, you need to count all of them. Don't try to downplay how dangerous measles are to spare people's feelings.

I don't need to downplay it Widow. It's a very rare complication. Language such as "doesn't mean that SSPE won't kill you a few years down the line" is just unnecessary scaremongering. Would you tell a recovering cancer patient 'just because it hasn't killed you this time doesn't mean it won't kill you a few years down the line' I mean you don't want to downplay the risks of cancer just to spare someone's feelings do you?

The difference is that you can't vaccinate against cancer, but you can against measles, and so reduce that risk even further.

Downplaying the risks of a preventable disease may lead to people not protecting their children against it.

Some of the children who have had measles have been vaccinated. In any case, if they've had measles there's not much they can do about it so telling them 'you might still die' is just unnecessary scaremongering.

I think until we know this man died from complications due to measles that blaming vaccination/lack of vaccination is premature.

His death might be totally unrelated to measles.

HPA figures for all cases 2012 showed under 7% in those known to have been jabbed (either MMR or single). Nothing on rate in current outbreak, which I expect would behave quite differently from a series of smaller outbreaks.

It's about risk though, the risk of vaccine damage (rare) against the risk of complications (not so rare). I went with vaccination for my DS who is autistic...but not as a result of vaccination.
The risks of complications from measles just seemed too great a chance to take. Other parents will decide differently because they will assess the risks differently.

Of the 13 measles deaths in UK since early 1990s, only two were of the acute disease. The rest were delayed effects: IIRC, it can take up to 15 years for SSPE to show up.

Jake, many people opt for the singles measles vaccine.

I think that the figure that around 10% of those diagnosed with measles currently are in hospital speaks volumes.

The complications rate for measles is about 30% (according to CDC), but not all of those require hospitalisation, and only a very small proportion lead to permanent damage.

That's 70% who are absolutely fine (to reassure anyone who may have a DC with measles or suspected measles). But the inescapable fact is that you cannot tell where in the 70/30 your poorly child might be. Or if, within the 30, how serious is can get.

Complications of the vaccine are far far lower - even allowing for under reporting of side-effects.