Before the Vaccine: My Memory of Measles

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/before-the-vaccine-my-memory-of-measles.html

Lisa Kaplan Gordon January 23, 2015 6:01 pm

My 88-year-old father still blames the Ringling Bros. for giving me the measles 50-some years ago. And the current Disneyland-linked outbreak bought back memories of that miserable time.

I was four and still a thumb-sucker. After trying everything to help me break the habit, including painting some vile stuff on my fingers called “Don’t!” my parents promised a circus outing if I kept fingers out of my mouth for two weeks.

It was the carrot I needed. In two Sundays, no longer a thumb-sucker, I buckled up my Mary Janes and headed for the circus. I still remember the terrifying “freak show” that flanked the entrance to the big top and the sequined aerialists who swung overhead gripping ropes only with their teeth.

About a week after The Greatest Show on Earth, I was flat on my back with the measles.

FULL story at link.

[Thinkingabout]

1. It was sorta expected when i was young, kids lost their lives with measles.

My mom had lost close family members and if the vaccine been available we would have gotten it. It was also sad for pregnant mothers because of birth defects of their babies.

[hunter]

2. I was vaccinated fresh new for measles...

... but the mumps sucked.

[Panich52]

4. Measles common in 50s

In 50s, we thought of 2 types: 'big' & 'small' measles (never remember which was considered rebella, German measles) I don't remember getting vac f/ measles, but Mom said I got one f/ 'small.' Few years later, younger sis got 'big' ones. I was only one that was allowed to visit her - apparently 'small' measles as enough alike 'big' to protect me.

We were fortunate that Mom understood the value of vaccinations. I dealt w/ chicken pox & mumps (felt fine w/ mumps, just looked funny) because I don't think there was a vac f/ either then. But I remember small pox vac, and wearing plastic cup over it f/ few days, and going to my small town's community center to get the brand new oral polio vac (ate a sugar cube).

While I don't like gov't telling me how to run my life (I always wear seat belt but oppose law that says have to) but vaccinations are a public health issue, as the Disneyland outbreak shows. There's even a suspected case in Alaska (they'd recently been in Calif). Thete's no excuse f/ highly communicable diseases that can be easily curtailed.

[Omaha Steve]

27. I too remember having mumps, chickenpox, and german measles

Our kids had chickenpox at the same time before there was a vaccine for it. The older the child the harder it was on them.

I knew somebody older than me that had polio and a limp from it the rest of her life. I remember going to the library to take a sip of water for the polio vaccine.

http://www.american-inventor.com/dr-jonas-salk.aspx

Since he wanted it to be distributed freely to everyone, Dr. Jonas Salk never patented his polio vaccine. Though an oral vaccine developed by Dr. Albert Sabin gained popularity in the early 1960s, Salk's vaccine is now returning to favor because of its lowered risk factor.

[Siwsan]

28. The only vaccines I ever received, as a child, were polio and small pox

I had measles, mumps and chicken pox but have no memories of being particularly ill, while going through the infections. I never get the flu vaccine because I've never had the flu. Guess I just have a strong immune system.

Had to get a lot of vaccines while I was in the Navy but, again, no bad reactions from any of them. Never quite figured out why I had to get a yellow fever vaccine, to be stationed in Iceland.

[displacedtexan]

29. Me, too. And my mother took me to visit people with Measles, Mumps &Chicken Pox

It was common to get the childhood diseases out of the way before starting school.

[Siwsan]

30. I'm not an anti vax-r but I sometimes wonder how they affected immune systems

If we never really let our immune system do its job, for several generations, does it start to 'devolve'? People multi-vaccinate and practically bathe their kids with anti-bacterial everything. We all went through the usual childhood illnesses, and also used to play outside, in the dirt, grass, old barns, creeks and a drainage ditch that doubled for the Nile River, when we played 'Tarzan', every hour our parents would let us stay outside, getting cut and scraped up without ever stopping to wash off the wounds, and most of us grew into very health adults.

[Panich52]

34. Big diff between vax & anti-bacs

Vacines protect against communicable diseases. Anti-bacterials don't. As early as 1980s (probably earlier) med specialists warned about bacteria resistance from overuse of anti-bacs. Vax don't have that problem.

Anti-bacs should only be used during certain times - like if a susceptible patient is at home. Washing hands w/ soap (sing Twinkle, twinkle little star 2x) is most always sufficient.

Studies also show that the more sterile an environment a baby is raised in, the more likely to develop allergies & be susceptible to bacterial infection. Early exposure 'immunizes' of sort & exposes us to beneficial bacteria.

BTW, hand sanitizers are great. They are not anti-bacterials. They flat-out kill, not 'poison'

[Siwsan]

43. Not equating the two - just the effect on creating a lazy immune system

The sickest kids I know have been raised by uber-sanitizing parents. which you pointed out in the study on babies.

The only time in my life that I've had a running series of illness (serious bronchial/throat infections), was when I listened to people and went to the doctor for antibiotics and other prescription medications. I still had 2 recurrences a year.

Then I stopped with the doctor and turned to some old fashioned natural remedies along with some common sense bed time. It's been years since the last occurrence. I'm convinced my poor immune system just needed a little natural kick in the ass.

[LeftishBrit]

44. Vaccination doesn't create a lazy immune system; it does the opposite (for the specific bug)

The whole point of vaccinations is to expose the individual to a weak or dead form of a bug, so as to stimulate the immune system to work more actively against that bug.

Excessive avoidance of exposure to germs might create a lazy immune system; but that is totally different from vaccination.

[Siwsan]

45. Interesting - Guess I'm a low info vaccine kind of person!

What I wrote always seemed logical. I know overuse of antibiotics is an issue but now I feel more educated on vaccinations. I still won't get any more. Had my fill, in the military, which (apparently coincidentally) is when my only experience with bad health issues started.

[displacedtexan]

47. I just had a booster shot last year when the grandbaby was born.

With these anti-vaccsters out there, it's not going to be safe to take babies outside until they're old enough for their complete courses of vaccinations.

[Siwsan]

49. All I know is the only time in my life that I was chronically ill, was after getting vaccinations

And it wasn't a reaction to the vaccinations, (all received between basic training and my honorary discharge from the Navy), but my immune system crashed and I became chronically ill with respiratory infections, awful ear infections and sore throats, for my entire enlistment. It took a couple of years, but once I no longer had to get those damned "boosters", stopped taking the antibiotics and took common sense control of my own health care, my health vastly improved, and I haven't even had a cold, in years.

But that's just my experience. I might just have a very strange physiology.

[uppityperson]

48. Vaccines encourage your immune system to do its job. They encourage the production of antibodies

That way when you run across that virus, your immune system is already ready to make more antibodies. Vaccines sort of jump start the process by encouraging your immune system to work.

[uppityperson]

5. I remember spending several days in my parent's bed in their bedroom with the curtains shut tight

I was too sick to read my comics and my eyes hurt too much to open them. I was hot, hurting, my skin hurt, my eyes hurt, my stomach hurt.

My younger sibs stayed at my grandparents house while I was sick to hopefully avoid catching it. The vaccine came too late for me, but luckily not for them.

I am the only one with hearing loss and wonder if having the measles set me uup.

[Retrograde]

40. I remember being kept in the dark

I wasn't yet 5 when I got the measles, and the only thing I remember is that I had to stay in a dark room for a week.

[Siwsan]

46. Ah, the closed curtains - I had forgotten about that

I was sent to my grandmother's house because my Mom had just had my little brother. I never felt sick so it was TORTURE to be kept in bed and in the dark.

[MohRokTah]

6. I had Chicken pox, measles, mumps, and rubella as a child.

I survived all 4.

I had been vaccinated against smallpox and polio.

I received the MMR vaccination in grade school a couple of years after my bout with rubella.

My little brother nearly died from chicken pox.

One kid in our town died from rubella.

Another kid was severely brain damaged from measles.

An adult man in our town caught the mumps and became sterile.

I am a crusader against the ignorance of anti-vaxxers.

[dflprincess]

7. I had them all as well - there were no vaccines then

had there been, I guarantee my mother would have had us vaccinated.

Rubella (aka German Measles) were really no big deal if you got them as a kid. Horrible disease if a woman got them when she was pregnant. One of the neighbor kids came down with them and my mom, along with nearly every other mother on the street encouraged their daughters to go visit the poor sick child. None of us could figure out that strange maternal behavior as we were usually forbidden from going anywhere near a sick kid. Years later, of course, we realized they were trying to protect their future grandchildren.

The sickest I've ever been in my life was with measles though I was lucky and got through them without any permanent damage.

Our next door neighbor had had polio and used a wheelchair and crutches. When I was in my 40s there was a woman a few years older than I who was active in the DFL who walked with a bad limp because of polio - then she began to develop problems with post polio syndrome and wound up barely able to walk.

As I've ranted before, you'll notice that the anti-vax types mainly belong to an age group that never had any of these illnesses and never knew anyone who had them. They really have no clue how dangerous these illnesses can be.

[jeff47]

16. Depends how young you were when you caught Rubella.

When my fever hit 108, I got to be dumped into bathtub full of cold water until the ambulance arrived. I was about 2 years old.

[Hekate]

26. How utterly scary for your parents and you. It's not so much age, as it is bad luck ...

Bad luck is why some kids (and adults) die and others are maimed. You were lucky to have survived unscathed -- and I'm glad for you.

[jeff47]

32. Fortunately for me, too young to remember it. (nt)

[dflprincess]

33. Yikes - your parents must have been frantic.

After I posted my first comment I did think I should amend to "in most cases no big deal" in regards to rubella rather than make a blanket statement that made it sound like it was never a big deal - but I didn't bother to go back and fix it.

[Hekate]

25. Your memories accord with mine. Every school had its polio survivors. When the vax came along....

....clinics were held at my elementary school at night and the line of parents herding their kids in for the injections stretched across the playground and into the street. Polio killed, crippled, maimed. Every parent knew that and feared it.

Mumps were truly miserable for my sibs and me, but later I met a girl who'd gotten mumps encephalitis. She was blind, and wore braces on her legs, and used crutches. Her sister was in my school, but this girl was not and never would be.

MMR was available when my kids were babies, and I did not mess around. I can tell you how to hold a baby while it's getting its shot, and how to sooth the resulting bump later with warm compresses. But what I cannot tell you is how to be a complete idiot and not vaccinate your babies or follow up with booster shots later on.

Issues of vaccine safety have been settled. At this point, anti-vaxxers are pretty much striving for the Darwin Award for their children.

[greatlaurel]

8. I suffer from hearing and vision loss from measles as a child.

Anti vaccine people are total idiots. I was unfortunately born too late to get vaccinated. All my kids got all the available vaccines. These people are some of the dumbest and most selfish people on Earth.

Measles, chicken pox, mumps and whooping cough are horrible and dangerous diseases.

[Skittles]

18. thank you for chiming in, greatlaurel

I am tired of people thinking because so many of us Boomers sailed through these miseries unscathed, everyone did.....it simply is NOT true

[greatlaurel]

37. That is an excellent point. I am, also, very tired of those dismissive comments.

These people who make it out like these childhood diseases are no big deal and bragging about their supposedly superior immune systems are just falling for the anti science right wing/libertarian propaganda. It is maddening to see these comments over and over. Many people have suffered from lifelong problems caused by these childhood diseases. Eye problems, joint problems, damage to teeth, heart problems, the list of problems caused by the common childhood diseases is extensive and dreadful. Most people never think about some of their chronic ailments as having started from these childhood diseases. Another thing that bothers me is how easily adults dismiss the suffering of children from illnesses. These diseases cause real pain and suffering. I do not understand parents who think it is OK for their children to be a risk to these awful diseases.

Thank you for your wise words.

[Hekate]

19. Thank you for speaking up, greatlaurel.I'm tired of the utter ignorance of our resident anti-vaxxers

Absolute and utter ignorance wrapped in self-righteousness.

[greatlaurel]

35. Thank you for your support and taking a stand against ignorance.

It is shocking how quickly the horrors of these diseases are replaced by the anti vaccination propaganda. It is frightening how people can be so thoroughly scammed by the anti-science propaganda. This is evidence of how easy it is to subvert civilization. I read somewhere and I can no longer find the link to the article that a lot of the anti vaccination propaganda is funded by some of the anti modern medicine churches.

The libertarian propaganda about how some people are vastly superior than others has had a more subtle, but just as insidious impact on many in the upper classes where so much of the anti vaccine movement appears to be based. In their heart of hearts, these people truly believe their superiority and are easily fooled into thinking that those nasty vaccines are not necessary for their genetically superior offspring. They have convinced themselves that only the inferior and physically weaker lower classes need to be bothered with getting vaccines. It reminds me of an interview I saw of Steve Jobs after he was very ill. He had been diagnosed with the pancreatic cancer at a very early stage when surgery could have been very effective. He refused to have the surgery to have the tiny tumor removed because he did not want his beautiful body cut into and desecrated. Tragically for him, he opted for some nutty health regimen that was completely useless. The attitude that his body would somehow magically get rid of the cancer seems similar to these anti vaccine people who think their children somehow have superior immune systems that will not allow them to come down with "common" people's diseases.

Long way around to say what you said in just a few well chosen words.

Appears I missed a cowardly poster.

[uppityperson]

36. I have wondered if my hearing loss began with measles as a toddler. Thank you for speaking up, it

is incredible, the anti-vac stuff.

"we all survived"? All of us who survived anything survived but many died and were injured.
"big pharma wants to make money"? Bull. They make much more off medicine to treat those who get ill than from vaccines.
"why do you worry about your vaccinated child if mine is unvaccinated"? I worry about all the children, and adults, who may catch easily preventable diseases spread by the unvaccinated, including your child.
"I keep my child healthy with immune boosting foods"? Those foods that cost way more than vaccines and do you have a CLUE that you can also do that if you vaccinate?

It is a first world thing, not waiting until your child survives measles before naming them.

Regarding the cowardly poster? She'll be back, unfortunately.

[greatlaurel]

38. I worry about these fools' children. How awful to take the risk that they might get measles or

whooping cough or chicken pox. It is so shocking to me that they are willing to risk their own children suffering from these diseases. They have no empathy for the suffering their own children might go through, let alone the suffering of others exposed to their sick kids.

My kids were some of the first to get the chicken pox vaccine. Many of the people I worked with told me how stupid I was to get them vaccinated for this "mild" disease. Of course, none of them offered to give me 4 weeks of their sick leave so I could stay home with my kids while they recuperated from chicken pox, either. I feel vindicated even more now that it turns out they will be protected from getting shingles later in life thanks to getting the vaccine as children. My spouse had shingles about 10 years ago and it was awful. We were lucky because we caught it quick and the family doc was able to give him an antiviral med that helped, but it was still so horribly painful. I have known a number of people who got shingles and suffered tremendously. One of my coworkers came down with shingles while she was pregnant. It was ghastly how much pain she was in. Shingles has contributed to the decline and premature deaths for several elderly people I knew, too.

The ridiculous idea about immune boosting foods will protect their children is mind bogglingly ignorant. The amount of money made by these quacks that push their special diets and other malarkey is a lot more than Big Pharma makes from vaccines. We used to call these scam artists snake oil salesmen. The term needs to be brought back into general usage. These anti vaccine people have no clue about germ theory or how antibodies function. The deliberate destruction of science education in the US is appalling.

Hearing loss does happen from measles, as does eye problems. I had perfect hearing and eyesight until I had measles. I was very sick. This was when docs still made house calls and he told my mom if my fever did not break within hours he was going to put me in the hospital. Luckily, my fever did break and the damage was not devastating, just enough to cause problems. Of course, back then the attitude was just deal with it. The school would do their annual hearing checks and I always had a letter go home to my parents, but they never had enough money to buy hearing aids. I finally got glasses in 6th grade which made a huge difference in my academic performance. I never did get quite back up to speed in mathematics, having missed getting to see what was written on the blackboards for a couple of years. I would not wish being that sick on anyone.

Great post, uppityperson. I really appreciate your kind words and well thought out post.

[Old Codger]

9. All "childrens" diseases

As a child I and all of my siblings and friends had measles, mumps, chicken pox and whooping cough,They were all very common in my childhood, still had Polio around also, it was called infantile paralysis and was a real fear in the summer....A couple of my friends got it so was definitely a big deal when they came out with polio vaccine and gave every kid in the entire school system the shots..this was about 1954 I believe I would have been 13 and in about seventh grade ...

[Lugnut]

15. I had them all.

1951-52 was filled with one disease after another for me. One of my grade school classmates had polio and wore a leg brace. When my own children were born I was grateful for vaccines to prevent these diseases.

[csziggy]

12. Wait until you get shingles - a real possibility for those who had chicken pox

And it is nothing to laugh at.

I've got the herpes zoster virus living in my left hand - the same thing that causes chicken pox and shingles. Most of the time it's quiet, but when it flares up, it feels as though someone is holding a lit cigarette to the spot - 24 hours a day until the flare up is over.

Shingles feels just like that but rather than one isolated area, it tends to cover a wide span. My Dad had it across his entire back and the pain lasted weeks. He could not sit with his back against a chair, could not lie on his back, could barely stand to have a shirt on.

I got the shingles vaccine, but it has not stopped this infection from flaring so I suspect it will not prevent shingles in my future.

So if you think chicken pox is no sweat, it is a very real danger for intense pain when the victim gets older.

[jeff47]

17. You have utterly zero idea what you are talking about.

But people who want to sell you something have convinced you that everyone else is lying.

You will find that your theory about your immune system is wrong. And I hope you figure it out before it leads to something very painful.

[freshwest]

13. Wow, I had not heard from people who had friends or family die from this...

Polio, TB and smallpox were the big scares when I was a kid and we were all vaccinated at the public elementary school.

I got mumps, chickenpox and measles all in one summer. The mothers on the block had been taught that was the way to get immunity as there were no vaccinations at the time. If there'd been one, we would have gotten it at school. They weren't 'anti-vax' like people are now, most of that comes from CT shows like Alex Jones.

When I camed down with these three diseases, I didn't have any complications, nor did any of the neighbors, other than some kids scratched themselves and got pock marks. I didn't, so no scars.

I guess we were very lucky kids when I hear these stories here. I didn't like being told I had to stay in the bedroom with the lights off that week that I got the measles.

I've learned since that shingles comes from getting chickenpox as a kid, so I wish the MMR had been around with I was a kid. Now I've had to get a shingles shot, I sure didn't want to get any more illnesses.

There's been so much fear being put out there for people to create this anti-vax movement. I've heard a variety of horror stories, like there is cancer viruses in the shot, microchips, nanobots or whatever. They have done a great disservice to those who have gotten these diseases.

I have to admit, my kid had very bad reactions to his first MMR that worried me, but not with boosters. I've never had a bad reaction from these shots. And I don't believe they harmed me. But that's what the paranoia peddlers have done.

[Retrograde]

41. Smallpox was a deadly scourge for much of European history

Back c. 1515, a guy named Hernan Cortez managed to conquer the Aztec empire. Was he a better soldier or commander? No. Better weapons? Maybe initially, but he was outnumbered and the locals were intelligent enough to adapt. Was he able to form an effective alliance of their enemies? Maybe, but not decisive. What he had on his side was smallpox: his soldiers had survived it back in Europe, but when he introduced it to an unexposed population the results were devastating.

Measles had similar effects when it was introduced to previously isolated populations, particularly in the Pacific Islands. It sounds quaint, but it is a potentially deadly disease.

[Vinca]

20. I don't understand the anti-vax crowd at all.

It's a shame there isn't a time machine to whisk them back to the days of iron lungs and little kids in leg braces. The horror of the diseases now returning has been lost over time.

[alphafemale]

21. JUst take them to a graveyard from before the time of vaccines.

All those stones of children were because there were no vaccines.

[Old Codger]

22. Maybe if

They went to this site and read this story it may have some effect on their outlook

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/24/north-texan-one-of-10-still-living-in-iron-lung/?page=all

[vankuria]

23. Pregnant women were especially high risk

I worked with developmentally disabled adults born before the vaccine and their disabilities were directly related to their moms contracting measles while carrying them. I worked with one lady who was born healthy and by all accounts normal until she contracted chicken pox at 18 months old and after that she never progressed beyond that age.

Why anyone would want to put their child at risk is beyond me.

[herding cats]

24. I had chickenpox and gave it to my mom, who ended up in the hospital from it.

She later developed shingles from her exposure. It was before the vaccine, and clearly wasn't my fault but I still feel guilty.

I'm lucky to have been born in the era of vaccinations. My aunt, who was born pre vaccine, had measles as a child (or maybe rubella?) which left her with a heart condition that killed her when she was 32.

[distantearlywarning]

31. My 45-year-old husband had the chicken pox as a young child (way before the vaccine was available)

It happened while the buds of his adult teeth were still forming inside his gums, and the pox stained and weakened both of his adult canines, and it is a noticeable defect. It is something he has been ashamed of all his life. More seriously, he went to the dentist last year and was told that he had abscesses above both those teeth. He had to have expensive two root canals and two crowns. The dentist has told him that the chicken-pox induced injury in those teeth will continue to be a potential hazard to his dental health as he ages. It is entirely possible that he may have to have those teeth removed and replaced with bridges or dentures or whatever (not sure what the exact term is).

Also more seriously, he came down with the shingles two years ago, which is something that happens to many people who contracted chicken pox as children. It was on his face, which can be a very dangerous location. Luckily, he seemed to have a mild case, and recovered in a couple of weeks. He said it was very painful. I know that some people suffer long-term or permanent nerve damage from shingles outbreaks.

Despite being exposed to chicken pox numerous times as a child, I never came down with it. I believe I may actually have a gene variant (common among those of Scandanavian heritage) which protects against chicken pox and other herpes viruses (as well as HIV). I have never had a cold sore either. However, after my husband got the shingles, which can be contagious and very, very dangerous for adults who never had chicken pox, I didn't want to take any chances so I got the chicken pox shot. The lady at the public health department was amazed to be giving it to someone of my age so I felt a little weird, but it was worth it. I've also had a recent TDAP booster to protect against whooping cough. I don't want whooping cough myself, but more than that, I don't want to pass whooping cough to an infant who isn't old enough to have a vaccination yet.

Anyway, my point is that even the diseases of our youth which were common and "survivable" can have significant long-term health effects. Anti-vaxxers are 100% wrong-headed and putting their own children and others around them at risk!

[madfloridian]

39. We had to stay in a darkened room because of possible eye damage.

The only time I was sicker was when I had the mumps when I was in college.

[dembotoz]

42. had measles as a kid over Easter break

`all i really remember is that the relatives were over for Easter Dinner and I was stuck in my room cause i was sick--and this was before kids had tv or x box in their bedrooms.

thinking it was late 50s