Are you scared of Measles? - Page 2

[Gitti]

Looks like the Brady Bunch were not afraid of MEASLES

[Deborah]

I had the measles. It was unpleasant. I survived.

I wouldn't mind if my grandchildren got them. Although I'd be concerned about my daughter and son-in-law who haven't had them. The worse danger now is for adults who didn't get measles as children because they aren't necessarily immune.

[nikkiethridge]

Yes, I'm actually scared of the measles. DS isn't vaccinated but this is one disease I worry about. Not so much the death statistics, but just that he may get it bad enough to end up brain dead and paralyzed. No idea if I will do the MMR or not (wanted to do a dose of attenuvax but Merck stopped making it, and not sure i want to do 'all, or nothing'). But yeah.

PS. yes, I make sure he eats things that are high in vitamin A.

[PlayaMama]

yep. measles is one that scares me moderately. it's one of the few i will be getting my kids vaxed for it.

the one that really scares me is diphtheria. did anyone ever read Mrs. Mike? it's this awesome book about this woman that moves to the canadian wilderness in the early part of the 1900's and marries a mounty. both her kids die from diphtheria and it's really stuck with me. i read it in high school and i still tear up thinking about trying her trying to keep her sick babies alive without any medical treatment.

[SunshineJ]

Nope not scared at all. What little fear I did have evaporated upon the rare discovery of a set of medical books published in 1919. Things like Scarlett Fever and Smallpox were huge concerns (remember, no antibiotics at that time) but Measles (and chickenpox) barely registered an entry. The one big thing that stuck with me was they were pretty insistant that for the first few days the patient needs to be kept quiet, and if that is done there should be no complications. In our go-go-go society I have to wonder if some of the children who do have a terrible time with it were allowed to do that. (I realize as well that unless really sick, many parents don't have a choice but to take thier kids to outside care, and that also, we as a society no longer see Measles much, and it's likely that initial symptoms can be mistaken for an everyday illness.) But no, there are FAR worse conditions out there to keep me up at night or shuddering with the memory of (rotovirus for example! That was AWFUL!).

[mcgee]

I came down with measles at a year old, and I did just fine, according to my mother. That I had no serious complications is impressive because I was a very sickly little kid. Other kids got a headache, I got encephalitis. Other kids got a stomach bug and recovered fine. I would get one and puke until I was dehydrated and needed IV fluids. So for my mom to say that measles was no big deal for me is huge.

Our DD (age 3) is vaccinated, but we're giving serious consideration to stopping vaccines for her and not vaccinating DS (2 months old). Based on my experience, I'm not overly paranoid about them getting measles.