Why is measles dangerous?

Piedmont ^ | none given | Piedmont

[DallasBiff]

Why is measles dangerous?

The recent measles outbreak underscores the need for every child to be vaccinated. Jesse Couk, M.D., a Piedmont infectious disease specialist, explains why measles is dangerous and how it can be prevented.

[DallasBiff]

Well I was 5 years old and ran away under a desk not to get the measles shot by the county nurse, she found me and forcibly gave me the shot.

Well if this is relevant, saw a Brady Bunch episode on METV about the Brady kids getting the measles, and it was no big deal. The kids got a few days out of school.

[jimtorr]

The danger is mainly from high fever. Other possible complications include diarrhea, ear infections and pneumonia, each in about 7% of cases. Also, less commonly, seizures, blindness and inflammation of the brain.

So, measles can be serious, but not usually.

[metmom]

My siblings and I got measles as kids. Everyone did fine. Never heard of anyone dying or having problems from it.

And considering the improvement in medical care and anti-biotics/virals/inflammatories a lot of those can be prevented.

And it confers lifetime immunity. Depending on somewhat unreliable vaccines and supplies puts a lot of people at risk, especially those who get it as adults.

[2001convSVT]

Not sure, but can’t measles cause sterility and birth defects?

[Jim Noble]

My siblings and I got measles as kids. Everyone did fine. Never heard of anyone dying or having problems from it.

Measles is dangerous in adults.

When I was seven there was measles in my classroom (there was no vaccine yet). My Dad had a public health nurse come to the house and give me a shot of gamma globulin (which at that time contained measles antibodies), and I didn't get measles.

When I was in high school, girls were the first to get the vaccine (so I didn't get it).

I caught measles from a patient when I was 28.

I had a high fever for two weeks. I had myocarditis and developed heart scarring. I turned yellow from measles hepatitis. I was out of work for three months.

The death rate in children from measles in the 1950s was around 500 per year. Not polio, not smallpox, but 500 dead kids, that was accepted as "just one of those things".

[goodnesswins]

Almost every childhood illness “can be dangerous”...but are not in most cases. Parents need to parent

[SunkenCiv]

'Measles' in titles, 2025 only:

• Texas declares measles outbreak over after 762 confirmed cases [08/19/2025]
• Here's What The Corporate Media Won't Tell You About Rising Measles Cases in America [07/22/2025]
• Alberta's measles outbreaks surpass case counts reported for entire U.S. (In terms of measle cases... Canada is winning.) [07/14/2025]
• Measles outbreak in North Dakota prompts local health officials to quarantine unvaccinated schoolchildren [05/10/2025]
• RFK Jr. Leaves NewsNation Panel Speechless With One Brilliant Point on Measles [05/01/2025]
• Another Texas Child Dies after Recovering from Measles [04/11/2025]
• CDC redeploys to Texas measles outbreak after layoffs, as RFK Jr. calls vaccine "most effective way" to stop spread [04/08/2025]
• Robert F Kennedy Jr Claims Anti-Vax Physicians Healed 'Some 300 Measles-Stricken Children' [04/08/2025]
• 'Discouraging': Ontario measles outbreak rises to 572 cases, putting parents and educators on alert [03/30/2025]
• Texas Gave 15,000 More MMR Shots This Year - Now It Has More Measles Cases Than the Entire US Had In 2024 [03/28/2025]
• 'Medical Error' Led to Death of 6-Year-Old Who Developed Pneumonia After Measles Diagnosis [03/22/2025]
• Parents of girl who died after measles infection said they wouldn't get MMR vaccine (West Texas family) [03/22/2025]
• Person who arrived from Taiwan with measles visited Los Angeles area nail salon, grocery store: officials [03/12/2025]
• Measles outbreak leads to high demand for MMR vaccine [03/11/2025]
• Measles 1969 vs Measles Today ⭐️ [03/09/2025]
• Ask PolitiFact: Is Texas measles outbreak linked to 'border'? No evidence, officials say (but Texas 'doesn't collect a person's citizenship status during disease investigations' [03/08/2025]
• Shedding of measles vaccine RNA in MMR vaccinated children: links to a Journal of Clinical Virology study, an analysis, and a few of my comments [03/08/2025]
• RFK Jr. Spotlights Vitamin to Fight Rapidly Spreading Measles -- But Experts Say Not So Fast [03/06/2025]
• RFK Jr sparks alarm after backing vitamins to treat measles amid outbreak [03/04/2025]
• New York City confirms two unrelated measles cases [03/04/2025]
• 'The Brady Bunch' Episode Used to Downplay Measles by Anti-Vaxxers Irks Maureen McCormick [03/03/2025]
• Measles outbreak is call to action for all of us [03/03/2025]
• First measles death reported in West Texas amid growing outbreak [02/26/2025]
• Nearly 100 Sickened With Measles As Outbreak Spreads In Texas, New Mexico [02/25/2025]
• Texas, Georgia Report Measles Outbreaks as Vaccination Rates Drop [02/18/2025]
• In rural West Texas, a measles outbreak grows with no end in sight [02/17/2025]

[Jim Noble]

Not sure, but can’t measles cause sterility and birth defects?

Mumps causes sterility in some boys. Chickenpox (during pregnancy) causes birth defects.

Measles does neither.

[Freedom4US]

There are different forms of Measles. German Measles?

I seem to recall the chief problem is those who reach adulthood without having had it, and then exposed, causes serious problems. That’s why the “Measles parties” for children used to be a thing. Get it out of the way. Then they have a lifetime conferred immunity.

This incidentally is what caused Ken Mattingly to get bumped from Apollo 13 two days prior to launch. Several astronauts had been exposed, but flight surgeons could find nothing in his health records indicating he had ever had Measles. The incubation period meant he would be orbiting the Moon about the time it would present itself. So they replaced not the whole crew, just him, with Jack Swigert. Ken never did come down with Measles.

[9YearLurker]

Am I recalling correctly that that only comes from getting it as an adult? Used to further explain why it was good to get it as a kid.

[BitWielder1]

What is the death or illness rate with and without a vaccine?
That is the question.
Otherwise healthy kids are probably better off just being sick for a week or two and then they have lifelong immunity.
If you never had it as a kid, you should be offered the vaccine when you're 20 or so, but not be forced to take it.

[catnipman]

“Not sure, but can’t measles cause sterility”

mumps ...

[nuconvert]

from Johns Hopkins:

“At best, measles is a very uncomfortable illness. At worst, it can be lethal. Most commonly, the infection causes high fever, cough, conjunctivitis (red, runny eyes), runny nose and a rash that begins on the face and eventually covers the entire body. The illness lasts about a week if there are no complications.

When complications do occur, they can include ear infections, pneumonia, and encephalitis or inflammation of the brain that can lead to permanent neurologic damage and even death. On average, measles kills between one and three of every 1,000 infected children.”

[aMorePerfectUnion]

330,000,000 population USA:

Deaths by measles during past 10 years: less than 1/year

Deaths from constipation: 150/year

People panicking are full of crap.

[TexasGator]

“Deaths by measles during past 10 years: less than 1/year”

Three in 2025.

[logi_cal869]

Back in the day, the real danger was only to pregnant women and infants.

Families would literally have ‘measles parties’ to expose their children.

With the appalling health of today’s children - diet, inactivity, jabs, etc. - I have no doubt that the health risk between measles & the vaccine is a crap shoot.

Still, if I had youngsters today, I’d choose ‘no’ for them and opt for direct exposure later. Obviously the medical nazis have made such a choice as difficult as possible...

[bk1000]

I remember my parents exposing me to a friend’s child who had measles. You did that to get immunity going. It was a common practice. They had “measles parties.” We didn’t need a “vaccine”. What changed?

[Mariner]

I and my 3 sisters went to a measles party when I was 5.

We hosted a chicken pox party a year later.

[CaptainPhilFan]

Well, here’s the thing.

Those of us who know too much no longer trust vaccines or Big Medicine so we’re inclined to not take any shots.

Now that vaxes have been Frankensteined and doctors lie about it (while raking in big bucks for convincing people to take the shots) there is almost zero trust in any of it.

Measles is not a horror, measles is much less deadly than say, the covid shot.

What’s in an MMR shot these days? Does anyone know?

[Parmy]

As a kid, I got 3 day measles, German measles, twice. And, I am 82 and still here.