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Unprotected People Stories: Measles

Real-life accounts of people who have suffered or died from vaccine-preventable diseases

Click on "HTML" to view the story. Click on "PDF" to view a fully-formatted, print-ready version. Adobe Reader must be installed on your computer.
FORMAT AGE TITLE SUMMARY PUBLISHED
HTML  PDF 7-year-old "Measles: A Dangerous Illness" Story #108: In 1962, Roald Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and other beloved books for children and young adults) suffered a heartbreaking loss: the death of his 7-year-old daughter Olivia from the complications of measles encephalitis. More than 20 years after Olivia's death, Dahl wrote this personal essay in her memory. Dahl aimed his essay at parents who were refusing to give their children the measles vaccine in the United Kingdom. 5/2/14
HTML  PDF 7-year-old "Measles Not Worth the Risk by John Lawrence Kiely" Story #100: John L. Kiely, PhD, relates his personal experience with measles and reminds us that vigilance in maintaining high levels of vaccination coverage is necessary to prevent measles and other VPDs from making a comeback. 4/10/09
HTML  PDF 34-year-old "New England Journal of Medicine Case Story: A 34-Year-Old Pregnant Woman with Confusion and Visual Loss" Story #90: Case presentation on subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a rare and severe neurological complication of measles infection. It was originally published in the May 14, 1998, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. 2/27/07
HTML  PDF 13-year-old "Schoolboy, 13, Dies as Measles Makes a Comeback" Story #88: Measles had not claimed a life in Britain for 14 years, but this fact changed in 2006 when, tragically, a teenager who had not been vaccinated died from acute measles infection. 2/27/07
HTML  PDF 8-year-old "Open Letter to Parents from Eileen M. Ouellette, M.D., J.D., F.A.A.P., Former President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (2005-2006)" Story #87: In this personal account, Dr. Ouellette vividly describes her own experience with measles infection in 1937. 2/14/07
HTML  PDF infants, children "'The Problem' by the Measles Initiative" Story #85: Measles is a leading vaccine-preventable killer of children in the developing world. 2/14/07
HTML   PDF various "Preventable measles outbreak in Indiana results in 34 cases and three hospitalizations in summer 2005" Story #80: It requires the resources of health departments in three states to contain a measles outbreak that develops when an unvaccinated teenager returns from overseas. 10/28/05
HTML   PDF various "CDC reports on preventable measles among U.S. residents, 2001-2004" Story #79: CDC data indicate that in 2001-04, 56% of measles cases among U.S. residents were preventable. 8/26/05
HTML   PDF NA "Society pays a high price for nonmedical vaccination exemption" Story #66: A prodigious effort is required to notify hundreds, perhaps thousands, of contacts of an unvaccinated man who returns to Iowa from New Dehli while contagious with measles. 3/26/04
HTML   PDF 11 infants,
median age
11 months;
2 adults,
age 31 and
50 years
"2002 Alabama measles outbreak is traced to an imported case" Story #64: Ten infants and two adults contract measles from a 9-month-old infant who returned from the Philippines with the disease. MMWR editors suggest physicians administer MMR vaccine to children >6 months of age who will be traveling outside the United States. 1/22/04
HTML   PDF NA "Complacency the likely cause of measles epidemic in the Seattle area" Story #51: Mark Kane, MD, director of the Children's Vaccine Program at PATH, explains the reason for 11 cases of measles in King County in 2001. 10/31/02
HTML   PDF NA "Measles shots are common sense: personal reflections of an Alaska physician" Story #29: A recently retired pediatrician shares some of his personal and professional experiences with measles. 4/26/00
HTML   PDF NA "Measles outbreak associated with an unvaccinated population" Story #11: Measles sweeps through a religious community where 70% of the children and young adults have not been vaccinated. 1/12/99
 
This page was updated on April 29, 2020.
This page was reviewed on April 29, 2020.
 
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