The Measles Epidemic

[brewer]

I don't know how common it was, but chickenpox play dates were a thing back in the 70s at least, when the vaccine was decades away.  In that context, I can understand it - the only path to immunity was exposure and it's not something you want to catch as an adult.

As an alternative to vaccination?  Fuck no.

That's true, and IIRC the reason was because if one was exposed to chicken pox they were able to handle small pox better (as in living through it).

Um......... no. Two different viral classes, there is no cross immunity. But that very well could have been early folklore because the lesions look similar.

[Brian37]

Anti vax'rers are in line with global warming deniers.

[Fireball]

That's true, and IIRC the reason was because if one was exposed to chicken pox they were able to handle small pox better (as in living through it).

Um......... no. Two different viral classes, there is no cross immunity. But that very well could have been early folklore because the lesions look similar.

Didn't recall correctly.   It was cow pox Vs small pox. Should've done my homework.

[Gwaithmir]

My younger brother and I both contracted measles when I was in first grade. There was no vaccinations against it at the time. We were really sick for a couple of weeks. I came through it okay, but my brother suffered loss of hearing which got worse as he got older. He wears hearing aids in both ears now.

[Jackalope]

That's true, and IIRC the reason was because if one was exposed to chicken pox they were able to handle small pox better (as in living through it).

Um......... no. Two different viral classes, there is no cross immunity. But that very well could have been early folklore because the lesions look similar.

Additionally, in the timeframe I'm referring to, smallpox wasn't really much of a thing any longer. I'm pretty sure they stopped routine vaccinations in the early 70s.

[Fireball]

My younger brother and I both contracted measles when I was in first grade. There was no vaccinations against it at the time. We were really sick for a couple of weeks. I came through it okay, but my brother suffered loss of hearing which got worse as he got older. He wears hearing aids in both ears now.

Measles swept through our little burg when I was 8, which would have been ~1960. We all got lucky- no deafness or anything out of it. The whole lot of kids (7) got it, except my youngest brother, who was born in '63. He got vaccinated for measles and polio by the time he was in queue, but he caught chicken pox when he was in his 20s and it damned near killed him. I hold the antivax people in high contempt for their stupidity.

[arewethereyet]

My younger brother and I both contracted measles when I was in first grade. There was no vaccinations against it at the time. We were really sick for a couple of weeks. I came through it okay, but my brother suffered loss of hearing which got worse as he got older. He wears hearing aids in both ears now.

Measles swept through our little burg when I was 8, which would have been ~1960. We all got lucky- no deafness or anything out of it. The whole lot of kids (7) got it, except my youngest brother, who was born in '63. He got vaccinated for measles and polio by the time he was in queue, but he caught chicken pox when he was in his 20s and it damned near killed him. I hold the antivax people in high contempt for their stupidity.

Chicken pox can kick your ass if you are older.  I caught them from my much younger siblings when I was 16.  I was covered with them and my eyes were so sensitive to light that I spent over a week in the TV room in our basement so I could avoid windows.  My cousin was 23 when he caught them from his kids...he was really in bad shape.  My girls got them (still pre-vac time) just before their little brother was born...as in one still had some spots when I came home from the hospital with him.  He got them at about age 4.  Glad my grandkids have a vaccine available.

I had mumps at about age seven and that was awful. 

The anti-vaxers don't give a damn that they are taking huge unnecessary health risks as well as potentially putting others in danger.

[Gwaithmir]

I recall three years in a row coming down with measles, chicken pox and mumps, maybe not in that order. I do remember that I caught mumps during summer and was pissed that it wasn't at a time that I'd miss school. All of those diseases swept through the neighbourhood and all my friends were sick at the same times. That was during the mid-1950's when there were no vaccinations for those diseases yet. The only vaccination we received at the time was for polio. I can remember being in line for that shot at school. I think it had to be repeated every three years.

[arewethereyet]

I recall three years in a row coming down with measles, chicken pox and mumps, maybe not in that order. I do remember that I caught mumps during summer and was pissed that it wasn't at a time that I'd miss school. All of those diseases swept through the neighbourhood and all my friends were sick at the same times. That was during the mid-1950's when there were no vaccinations for those diseases yet. The only vaccination we received at the time was for polio. I can remember being in line for that shot at school. I think it had to be repeated every three years.

I remember lining up for our sugar cube with a pink drop in it...the polio vaccine.

From middle school on I was in school with a girl who had contracted polio when she was quite young.  I don't know what all she went through but by the time I met her she had one leg much smaller than the other and that leg was also turned out to the side a bit.  She had a very noticeable limp.  It wasn't till I met her that I knew part of the reason for those sugar cubes.

[Gwaithmir]

I recall three years in a row coming down with measles, chicken pox and mumps, maybe not in that order. I do remember that I caught mumps during summer and was pissed that it wasn't at a time that I'd miss school. All of those diseases swept through the neighbourhood and all my friends were sick at the same times. That was during the mid-1950's when there were no vaccinations for those diseases yet. The only vaccination we received at the time was for polio. I can remember being in line for that shot at school. I think it had to be repeated every three years.

I remember lining up for our sugar cube with a pink drop in it...the polio vaccine.

From middle school on I was in school with a girl who had contracted polio when she was quite young.  I don't know what all she went through but by the time I met her she had one leg much smaller than the other and that leg was also turned out to the side a bit.  She had a very noticeable limp.  It wasn't till I met her that I knew part of the reason for those sugar cubes.

The first time I received the oral polio vaccination was in 1967. I had just started my senior year in high school.