# The benefits of having measles **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 6, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940 "2015-02-06T03:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/41 "2015-02-08T02:58:16Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Honey is one sugar that we _know_ can be bad. You’re not supposed to give it to \<1 for risk of botulism. > > Then there’s [this allergy card](https://imgur.com/E09jplv) and its comments. What sugar doesn’t end in -ose? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/42 "2015-02-08T03:33:36Z")
Ask my great grandmother how much fun it was to have German measles while she was pregnant. She had twin boys, one red and wrinkly and tiny, whom nobody thought would live. The other was a fine looking big boy. He died the day after he was born, the little twin grew up to be my great-uncle George. He lived, but he didn’t have his twin. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Holdsworth_Effect)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/43 "2015-02-08T08:06:05Z")
Junk science pretty much annoys me. We are all vaccinated, here. Or proven immune. My MIL had a light case f encephalitis from measles, and a perforated eardrum form subsequent infection( her view). She also developed MS later in life. He neurologist thought it might have been related to her history of measles encephalitis. This was the 1980’s, and I remember being skeptic, then. Now, not so sure…the kids and grands are all vaxxed, per schedule. Thank ALL the forgotten gods. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/44 "2015-02-08T18:41:19Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :eek: > > The above was written in 1986 or thereabouts. Is the bolded part still true? Basically. My boss saw measles encephalitis happen to a baby when he was doing his pediatrics residency. It’s why he “fired” parents from his practice if they refused to vaccinate their kids. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/45 "2015-02-08T21:31:21Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > What sugar doesn’t end in -ose? [Brown Sugar.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59K2kF6o9Tk) It ends in _“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Whooo!”_ and then a guitar vamp to fade. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/46 "2015-02-08T21:56:16Z")
My mother who still runs around in her 80’s was an RN in NYC during the late 40’s working in the measles ward. Blindness, brain damage, deafness, death…fun times. Of course, she was dealing with the worst cases that required admission at the time. Usually around Christmas there would be a large uptick in cases. The ward downstairs was whooping cough. From what she remembered about one or two a month would die–namely infants and toddlers. The parents usually ended up with a lot of guilt because it was for the most part preventable (a pertussis shot was available by the 30’s). Sadly, in spite of my Mom’s first hand experience with injury and death, this means nothing to my relatives who believe they are much wiser about medicine because the Internet allows the “truth” to come out. I dread the day when I end up going to a funeral. No kid deserves this kind of willfully ignorant pride from a parent (and I note that everyone of my relatives are “pro-life”–whatever the hell that means). ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/47 "2015-02-08T23:01:48Z")
My older niece just came out as an anti-vaxer on FB, mainly because of this: > **[Natural Whole Healthy You | livingwhole.org](https://livingwhole.org)** > > Learn about the many benefits of essential oils. From improved sleep quality to boosted focus and reduced stress levels, essential oils are well worth I just hope her one-year-old will be okay. ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/48 "2015-02-08T23:03:40Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > My favorite recent line about people getting measles of late has been: “Hey! We got measles back in the day and we lived. We came out fine!” Wow, you really hear people say that? People who actually lived in the days of widespread measles? Because all the people I know who are old enough to have lived in the days before widespread vaccination are _rabidly_ pro-vaccination, because… they did see measles back in the day. And it sucked. And they are often willing to tell one about it at great length! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/49 "2015-02-08T23:14:20Z")
Sorry for the slight hi-jack, but just scanning the thread titles, this thread and the thread about “assholes at the dog park” were next to each other, so to me this thread title looked like “The benefits of having assholes” I guess it fits with anti-vaxer snowflakes. My daughter works at a large famous medical center in pediatrics and NICU. She saw her first case of scarlet fever today. I had an aunt who contracted SF in the 1930s, developed an extremely high temperature, and her brain was severely damaged. Today it would be cured with antibiotics, so although perhaps not vaccine related, it’s another example of that simple diseases can and do turn deadly. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/50 "2015-02-09T01:04:06Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Why is this book getting attention again? Probably because of the large outbreak at Disney. **JohnGalt** – my mother’s brother died as a baby because of scarlet fever. It’s weird to think I should’ve had an uncle on that side of the family. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/51 "2015-02-09T01:17:34Z")
> [@Mr. Miskatonic](#): > > My favorite recent line about people getting measles of late has been: “Hey! We got measles back in the day and we lived. We came out fine!” > [@raspberry hunter](#): > > Wow, you really hear people say that? People who actually lived in the days of widespread measles? > > Because all the people I know who are old enough to have lived in the days before widespread vaccination are rabidly pro-vaccination, because… they did see measles back in the day. And it sucked. And they are often willing to tell one about it at great length! I’ve run across online antivaxers who respond patronizingly to what they think are silly young people making an unwarranted fuss about measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases, since _they_ got through them just fine (supposedly). The last one of these I encountered had no comeback when informed that my memory of measles was _not_ of a fun-time break from school. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/52 "2015-02-09T02:27:48Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > One reason my mom was so gonzo about us kids getting vaccines is that she had a school friend whose mom did, indeed, think that way - now, in the mom’s defense this was the 1930’s and there was no measles vaccination back then. The idea was to expose the kids young in hopes they’d have a milder disease than if they caught it when older. Your mother’s friend’s mother did it wrong. Sometimes you deliberately exposed the kid. Chickenpox, yes. German measles (rubella), definitely. Mumps, maybe. Everyone knew it was much better to have those diseases as a kid than as an adult. But measles was different. People knew back then it could kill or permanently disable kids. The only time you were supposed to let your kid even go near a kid with measles was at the very end. You never let your kid near a kid with measles until you were absolutely sure they’d had a mild case. > [@user\_hostile](#): > > My mother who still runs around in her 80’s was an RN in NYC during the late 40’s working in the measles ward. Blindness, brain damage, deafness, death…fun times. Of course, she was dealing with the worst cases that required admission at the time. Usually around Christmas there would be a large uptick in cases. > > The ward downstairs was whooping cough. From what she remembered about one or two a month would die–namely infants and toddlers. The parents usually ended up with a lot of guilt because it was for the most part preventable (a pertussis shot was available by the 30’s). > > Sadly, in spite of my Mom’s first hand experience with injury and death, this means nothing to my relatives who believe they are much wiser about medicine because the Internet allows the “truth” to come out. > > I dread the day when I end up going to a funeral. No kid deserves this kind of willfully ignorant pride from a parent (and I note that everyone of my relatives are “pro-life”–whatever the hell that means). I’m 62 years old. Sometimes I feel like screaming “Am I the only one who remembers polio? Am I the only one who had a 102 degree fever with measles for a week, and my mother was afraid I’d have convulsions?” ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/53 "2015-02-09T02:43:32Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Unless you’re my brother’s exceptionally unfortunate school friend, who had it 4 times before leaving school, presumably due to a glitchy immune system. He had been vaccinated as well… Luckily he didn’t wind up with any severe side effects. Heh. I was born in 1964, and was not vaccinated. I had measles twice. Not fun either time, but no side effects at all. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/54 "2015-02-09T02:50:50Z")
I also had chicken pox. That was worse. I never had mumps though. I guess there’s still time for that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/55 "2015-02-09T03:09:29Z")
Vaccinated for more things than I can remember, since my Dad had various overseas assignments when I was young. Got chickenpox by being sent over to play with a friend who had it, probably about the age of 6 or so. Oddly, I never got pox on my skin, which is probably a good thing. I don’t think I could have stopped myself from scratching if I had. As it is, I don’t really remember having it and only know I did because my parents told me so. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/56 "2015-02-09T03:34:56Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > I never had mumps though. I guess there’s still time for that. ☹ Or you could, yanno, get an MMR shot. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/57 "2015-02-09T03:54:53Z")
[quote=“RivkahChaya, post:27, topic:711940”] Later, she had something like strep throat (at a pretty advanced age to have one-- it’s mostly infants and toddlers who get them), I’ve had strep throat 4-5 times as an adult, as well as having it as a child. One doctor indicated that there is a genetic component to getting it over and over, tho I don’t know if that’s true. My brother and I each had a “follow up” disease after a bout with strep as well. My last strep was 2011, so I’m hoping that is it! ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/58 "2015-02-09T04:22:33Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Sorry for the slight hi-jack, but just scanning the thread titles, this thread and the thread about “assholes at the dog park” were next to each other, so to me this thread title looked like > > “The benefits of having assholes” > > I guess it fits with anti-vaxer snowflakes. I, for one, am very grateful to possess an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/59 "2015-02-09T22:04:52Z")
> [@raspberry\_hunter](#): > > Wow, you really hear people say that? People who actually lived in the days of widespread measles? > > Because all the people I know who are old enough to have lived in the days before widespread vaccination are _rabidly_ pro-vaccination, because… they did see measles back in the day. And it sucked. And they are often willing to tell one about it at great length! 🙂 Yep, been there, done that, got it, not happy. Chickenpox= not fun. Mumps= not fun. Measles= not fun. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940/60 "2015-02-09T22:09:11Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I’m 62 years old. Sometimes I feel like screaming “Am I the only one who remembers polio? Am I the only one who had a 102 degree fever with measles for a week, and my mother was afraid I’d have convulsions?” My friend was born a little before me and one of the last in the USA to have Polio- I was vaccinated, he got hit before the vaccine. I actually got the shot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-benefits-of-having-measles/711940.md?page=4)