measles vaccine – Lacto Bacto

In the year 2000 the United States had a "measles elimination status" meaning measles had been eliminated in the US, but that's now over. So far in 2026 there have been 1671 measles infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In this past week alone there were almost 100 new cases, almost all in Utah.

Measles infections (which are bad enough) can have very serious complications, including death. According to the CDC these include severe ear infections (leading to hearing loss), severe diarrhea, pneumonia (can cause death), encephalitis (brain swelling) resulting in permanent brain damage, complications during pregnancy, and even the rare fatal condition subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) that can occur years later (typically 4 to 8 years later).

Scary facts about measles (from the CDC): about 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in the US who get measles is hospitalized, about 1 child out of every 1000 who get measles will develop encephalitis (brain swelling), and nearly 1 to 3 of every 1000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications.

Yeah, the measles vaccine works, but only if you get vaccinated. By the way, a measles infection is especially deadly to babies because they are still too young to get vaccinated - which normally occurs at 12 to 15 months of age,

Excerpts from rom CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy): US nears 1,700 measles cases, with 73 new infections in Utah

US measles cases climbed by almost 100 in the past week, reaching 1,671 infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update. The vast majority of the 96 new cases are in Utah. ...continue reading "Measles Can Be Deadly"

Child with measles rash Credit: CDC

An always fatal measles complication appears to be occurring at higher rates than experts originally thought. New research found that the chance of a baby before age 1 getting measles and then the later deadly complication of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is 1 in 609, while if the child got measles under the age of 5, the rate of SSPE was one in 1,367 children.

SSPE is a neurological disorder that is a rare long-term complication of measles, typically appearing 4 to 8 years after the measles infection. First there are behavior changes, and later seizures, which progressively get more severe. Death usually occurs between 1 and 3 years after diagnosis. The researchers said that many of the patients studied had been vaccinated on time, but had measles in the first year of life, before the vaccine could be given.

This rare disorder is a good reason to get the measles vaccine, but it was apparently too late for those that were diagnosed with measles or a "measles-like rash and illness" in the first 12 months of life.

What to do? Children should get measles vaccine at the normal time (12 to 15 months of age), but infants between 6 and 11 months should get the measles vaccine prior to travel to an area with measles. Infants younger than that should not travel to an area with measles. The researchers pointed out that SSPE demonstrates the "high human cost of “natural” measles immunity". As the researcher Dr. james Cherry said: "The new findings are "really frightening." Yup.

From Live Science: Deadly Measles Complication More Common Than Doctors Thought

A deadly complication of the measles, which can occur years after a person is infected with the virus, is more common than researchers previously thought, according to a new study. The complication, called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), is a progressive neurological disorder that involves inflammation in the brain.

People with SSPE die, on average, within one or two years of being diagnosed with the disease. Some people may live longer, but the condition is always fatal, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. ...continue reading "Rare and Deadly Complication From Measles"