Anybody who hasn't gotten the MMR vaccine needs to get it ASAP.
Thanks to anti-vaxxing pseudoscience propaganda, there's a measles outbreak in Texas – as well as smaller outbreaks where clusters of conspiracy freaks discourage vaccinations.
Some people who haven't paid attention to medicine for the past 60 years may dismiss it as just a "childhood disease". But measles can be a lot worse than just spots and a fever. Measles can kill you.
Measles outbreaks spark concern over rare 'horrific' neurological disorder
Pediatricians and scientists say they are also watching for extremely rare neurological conditions that can occur even years after children who've had measles recover from it. [ ... ] On Friday the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 712 cases of measles so far this year in 25 jurisdictions, including Texas and New Mexico. In Gaines County, Texas, the centre of the outbreak, measles counts on Friday rose to 355, up from the 328 reported on Tuesday, the Texas Department of State Health Services said. The federal agency said 97 per cent of U.S. measles cases are individuals who are either unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. [ ... ] The measles virus causes a high fever, but it also suppresses the immune system. "The lining of the airway gets affected and it becomes an ineffective barrier," [Dr. Michelle] Barton said. "In the face of this virus, which is very what we call immunosuppressive, you can end up with pneumonia." She noted that ear and other secondary infections are also common. [ ... ] More serious complications include swelling of the brain or encephalitis in about one in 1,000 cases, which can lead to drowsiness, confusion and seizures that resolve, Barton and [Dr. Dele] Davies said. While they are extremely rare, long-term neurological problems can occur even after a young child has recovered from measles. Barton says the measles virus itself stays at a low level in the brain and can wake up six to 10 years later as a devastating disorder called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE. [ ... ] Immunologist Dawn Bowdish, a professor of medicine at McMaster University, says the measles virus has mutations that allow it to hide out from the immune system, then move from neuron to neuron where the parts of the brain required for cognition and movement can be damaged. "It starts with challenges in learning or memory," Bowdish said. "They don't reach their full intellectual potential … something no parent wants for their child." Those with SSPE can have seizures. Medical experts say that in almost all cases, the disorder progresses until the patient is in a vegetative state, and it eventually ends in death.
The anti-vax conspiracy crazies falsely claim that the MMR vaccine causes autism. Yet they haven't been able to point to a single case of autism caused by the vaccine.
On the other hand, it's been known for a long time that measles in some can lead to SSPE which leaves patients in a vegetative state and then ultimately kills them.
