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I had measles in 1949 at 6 months old. No older siblings or cousins. We lived in NYC and Mom took me everywhere; on buses, subways, parks, shopping, etc. where there were large numbers of people (and children) all around. Totally impossible to know how I caught it. Parents did not cocoon their infants then. Even today you will see babies on NYC subways.
My Grandma and Great-Grandma lived with us. Between them they had raised a lot of children who had measles. They knew what to expect and what not to. I highly doubt measles was reported back in those days.Children just rode out the disease at home. I had chicken pox at 7 months, and rubella and mumps by age 2. Mom used to brag that because I was so young, that I would not miss school with any of these diseases. Very true.
When I was school age, I used to visit my friends in their apartments when they were getting these diseases. I never saw a quarantine sign. Where would it be put up? At their apartment door or the front building? Was the school required to report every case of measles? I do remember the teacher saying that Mary or Johnny was out sick with measles but that was it.
Very strange that your cousin had measles but was still given that vaccination. They certainly weren't giving we teenagers that vaccination for something that 99.9% of us already had by that age, and couldn't catch again.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Do you remember being given any special treatment, supplements or foods?
My brother and sister and I had all the childhood illnesses, plus I also had Scarlet Fever.
Mom would usually call the doctor, but we never went to the doctor's office for any of these. Standard treatment at home was laying on the couch covered in blankets, trying to sleep as much as possible, lots of liquids, whatever food you could eat. If we got fevers, we didn't take anything to stop them, we'd stay wrapped in blankets until the fever broke and then you'd feel so much better. For rashes we used the pink calamine lotion to calm the itch.
Back then, we called it 3 day measles and German measles and all 3 of us had both types.
Your treatment sounds very grounded in common sense. I bet drinking plenty of liquids helped a lot.
I was born in 1953 and got the 10 day measles when I was 7. {Had the 3 day measles when I was a baby.}
I wasn't very sick but was not allowed to go to school. In fact, I wanted to go outside to play so my mom called the doctor who said it was OK as long as I wore sunglasses. I remember Mom telling me I would go blind if I took the glasses off and not to let the school bus driver see me outside playing. LOL
I lived in a house where both of my parents smoked, played outside a lot and ate healthy meals {milk, meat, vegetables and fruit}.
Had my tonsils taken out, the measles, mumps and chickenpox all in the 2cd grade, missing about a month of school altogether. Recovered well from all of them and life went on.
Ditto for my brother except he didn't miss any days of school because he was 2 years younger than me and he caught everything from me when I had it. { I believe he was also around 7 years old when he had his tonsils out.}
How funny about the sunglasses! I can see why some people would think that sunlight caused the eye sensitivity, not being depleted in vitamin A.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Do you remember being given any special treatment, supplements or foods?
Not the poster you asked but I found your question interesting because my dad got the measles in the late 1940's-early 1950's & his dad was a doctor.
I don't recall him saying anything about him being treated with anything special at all but I will ask him later today when I talk to him.
Honestly; I think people were just healthier then. They were healthy before they got the measles & getting the measles would make them even healthier.
Even if he was given something different due to his dad being a doctor; he was a energetic boy who ran amok outside as all little boys did. His eggs & milk & vegetables came from a farm, versus a corporate Ag factory & his meat came from local ranches. No hormones, antibiotics or GMO crap.
I don't think any mysterious cocktail could possibly compete with being just plain healthy.
Well, it wasn't pre-1963, but it was 1973...probably did the same things then.
I was kept in a room with very low light...loved that I got to eat my dinners in the room...read a lot. It was NOT a terrible experience at all...nice not going to school Back then parents and children were't afraid of this common childhood illness....many were purposefully exposed to get it over with. I don't remember anyone suffering terribly with it, nor experiencing any repercussions...other than now having a life-long immunity to it.
That life-long immunity sure is nice! I wonder if in the future people will be able to receive this rare gift again? Hopefully "science" will figure it out someday. Not likely while Merck is still in business, though.
I was born in 1954 and never caught the measles. Just lucky.
That's unusual!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katarina Witt
Yes, lucky, plus the vaccine came out when you were 9 years old. Rates dropped like a stone after the introduction of the vaccine. You may have been vaccinated, too.
Please stop mentioning vaccines in a forum where it's not allowed. Thanks!
The ones who do die from measles do not count, eh? How about the ones who get encephalitis and are permanently intellectually impaired? The ones with hearing loss?
Can you please stay on topic? Feel free start your own thread about those issues. Thanks!
I asked the husband because he is 12 years older than I am & as he was born in 1956; he got to get the Measles. He was kept home & got a lot of soup & grilled cheese sandwiches. He got a rash & got better.
Dad got to get the measles too. His mom fussed over him, he got a rash & got better.
I'm literally jealous. Not because I want to be fussed over & eat a ton of grilled-cheese but because only having had the actual measles can protect you from all the new strains that 'that which cannot be discussed' has allowed to proliferate.
And these new strains DO seem to be a bit more dangerous; yet only the people who got to get the measles seem to be unfazed by it.
Reminds me of that quote from Jurassic Park: Life finds a way. Also, You can't beat Mother Nature, because she bats last.
I do not remember anything about the three weeks I was down with measles. (That is from my first grade report card.) I think I was too sick.
That's too bad! Do you remember the kinds of foods that you normally ate as a child? How was your vitamin A consumption? Do you know if you consume very many eggs, liver, cod liver oil or whole milk?
Please stop mentioning vaccines in a forum where it's not allowed. Thanks!
I'm not the only one:
Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot
I never had measles (born in 1969, so I had the vaccine), but I had chicken pox at the age of two. Why? Because I was the youngest in the family, and my 5- and 8-year-old siblings brought it home from school. It doesn't seem odd to me that a slightly older family member or friend would expose a 2-year-old.
Jeez! You're not even a mod! We're not debating v******* here, thank you very much!
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