Opinion: What it’s like to have measles, mumps, whooping cough, and other vaccine-preventable illnesses
STAT readers share what it's link to have measles, mumps, whooping cough, and other vaccine-preventable illnesses. Some stories are from decades past — others are quite recent.
When I was recently at the vet’s office, I started eavesdropping a little on the conversation between two older women. When they started talking about the measles outbreak in Texas, I couldn’t help it. I joined in.
One of the women, who wore thick glasses, shared that she had lost much of her sight to a bout with measles as a child. She just couldn’t understand why so many parents today are reluctant to vaccinate. If they had experienced measles themselves or watched someone else go through it, she said, they would be looking forward to getting their children immunized instead of downplaying the disease.
