Last updated on March 12th, 2015 at 03:04 pm
Angelina at five, just before onset of SSPE
This article has been substantially updated, please go there. There is also another article about a separate measles/SSPE case in Italy.
One of the memes of the vaccine denialists is that childhood diseases, like measles or whooping cough, are not dangerous. In fact, some parents have set up “pox parties” to deliberately expose their children to these diseases, because anti-vaccine lunatics believe (with all evidence against their beliefs, typical of any science denialist) that natural immunity is better than a vaccine induced immunity. Not only is that an Appeal to Nature fallacy, but it shows ignorance on how immunity occurs.
Already this year, two children have died in the United States as a result of whooping cough. And there’s probably more, because of under-reporting.
Which leads to a story about Angelina, a sweet, 6 year old girl growing up in a small town in Bavaria, Germany. Angelina had measles at around seven months old, but recovered quickly as most children do, and no one thought much of it. Her mother, Gina (translated from German), said, “In February of this year, we noticed significant abnormalities in our daughter. She often fell off the bike and had substantial language difficulties. When these difficulties became more pronounced, we took her to the hospital.”
At that point Angelina was diagnosed with chronic measles encephalitis, or subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a rare chronic, progressive encephalitis that affects primarily children and young adults, caused by a persistent infection of the measles virus–in other words, one of the more serious of measles complications. The disease starts with a measles infection, usually before the age of 2 years, followed by approximately 6-15 asymptomatic years. Some researchers think the asymptomatic period is around 5-8 years after the initial disease. Gradually, the disease progresses with psychological and neurological deterioration, which can include personality changes, seizures, myoclonus, ataxia, photosensitivity, ocular abnormalities, spasticity, and coma. It is incurable. And it only happens as a result of measles.
Her mother said, “The diagnosis of SSPE was a shock to us. Within 8 weeks of our child entering the hospital, she could not walk or talk and has to be artificially fed. Actually, she was supposed to start school this year. This has been very difficult for us all.”
According to one of the German physicians familiar with the case, “The course of this disease is not predictable. Between the first measles infection and the onset of SSPE may take many years; however, we know of cases where the disease became symptomatic many years earlier. The measles virus settles in affected patients during the initial infection where it proliferates undetected in the brain. Years later it destroys the brains cells. The disease often progresses in fits and leads to actual holes in the brain.Unfortunately, you cannot stop this progression of the measles virus. From what we know, SSPE is always fatal.”
Since a seven month old child is too young to receive the MMR vaccine (for measles, mumps and rubella), which is first given around one years old, along with a booster just before starting school, what does this have to do with vaccines? It’s very simple. Angelina got the disease from another child or adult who was not properly vaccinated against measles. Whether by accident or intention, Angelina is dying because measles got passed to her, which is something that just shouldn’t happen in this modern world.
Even adults should be vaccinated with MMR. Individuals who were born after 1970 do not have a natural immunity against the measles virus or have an unknown immune status because they did not get vaccinated. The German government’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) recommends that “all these people who were born after 1970 receive the MMR vaccine. Anyone who has a desire to have children or with friends or acquaintances who have a family with a newborn, should be aware of their responsibility to those children, and should be vaccinated immediately.”
Angelina was a “normal” active girl at five years old, just before the onset of SSPE. Now the prognosis for her to live more than a few years is small at best. A heartbreaking story about a child who is going to die because she contracted an ultimately preventable disease.
Vaccines save lives. More than you could ever know.
via Six year old girl from Bavaria to measles encephalitis incurable illness (from Google Translate) (original German)
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