I
cared for a flight attendant in an airport hotel suffering a cough, high fever,
runny nose, and sore throat. It seemed like the usual upper respiratory
infection until I saw the spotty rash over her body. She had measles.
Does
that ring a bell?... Measles may be the world’s most contagious disease. If
you’re susceptible and enter a room someone with measles passed through hours
earlier, you’ll probably catch it.
It’s
also nasty. Even today, one or two per thousand victims die and a larger number
are left deaf or brain damaged. I grew up before children were vaccinated
against most childhood illnesses; we actually caught them. I had measles in
1946 and still remember how sick I felt; my chicken pox and mumps were trivial
by comparison.
I
informed the airline that a flight attendant fresh from a crowded plane had
measles and also told the hotel management. You can imagine the reception.
Posts
