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"Everybody I knew as a child had measles. I personally had a couple of kinds of measles. It wasn't that bad, and nobody I knew or heard of had any serious effects. There were no vaccines, so all the children in my family had measles, had mumps, had rubella, and had chicken pox. We all turned out to be reasonably smart,smartass kids except for the oldest sister who thinks she's either Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn. I don't think measles caused that."
True blue, sorry to pick on you, but just citing from example that all your friends and family are fine after having measles doesn't mean much. I lived overseas as a child and got the measles and am just fine myself.
However, my uncle who grew up before they had the vaccine, contracted measles when he was just a few years old. Unfortunately, he was one of the kids who had complications, was hospitalized, and nearly died. Thankfully he survived. Unfortunately, he suffered from brain damage and mental retardation because of the measles-related encephalitis he developed.
According to the Mayo clinic: "About one in 1,000 people with measles develops encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain caused by a viral infection, which may cause vomiting, convulsions and, rarely, coma."
Because of the measles complications, my uncle was fairly mentally retarded and was never able to fully function on his own. He also suffered from frequent seizures, and that's what eventually killed him, albeit 20 years later.
Sad story, sure. Point being that it's been so long since most people have seen the serious complications that can occur from common childhood diseases, that they're more afraid of autism (with an unproven link to vaccines) than the illness themselves (with a proven link to serious health issues and possibly death).
As for the some of the commenters who are parents of children with autism, I do feel for you. And to answer a question posed earlier -- no, I don't have a child on the way. But please remember that there are plenty of parents who have experienced devastating complications from these childhood diseases. Parents who didn't have the option as to whether or not to vaccine their child.
