“Tragic” is not enough to describe the situation

“Tragic” is not enough to describe the situation facing measles. The disease is among the most contagious known, yet in some parts of the world it had been nearing eradication. Now the outlook has changed.

Roald Dahl recalled how his seven-year-old daughter, Olivia, developed measles in 1962. At first, he read to her by her bed as the illness followed its usual course, without feeling particularly alarmed.

Then, one morning, when she appeared well into recovery, Dahl sat beside her and showed her how to make small animals from brightly colored pipe cleaners. When it was Olivia’s turn, her fingers and thoughts no longer worked together. She could do nothing. “Are you feeling all right?” he asked. “I feel sleepy,” she replied. An hour later, she was unconscious. Twelve hours after that, she was dead.

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Are you feeling all right?

Measles vaccination was introduced in Dahl’s home country, Britain, six years later, in 1968. But by the 1980s, doctors had begun discussing the growing problem of parents skeptical of vaccines.

In response, Dahl wrote “Measles: A Dangerous Illness,” published in 1986. He described his daughter’s illness and urged parents to vaccinate their children to prevent further deaths.

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I feel sleepy.