Measles scourge

thanK you, John humphrys (mail), for your poignant article on measles.

i also witnessed how this incredibly infectious disease can have life-changing consequences when, in the 1980s, i was a student nurse on a south Coast hospital children’s ward. We had a ten-year-old patient from a large traveller family, i’ll call him timmy, who had developed measles encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).

he was immobile, unable to speak or eat and with no apparent cognitive abilities. his extended family visited daily, undertook all timmy’s personal care, showered him with love and took him out for walks in an

adapted pushchair. there was no hope of any recovery.

Measles can be deadly. think very hard before declining the tried, tested and extremely safe MMR vaccine for your child. i shall always remember timmy with sadness.

annie BlaKe, east Grinstead, W. sussex.