Has anyone ever died of chicken pox or measles?
Measles is deadly. In ancient times it spread like wildfire and killed thousands. It still kills around one million people every year (the equivalent of almost 2 every minute), mostly children. The reason it is not as feared today in developed society is that we can vaccinate against it. Apart from the initial infection, measles can predispose a victim to a secondary bacterial infection, or in rare cases progress to encephalitis (brain infection). In unimmunized children the death rate is about 10%. The medical community takes measles very seriously, which is why there are such strict rules on vaccination. It is exactly the kind of deadly communicable disease that needs vaccination against. Vaccination not only protects your children but others’ as well, because it stops the virus from taking hold of the population. Chickenpox isn’t as bad. People are only recently starting vaccinations for it and if your child gets it in early life it has a similar effect to vaccination. Note that if
