Letter: Reader urges vaccinations for measles, shingles

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To the Editor-

I note upfront that I am currently a member of the Stevens Point Area Public School Board. I am writing this letter to the editor as an individual and NOT on behalf of the school board. This letter is about my own personal experiences and the importance of both the measles and shingles vaccines.

In 1990, my daughter, Mary, was around 10 months old (too young to have yet received her first MMR vaccination). She was infected with measles at a grocery store in Madison from a child in line ahead of her at the checkout lane (as best we were able to determine).

We returned to Plover at the end of the weekend, and Mary was out and about in the neighborhood until she began to show symptoms of illness. She got incredibly sick incredibly fast, going from a vibrant and happy baby to a listless, almost comatose baby with temperatures of 104 plus for over a week.

She wouldn’t eat or drink anything and was totally sensitive to touch and light. I took her to her local pediatrician, who was initially perplexed about what was going on with her. I was convinced she had measles, but the reality was that no one was contracting measles back then.

Ultimately, the telltale rash appeared, and Mary was confirmed to have a case of the measles. Portage County Health & Human Services set up a vaccination site in our neighborhood, and every child who had been in contact with Mary or had been in contact with any other child who had been in contact with Mary was told to come for a vaccine booster shot.

And everyone did so because they knew how very sick Mary had been and wanted to ensure the health of their loved ones and to prevent the spread of measles within our community.

Measles is a deadly virus. One person infected with measles can spread it to 18 others on average, making it one of the most highly contagious viruses around.

Currently in the US, one to three of every thousand children who contract measles die from complications of this virus. And many other children are permanently disabled from this infection.

Please make sure that your children are vaccinated against this deadly disease.

In 2021, my mom, Mary, died from complications stemming from dementia/alzheimers disease. My son, Andy, and I were her primary caregivers during her last years until she needed 24-hour care beyond our abilities.

In her last years with us, she didn’t even know who I was. She had literally no short-term memory and very, very little long-term memory. I can’t even begin to explain how heartbreaking this disease is for those who suffer from it and for those who love and care for them.

In her 70s, my mom contracted shingles and was incredibly sick. She never fully recovered from her bout with shingles, and it definitely took a long-lasting toll on her physical and mental health.

I can’t say with certainty that my mom’s dementia/alzheimers was caused by shingles but I recently learned of a study conducted by researchers at Harvard affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital that found that an episode of shingles is associated with about a 20 percent higher long-term risk of subjective cognitive decline, which is one of the earliest noticeable symptoms of dementia/alzheimers.

The shingles vaccine wasn’t available for my mom, but it is now available for adults 50 years of age and older. I made sure to get mine as I want to do everything that I possibly can for myself and my loved ones to protect myself from dementia/Alzheimer’s.

For all of you 50 and over in our community, please make sure you receive the 2 shot shingles vaccination.

I would be happy to speak to anyone who has questions about my experiences detailed in this letter to the editor. I’m reachable at [email protected] or (715) 491-2448.

Meg Erler
Plover