A mother recounts how her daughter survived measles as a baby, then developed a rare and fatal brain complication years later. The case underscores the dangers of low vaccination rates and the importance of herd immunity.
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When Renae was 5 months old, she developed a fever that quickly turned into a medical emergency. By evening, she was struggling to breathe, her face had gone pale, and her skin was pulling in around her ribs. At the hospital, doctors saw the red spots on her body and diagnosed measles. It was 2013, and Manchester, England, was in the middle of an outbreak that produced more than 1,000 suspected cases.
The outbreak had been fueled by falling vaccination rates after a discredited 1998 study falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism. Although that research was later retracted and the doctor behind it lost his medical license, the damage was lasting. Many of the cases at the time were among school-age children whose parents had refused vaccination, or babies like Renae who were too young to receive the first dose, usually given at age 1.
At the time, her mother did not realize how dangerous measles could be in the long run. Renae was stabilized in the hospital, her fever responded to treatment, and within a week she seemed back to normal. Like many parents, her mother thought of measles as a short illness, something a child could recover from and move on from. What she did not know was that measles can leave behind a hidden danger: a rare complication that can take years to appear while the virus slowly damages the brain.
Renae grew into a bright, affectionate child. She learned to talk early, spoke in full sentences before age 2, and could write her name at 3. By age 8, she was proud of a report card showing she read at a teenage level. She loved books and arts and crafts, and every day after school she asked to be read to. Her mother remembers that she was hard to scold because she always found a way to make people laugh.
The first signs that something was wrong came in the spring and summer of 2023, when Renae was 10. Her handwriting, once exceptionally neat, began to wobble. She seemed unsteady on her feet. In mid-June, her teacher called to say she had had a seizure. By the time she reached the hospital, she was mostly back to herself, and she was mortified that it had happened at school.
After more seizures, she was admitted and an MRI showed mild swelling in the brain. Doctors started anti-seizure medication. But by the end of the summer, she began seeing things that were not there. She moved slowly, almost mechanically, and often seemed confused. A second MRI showed the swelling had become much worse. She was rapidly losing strength, and each day brought a new decline.
Her mother remembers helping her bathe, brushing her hair while Renae sat in the tub, and then watching her fall when she tried to get out. Soon she needed a wheelchair. She kept asking what was happening to her, and her mother kept telling her that once doctors found the cause, they could make her better. But the decline continued. Within weeks, Renae stopped talking and eating. Her last meal was cotton candy and an Oreo doughnut, both of which she loved. She was transferred to intensive care, placed on a breathing tube, and though she could no longer speak, she still squeezed her mother's hand when she heard her voice.
The diagnosis came after a spinal fluid test was sent to London. Renae had subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, a rare but fatal complication of measles. Doctors explained that there was nothing more they could do. Her mother went outside the hospital, sat on a bench, and found a stone that read,
