We all know the story. When Europeans set sail for the so-called “New World”, they didn’t just bring ships and cargo - they also brought deadly diseases. They introduced pathogens into regions where no one had ever encountered them before. And in some areas, these outbreaks wiped out between 50–90% of local populations within just a few years. Most of us can name the usual suspects—smallpox or influenza… But fewer people realize that measles was nearly as deadly. In fact, historians often rank measles as the second deadliest of the imported epidemics. And in today’s episode, we’re diving into everything measles.
You probably already know to be cautious, when somebody calls measles a harmless childhood disease. But how dangerous measles really is? And how common are the serious complications?
Spoiler alert: it’s far from innocent.
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Sources:
A. Ratner, 2025: Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children's Health • J.M. Hübschen, 2022: Measles • P.M. Strebel, 2019: Measles • D.E. Griffin, 2018: Measles Vaccine • A. Lo Vecchio, 2021: Vitamin A in Children Hospitalized for Measles in a High-income Country • J.P. Byrne, 2022: Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues; chapter: Measles in the colonial Americas • M.J. Mina, 2019: Measles virus infection diminishes preexisting antibodies that offer protection from other pathogens • S. Xia, 2022: Assessing the Effects of Measles Virus Infections on Childhood Infectious Disease Mortality in Brazil • C.S. Benn, 2023: Measles vaccination and reduced child mortality: Prevention of immune amnesia or beneficial non-specific effects of measles vaccine? • WHO measles, mumps, rubella fact sheets (online, accessed 13/04/2025) • B. Deer, 2011: How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed; 2020: The Doctor Who Fooled the World