A rash.

A simple rash.

But then he had a hard time seeing.

Pascal Tarakdjian suffered from measles as an adult.

Pascal had been vaccinated himself but it was in the 1970s and he never had a booster shot.

His recovery was long and slow but all things considered--he got off lucky.

Ruth Bahri from Victoria had a brother-in-law, Toufik, who wasn't so fortunate.

He caught the measles when he was a toddler.

At first, by all appearances, he got over it.

Toufik was living in Morocco at the time.

So Ruth and her husband brought Toufik to Canada.

They got help for him from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa.

That's when they found out he had had a rare complication from the measles he had as a young boy.

It's called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis or SSPE for short.

They did an encephelogram and the doctor said to me he has the brain waves of a 90 year old.

It was like alzheimers.

He was semi-comatose.

He knew he had traveled.

He was somewhat aware of his surroundings--who was there, but he wasn't able to participate.

He couldn't walk.

He had to wear adult diapers.

All of these things you go from being a high school kid to practically a vegetable.

Ruth Bahri's brother-in-law had measles as a toddler.

Two years later, he died.

It's stories such as these that are putting many parents on edge...even making some angry.

Mallory Olsheshki from Pembroke, Ontario is one such mother.

She has four children--the youngest, Riley, is immunocompromised, which means for medical reasons he cannot get vaccinated.

She was in our studio in Ottawa.

Darlene Tindell is a mother of two children--10 and 12 years old.

She practices what she calls energy medicine and teaches yoga in Sudbury.

Darlene has chosen not to vaccinate her children.

We know many of you will have thoughts to add to this discussion.

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CLASS WARFARE?

OF COURSE WE'RE IN A CLASS WAR. 

AND MY CLASS IS WINNING!

WARREN BUFFET

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Polio

Polio, an infectious disease caused by a virus that lives in the throat and intestinal tract, was once the leading cause of disability in the U.S.

Since the introduction of the polio vaccine in 1955, the disease has been eradicated in the U.S.

But the disease is still common in some developing countries and until it is eradicated worldwide, the risk of it spreading to the U.S. still exists. 

For that reason, the polio vaccination remains one of the recommended childhood immunizations. 

In most parts of the U.S., polio immunization is required before a child can start school.

How the Polio Vaccination Is Given

If you had the polio vaccination prior to 2000, you may have received the oral polio vaccine (OPV), which was made from a live polio virus.

Although the live virus vaccine was highly effective at protecting against polio, a few cases of polio per year were caused by the oral vaccine itself.

In 2000, the U.S. switched to the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV).

Using an inactive (dead) form of the virus that cannot cause polio, the IPV is given as a shot in the arm or leg.

Who Needs the Polio Vaccine

Most people should get the polio vaccine when they are children.

Children should be vaccinated with four doses of IPV at the following ages:

    A dose at 2 months
    A dose at 4 months
    A dose at 6-18 months
    A booster dose at 4-6 years

IPV may be given at the same time as other vaccinations.

Because most adults were vaccinated as children, routine polio vaccination is not recommended for people ages 18 and older who live in the U.S.

But three groups of adults at higher risk for coming into contact with the polio virus should consider polio vaccination.

They are:

    Travelers to other parts of the world where polio is still common

    People who work in labs handling specimens that might contain polio viruses
 
    Health care workers who have close contact with a person who could be infected with the polio virus

If you fall into any of these three groups you should speak to your health care provider about the polio vaccination.

If you have never been vaccinated against polio, you should get three doses of IPV:

    The first dose at any time

    The second dose 1 to 2 months later

    The third dose 6 to 12 months after the second

If you have had one or two doses of polio vaccine in the past you should get the remaining one or two doses.

It doesn't matter how long it has been since the earlier dose or doses.

Measles, Mumps, and Rubella

The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is recommended for all children.

It protects against three potentially serious illnesses.

It is a two-part vaccination, and in most states, you must prove your children have gotten it before they can enter school.

If you are an adult who has not had the vaccination or the diseases, you may need the MMR shot, too.

What Are Measles, Mumps, and Rubella?

Measles, mumps, and rubella are viral diseases.

All can be very serious.

Measles starts as a fever, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis (pinkeye), and a red, pinpoint rash that starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body.

If the virus infects the lungs, it can cause pneumonia.

Measles in older children can lead to inflammation of the brain, called encephalitis, which can cause seizures and brain damage.

The mumps virus usually causes swelling in glands just below the ears, giving the appearance of chipmunk cheeks.

Before the vaccine, mumps was the most common cause of both meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord) and acquired deafness in the U.S.

In men, mumps can infect the testicles, which can lead to infertility.

Rubella is also known as German measles.

It can cause a mild rash on the face, swelling of glands behind the ears, and in some cases, swelling of the small joints and low-grade fever.

Most children recover quickly with no lasting effects.

But if a pregnant woman gets rubella, it can be devastating.

If she's infected during the first trimester of pregnancy, there's at least a 20% chance her child will have a birth defect such as blindness, deafness, a heart defect, or mental retardation.

Who Should and Shouldn't Get the MMR Vaccine?

MMR is a two-shot series of vaccines usually given during childhood.

A child should receive the first shot when he is between 12-15 months, and the second when he's between 4-6 years of age.

If you're not sure if you have had the diseases or the vaccines (prior to 1971 it was given in three separate shots), you can get the MMR vaccine as an adult.

Talk to your doctor about it if:

    You were born after 1956. (If you were born during or before 1956, you are presumed to be immune, because many children had the diseases then.)

    You work in a medical facility.

    You are planning to or may become pregnant.

You shouldn't have the shot if:

    You have a severe allergic reaction following the first MMR shot.

    You are allergic to gelatin or neomycin.

    You may be pregnant or are planning to become pregnant in the next 4 weeks. (The vaccine is safe if you are breastfeeding.)

    Your immune system is weak because of cancer drugs, corticosteroids, or AIDS.