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Dahl's wife, Olivia's mother, was Patricia Neal the Oscar-winning actress (Hud). She wrote about Olivia's death in her book "As I Am". It is heartbreaking to read.
At least 1 out of every 20 children who get Measles will develop Measles Pneumonia, the most common cause of death. Of those who survive Measles Pneumonia, the infection permanently devastates their lungs. This is not a mild disease, it does not need to be "part of life and raising children". Ask people who actually remember living in a time of Measles, it was most certainly a time of not raising some children.
Rose-tinted retrospections have no place in a discussion regarding Measles, especially from people who have never actually seen what a terrible disease this is.[/QUOTE]
Since my grandchildren are pushing 40 and my children are drawing on Social Security, I think you can imagine that, in my section of the country, I may have seen a case or two of measles. Yes, I lived in a time of measles.
People are soooo afraid of death now, that they worry too much about it. I date back to when people were still getting smallpox and polio. We worried and breathed a sigh of relief when our children got by with no harm. These diseases were part of life. In all my years, and knowing many people with children. I do not know of a single death from measles. No blindness either. I suspect that these statistics were gathered in an area that suited the researcher's ideas. I doubt that 1 out 20 developed Pneumonia.
Yes, Measles can be dangerous and we should be very careful when it's around.....BUT, statistics do not always tell the whole story. In thinking about my husband and I, our seven brothers and sisters, our own children, and about 25 nieces and nephews, not to mention hundreds of cousins, I do not know of a single death from measles. None of the neighbors, or school mates either. One of my sons wears glasses and his doctor says it may have been from having measles a few months earlier. But he didn't know for sure. He was in the first grade. He may have needed glasses for a few years. Reading makes a difference.
Since my grandchildren are pushing 40 and my children are drawing on Social Security, I think you can imagine that, in my section of the country, I may have seen a case or two of measles. Yes, I lived in a time of measles.
People are soooo afraid of death now, that they worry too much about it. I date back to when people were still getting smallpox and polio. We worried and breathed a sigh of relief when our children got by with no harm. These diseases were part of life. In all my years, and knowing many people with children. I do not know of a single death from measles. No blindness either. I suspect that these statistics were gathered in an area that suited the researcher's ideas. I doubt that 1 out 20 developed Pneumonia.
Yes, Measles can be dangerous and we should be very careful when it's around.....BUT, statistics do not always tell the whole story. In thinking about my husband and I, our seven brothers and sisters, our own children, and about 25 nieces and nephews, not to mention hundreds of cousins, I do not know of a single death from measles. None of the neighbors, or school mates either. One of my sons wears glasses and his doctor says it may have been from having measles a few months earlier. But he didn't know for sure. He was in the first grade. He may have needed glasses for a few years. Reading makes a difference.
I find it just very bizarre to see someone asking why people are so afraid of seeing their children dying!
You may not have personally have heard of people dying from Measles, or heard of people suffering very serious long-lasting side effects, but that does not mean those things weren't happening. In the last 150 years over 200 million people died from Measles. Those numbers don't include the high numbers of people who suffered severe complications and survived.
I don't really understand your reluctance to believe statistics. Death records were maintained by doctors, hospitals, police departments, health departments, schools, the clergy, etc. They had no reason to report inaccurately.
I find it just very bizarre to see someone asking why people are so afraid of seeing their children dying! :.
I think that you and I are on different page in the Book OF Life. Death will come to everyone. Some will be young children. BUT, if you live your life and raise your children to think of death as a fearsome thing....well, I don't know what to say as I know no one that has such a attitude. Children are apt to die at anytime. Some don't even make it out of the womb.
I can't help but think of a cemetery lot next to my grandparents. One couple, with seven children, all less than one year old. If the parents were afraid of death, would they have kept trying?
Being aware of Death and being afraid of Death, are two entirely different things.
Afraid implies hiding from the truth, Aware, means you are careful.
There are tragic deaths, and there are preventable deaths. Why in the world anyone would not want to take steps to avoid succumbing to a preventable one is beyond comprehension.
I think that you and I are on different page in the Book OF Life. Death will come to everyone. Some will be young children. BUT, if you live your life and raise your children to think of death as a fearsome thing....well, I don't know what to say as I know no one that has such a attitude. Children are apt to die at anytime. Some don't even make it out of the womb.
I can't help but think of a cemetery lot next to my grandparents. One couple, with seven children, all less than one year old. If the parents were afraid of death, would they have kept trying?
Being aware of Death and being afraid of Death, are two entirely different things.
Afraid implies hiding from the truth, Aware, means you are careful.
What year was this? Modern times, or decades ago? How do you know they kept "trying?" Perhaps they were Catholic and didn't believe in BC. If it was years ago, maybe BC wasn't readily available. Maybe they just wanted a child very badly. You can't use that poor family as justification for your distorted view, that childhood illness and death are just a normal part of life. This is 2015, not 1885.
ugh this scares me too, I'm about to have my second baby in the summer. I really hope it's not going to get worse by then.
However, this is precisely why, when my son was a baby, I followed common sense rules for not exposing him to germs unnecessarily - measles is not the only thing out there, chicken pox, rsv, mrsa, or the flu can be just as deadly for an infant. I avoided taking him to crowded indoor places, especially in winter, and to those indoor playplaces until he was two. I didn't take him to the mall in the midst of christmas shopping. I didn't let him crawl around on the floor in public places, as I've seen so many parents do. I had him in the stroller in public, not the grocery cart, until he was old enough not to suck on the cart handle. I made sure to sanitize my own hands in between paying and touching him, and wipe down his hands if he happened to grab something. I didn't let him play with the toys in the doctors office - and we'd wait outside or in the car if the waiting room had a bunch of coughing kids. Just common sense things to me to protect a young baby, but I can't tell you how many times I've been scoffed at and called overprotective, and told off that I'm not letting my kid develop a healthy immune system blah blah. Whatever - babies are fragile! I've seen friends' babies hospitalized for things like RSV and I wasn't about to take the chance.
Be careful, stay away from crowded, germy, kiddie places, and make sure anyone who's in actual contact with the baby is vaxed, and you should be fine.
I think that you and I are on different page in the Book OF Life. Death will come to everyone. Some will be young children. BUT, if you live your life and raise your children to think of death as a fearsome thing....well, I don't know what to say as I know no one that has such a attitude. Children are apt to die at anytime. Some don't even make it out of the womb.
I can't help but think of a cemetery lot next to my grandparents. One couple, with seven children, all less than one year old. If the parents were afraid of death, would they have kept trying?
Being aware of Death and being afraid of Death, are two entirely different things.
Afraid implies hiding from the truth, Aware, means you are careful.
I'd like to think of low child and infant mortality rates as a sign of progress. It seems like you think it's just made us afraid and overly sensitive to death. It's definitely true, but I think attitudes have changed. Parents have fewer children and invest a lot more financially and emotionally in their children. The ability to do so is probably related to the low mortality rates--parents can't afford to get attached when they know there's a good chance their child will die. They also needed to have at least a few survive because in the era before social security children were the only real safety net.
Perhaps a hundred years ago people were more calloused to the thought of children dying, but even my grandfather has told me the worst thing that can happen to you as a parent is to outlive your children. While death is inevitable, death of your own children in your lifetime isn't really anymore. I don't think your advice is really "toughen up, if your daughter dies or becomes permanently injured it's not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things because she was going to die anyway" but it certainly comes off that way.
As to worry, I'm not that worried about measles. The chances of her contracting the disease in the next few months are low and the chances of complications or death even lower. Driving in the car is statically a much more dangerous activity.
I find it just very bizarre to see someone asking why people are so afraid of seeing their children dying!
You may not have personally have heard of people dying from Measles, or heard of people suffering very serious long-lasting side effects, but that does not mean those things weren't happening. In the last 150 years over 200 million people died from Measles. Those numbers don't include the high numbers of people who suffered severe complications and survived.
I don't really understand your reluctance to believe statistics. Death records were maintained by doctors, hospitals, police departments, health departments, schools, the clergy, etc. They had no reason to report inaccurately.
I was just going to say the same thing. Maybe if your child actually had to face the angel of death, you'd feel differently about such folderol.
I'd like to think of low child and infant mortality rates as a sign of progress. It seems like you think it's just made us afraid and overly sensitive to death. It's definitely true, but I think attitudes have changed. Parents have fewer children and invest a lot more financially and emotionally in their children. The ability to do so is probably related to the low mortality rates--parents can't afford to get attached when they know there's a good chance their child will die. They also needed to have at least a few survive because in the era before social security children were the only real safety net.
Perhaps a hundred years ago people were more calloused to the thought of children dying, but even my grandfather has told me the worst thing that can happen to you as a parent is to outlive your children. While death is inevitable, death of your own children in your lifetime isn't really anymore. I don't think your advice is really "toughen up, if your daughter dies or becomes permanently injured it's not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things because she was going to die anyway" but it certainly comes off that way.
As to worry, I'm not that worried about measles. The chances of her contracting the disease in the next few months are low and the chances of complications or death even lower. Driving in the car is statically a much more dangerous activity.
Exactly! And even people who have a lot of children don't want to see any of them die! My great-grandmother lost three kids in three weeks due to a diphtheria epidemic. She had 13 altogether, yet still grieved for those three.
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