Why Measles?

kevikens

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Location
New Jersey
We have all heard stories of how many men died of some illness during the war, actually a lot men. One of the illnesses frequently noted was measles. Now ay readers of a certain age recall that when we were kids we all got measles, along with mumps, chicken pox and whooping cough. No vaccines yet. If my memory is correct all that getting one of these diseases meant was a visit from the doctor (they did that back then) and week off from school. I don't recall anyone ever dying from one of these illnesses.

So what was it about measles that killed so many otherwise health young men? Was the illness more deadly back then? Less immunity? Dietary deficiencies making soldiers more vulnerable? If measles had not been so deadly back then Scarlet O'Hara would not have been free to pursue Ashley Wilkes and could have escaped that fake mourning.
 
"Measles is transmitted between humans through the air, such as by coughing, talking and sneezing. Infected individuals contract the virus through the lining of the mouth, throat, nose and eyes. Once infected it takes the virus two to four days to replicate inside of respiratory cells and to spread to lymph nodes. Then the second round of viral production occurs when it enters the blood stream within the white blood cells. Next, the virus circulating in blood carries infection to many parts of the body. During the final eight to twelve day incubation period, fever, weakness and loss of appetite is followed by hours of coughing and runny nose and eyes. At this point the infection spreads through tissue and the virus replicates throughout the body causing signs and symptoms of disease. Finally, cells in the capillaries become infected and interact with the body's natural immune system and a rash develops and spreads on the face, arms, legs and rest of your body." Oldstone, Michael. Viruses, Plagues and History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998
 
Is measles deadly? While measles can be fatal, it is rarely fatal in the United States. This is due to the fact that most people are immunized, which results in very infrequent outbreaks. Also, people most likely to have complications (including death) are those who are malnourished or who have weakened immune systems.

like men in a military camp on a diet of hardtack or even worse?
 
I find wide variation in records that list Civil War hospitalization and deaths due to measles. Here is one statement: "From the records during the Civil War, we know that two thirds of the soldiers died from infectious diseases. In the Union army over 67,000 men had measles and more than 4,000 died. During the first year of the war alone, there were 21,676 reported cases of measles and 551 deaths of Union soldiers mainly from respiratory and cerebral brain involvement." http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/viewer/initiative_10.06.02_u#h1num-3
 
Is measles deadly? While measles can be fatal, it is rarely fatal in the United States. This is due to the fact that most people are immunized, which results in very infrequent outbreaks. Also, people most likely to have complications (including death) are those who are malnourished or who have weakened immune systems.

like men in a military camp on a diet of hardtack or even worse?
Yes, even in modern times, measles can be deadly. "Accordingly the World Health Organization reported that during the 1980's and 1990's over 2.5 million children died from measles due to lack of vaccination given to susceptible individuals." Oldstone, Michael. Viruses, Plagues and History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
 
Overcrowding in camps contributed greatly to the rapid spread of diseases. This coupled with exposure to the elements, lowered the body's ability to resist disease. There were so many young recruits who had lived their lives in rural areas where they were never exposed to all of the diseases that lingered and thrived in Civil War camps. There were other contributing factors such as improper and inadequate diet (as Jamieva mentioned); contaminated water supply; garbage; poor hygiene.
 
Overcrowding in camps contributed greatly to the rapid spread of diseases. This coupled with exposure to the elements, lowered the body's ability to resist disease. There were so many young recruits who had lived their lives in rural areas where they were never exposed to all of the diseases that lingered and thrived in Civil War camps. There were other contributing factors such as improper and inadequate diet (as Jamieva mentioned); contaminated water supply; garbage; poor hygiene.

My gggrandfather spent some time at Chimborazo at the beginning of his service with the ANV because of getting sick in camp. he was from Caroline County (rural)
 
Here's a very good book that describes what soldiers went through just trying to keep themselves healthy during the war.
Nature's Civil War: Common Soldiers and the Environment in 1862 Virginia (Civil War America) by Kathryn Shively Meier
"In the Shenandoah Valley and Peninsula Campaigns of 1862, Union and Confederate soldiers faced unfamiliar and harsh environmental conditions--strange terrain, tainted water, swarms of flies and mosquitoes, interminable rain and snow storms, and oppressive heat--which contributed to escalating disease and diminished morale. Using soldiers' letters, diaries, and memoirs, plus a wealth of additional personal accounts, medical sources, newspapers, and government documents, Kathryn Shively Meier reveals how these soldiers strove to maintain their physical and mental health by combating their deadliest enemy--nature.
Meier explores how soldiers forged informal networks of health care based on prewar civilian experience and adopted a universal set of self-care habits, including boiling water, altering camp terrain, eradicating insects, supplementing their diets with fruits and vegetables, constructing protective shelters, and most controversially, straggling. In order to improve their health, soldiers periodically had to adjust their ideas of manliness, class values, and race to the circumstances at hand. While self-care often proved superior to relying upon the inchoate military medical infrastructure, commanders chastised soldiers for testing army discipline, ultimately redrawing the boundaries of informal health care." http://www.amazon.com/dp/1469610760/?tag=civwaraca-20

 
My 3rd great grandfather died of measles in 1850. He was 41. His daughter married my 2nd great grandfather William Sawyer, who was with the 12th Tennessee cavalry.

Measles can be serious. My mother had a life-threatening case in the 30s as a child. She says she still loves the smell of vinegar because her mother gave her vinegar baths to bring her fever down.

It's quite rare to die of chicken pox, but it does happen, and the other diseases on your list are more than capable of killing people. They just don't kill a very big percentage of those who get them. The numbers above translate to about a six percent chance of death. 16 out of 17 Union soldiers who got measles lived. But that's still a large number when you're starting with 67k.
 
Is measles deadly? While measles can be fatal, it is rarely fatal in the United States. This is due to the fact that most people are immunized, which results in very infrequent outbreaks. Also, people most likely to have complications (including death) are those who are malnourished or who have weakened immune systems.

like men in a military camp on a diet of hardtack or even worse?
That may be true today but when I was a kid no one had been vaccinated against measles. We all got it and as far as I know no one in my neighborhood or school ever died from it. I remember being surprised a bit later on to hear that people died from the measles. I wonder if doctors diagnosed measles as some kind of catch all for any disease with a rash they could not otherwise diagnose and missed the diagnosis of something that is really a very deadly disease.
 
I find wide variation in records that list Civil War hospitalization and deaths due to measles. Here is one statement: "From the records during the Civil War, we know that two thirds of the soldiers died from infectious diseases. In the Union army over 67,000 men had measles and more than 4,000 died. During the first year of the war alone, there were 21,676 reported cases of measles and 551 deaths of Union soldiers mainly from respiratory and cerebral brain involvement." http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/viewer/initiative_10.06.02_u#h1num-3
I think of things like this when I read that Grant was so avid to end the war as quickly as possible because he knew how fatal the camps were to the men.
 
For comparison, from Wikipedia:

Between 1987 and 2000, the case fatality rate across the United States was three measles-attributable deaths per 1000 cases, or 0.3%.[17] In underdeveloped nations with high rates ofmalnutrition and poor healthcare, fatality rates have been as high as 28%.[17] Inimmunocompromised persons (e.g., people with AIDS) the fatality rate is approximately 30%.[18]

So, compared to .3% in the modern US, 6% is high, but it's still substantially better than the 28% seen in modern underdeveloped nations.

Also, measles is horrifyingly contagious. There's an infectious disease index which states how many other people each patient is likely to infect. Measles was very high on that list - I would have to check but I want to say 38... As opposed to say ebola which is a 2. One reason is that measles is infectious for several days before any symptoms.
 
That may be true today but when I was a kid no one had been vaccinated against measles. We all got it and as far as I know no one in my neighborhood or school ever died from it. I remember being surprised a bit later on to hear that people died from the measles. I wonder if doctors diagnosed measles as some kind of catch all for any disease with a rash they could not otherwise diagnose and missed the diagnosis of something that is really a very deadly disease.
At .3%, if you had a school of 1000 kids and they all caught measles, on average about 3 children died of measles.

People take flu lightly too, and people die of flu all the time. A one in a thousand, two in a thousand chance isn't nothing. Funny how the same people who will buy lottery tickets with a one in forty million chance of winning the big pot will say childhood diseases don't kill anybody.
 
I can't speak much to measles, but I had concerns with chicken pox for awhile. I never had it growing up and knew they can be more serious as one ages, including being deadly. On the opinion of my doctor we even opted my children out of getting the new (at the time) vaccine even though it was required by the schools. The concern was me catching it and being in trouble. Luckily, the next year more research had been done and my kids and myself all got the vaccine.

I would also echo Littlestown. The fact that many of the soldiers' immune system had already been compromised because of elements and diet did not help matters if they did catch the viruses.
 
"In 1762 a French Physician, Tissost pointed out that measles rarely killed and when death occurred it was due to complications. However, at the end of the century it was concluded that this disease is more common, more dangerous and more widespread than most people believed. Although, in North America epidemics were less frequent they tended to be severe when they occurred, attacking people of all ages. Measles was also called the Covered Wagon Disease because it traveled with human communities. As a result of accessible travel and a growing population, measles became an endemic disease of North America never absent and reaching epidemic proportions at intervals." Cartwright, Frederick. Disease and History. New York: Thomas Crowell Company, 1972
 
"Measles was thought to be a disease of large cities. Urbanization brings close contact between large groups of people which allows viruses and diseases to spread easily. Although a source for the infection was not found in humans it was suggested that large groups of animals living closely with humans passed the disease. The disease was identified as a virus in 1911. Scientists had started to study measles infections, and realized that development of a vaccine would prevent the spread by causing lifelong immunity. John Enders, a Harvard graduate student, successfully grew the virus in brain tissue, as well as cells from the skin, muscles, and intestines. The virus was tested in human kidneys, human amniotic fluid, fertile hen eggs, and it ended up that chick embryo cell cultures became most useful in producing the measles vaccines, similar to methods still used today. The first demonstration was done in monkeys injected with virus and observed to develop protective antibodies against the virus. After that success a clinical trial was done using American children. Consequently, in 1961 Enders and colleagues reported that measles infection could be prevented through vaccination." Oldstone, Michael. Viruses, Plagues and History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
 
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