Measles Virus

This chapter explores the origin and infectivity of the measles virus in the course of human history. How measles first came to infect humans is not clear. Definitive proof is hard to come by since measles virus infection was once nearly impossible to distinguish from smallpox virus infection. Consequently, both had been lumped together as a single entity. As early as the tenth century, the Arab physician Abu Becr first attempted to distinguish between the two. However, it was not until the seventeenth century that English physician Thomas Sydenham actually documented the clinical entity of measles infection. Once it was understood that infection with measles virus confers lifelong protection from the disease and that humans are the natural host, interest turned toward developing a preventive vaccine. The chapter then considers the purported evidence that measles virus vaccines may be harmful. Such misinformation is often propagated for personal reasons yet greatly affects public health and individual lives.