Medicine: An Alarming Comeback for Measles

It begins with a runny nose, accompanied by a feeling of listlessness. Soon body temperature may soar as high as 40.5° C. (105° F.), and the patient develops the characteristic red rash of common measles, or rubeola.* Though this childhood disease seemed on the verge of extinction after the introduction of a vaccine against it in the early 1960s, measles has been making an alarming comeback. In recent months, there have been startling outbreaks in such widely scattered states as California, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Texas and Virginia.

One obvious reason for rubeola's resurgence...

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