{"id":22145,"date":"2025-06-28T15:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T15:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/22145\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T15:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T15:39:10","slug":"families-share-their-stories-of-damage-done-by-vaccine-preventable-diseases-like-measles-and-rubella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/22145\/","title":{"rendered":"Families share their stories of damage done by vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and rubella"},"content":{"rendered":"

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) \u2014 In the time before widespread vaccination<\/a>, death often came early.<\/p>\n

Devastating infectious diseases<\/a> ran rampant in America, killing millions of children and leaving others with lifelong health problems. These illnesses were the main reason why nearly one in five children in 1900 never made it to their fifth birthday.<\/p>\n

Over the next century, vaccines virtually wiped out long-feared scourges like polio and measles and drastically reduced the toll of many others. Today, however, some preventable, contagious diseases are making a comeback as vaccine hesitancy pushes immunization rates down. And well-established vaccines are facing suspicion even from public officials,<\/a> with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist<\/a>, running the federal health department.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Jacque<\/p>\n

Jacque Farnham, left, looks at a book with her mother, Janith, in the Visual Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, S.D., on May 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

Jacque Farnham, left, looks at a book with her mother, Janith, in the Visual Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, S.D., on May 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis concern, this hesitancy, these questions about vaccines are a consequence of the great success of the vaccines \u2013 because they eliminated the diseases,\u201d said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. \u201cIf you\u2019re not familiar with the disease, you don\u2019t respect or even fear it. And therefore you don\u2019t value the vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anti-vaccine activists even portray the shots as a threat, focusing on the rare risk of side effects while ignoring the far larger risks posed by the diseases themselves \u2014 and years of real-world data that experts say proves the vaccines are safe.<\/p>\n

Some Americans know the reality of these preventable diseases all too well. For them, news of measles outbreaks and rising whooping cough cases<\/a> brings back terrible memories of lives forever changed \u2013 and a longing to spare others from similar pain.<\/p>\n

Getting rubella while pregnant shaped two lives<\/p>\n

With a mother\u2019s practiced, guiding hand, 80-year-old Janith Farnham helped steer her 60-year-old daughter\u2019s walker through a Sioux Falls art center. They stopped at a painting of a cow wearing a hat.<\/p>\n

Janith pointed to the hat, then to her daughter Jacque\u2019s Minnesota Twins cap. Jacque did the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s so funny!\u201d Janith said, leaning in close to say the words in sign language too.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Jacque<\/p>\n

Jacque Farnham, 60, left, walks with her mother, Janith, 80, to the Visual Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, S.D., on May 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

Jacque Farnham, 60, left, walks with her mother, Janith, 80, to the Visual Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, S.D., on May 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

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Jacque was born with congenital rubella syndrome, which can cause a host of issues including hearing impairment, eye problems, heart defects and intellectual disabilities. There was no vaccine against rubella back then, and Janith contracted the viral illness very early in the pregnancy, when she had up to a 90% chance<\/a> of giving birth to a baby with the syndrome.<\/p>\n

Janith recalled knowing \u201cthings weren\u2019t right\u201d almost immediately. The baby wouldn\u2019t respond to sounds or look at anything but lights. She didn\u2019t like to be held close. Her tiny heart sounded like it purred \u2013 evidence of a problem that required surgery at four months old.<\/p>\n

Janith did all she could to help Jacque thrive, sending her to the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind and using skills she honed as a special education teacher. She and other parents of children with the syndrome shared insights in a support group.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the condition kept taking its toll. As a young adult, Jacque developed diabetes, glaucoma and autistic behaviors. Eventually, arthritis set in.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Janith<\/p>\n

Janith Farnham signs \u201cwater\u201d while she and her daughter, Jacque, look at an artwork of a waterfall at the Visual Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, S.D., on May 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

Janith Farnham signs \u201cwater\u201d while she and her daughter, Jacque, look at an artwork of a waterfall at the Visual Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, S.D., on May 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

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Today, Jacque lives in an adult residential home a short drive from Janith\u2019s place. Above her bed is a net overflowing with stuffed animals. On a headboard shelf are photo books Janith created, filled with memories like birthday parties and trips to Mount Rushmore. <\/p>\n

Jacque\u2019s days typically begin with an insulin shot and breakfast before she heads off to a day program. She gets together with her mom four or five days a week. They often hang out at Janith\u2019s townhome, where Jacque has another bedroom decorated with her own artwork and quilts Janith sewed for her. Jacque loves playing with Janith\u2019s dog, watching sports on television and looking up things on her iPad.<\/p>\n

Janith marvels at Jacque\u2019s sense of humor, gratefulness, curiosity and affectionate nature despite all she\u2019s endured. Jacque is generous with kisses and often signs \u201cdouble I love yous\u201d to family, friends and new people she meets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you live through so much pain and so much difficulty and so much challenge, sometimes I think: Well, she doesn\u2019t know any different,\u201d Janith said.<\/p>\n

Given what her family has been through, Janith believes younger people are being selfish if they choose not to get their children the MMR shot against measles, mumps and rubella.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more than frustrating. I mean, I get angry inside,\u201d she said. \u201cI know what can happen, and I just don\u2019t want anybody else to go through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delaying the measles vaccine can be deadly <\/p>\n

More than half a century has passed, but Patricia Tobin still vividly recalls getting home from work, opening the car door and hearing her mother scream. Inside the house, her little sister Karen lay unconscious on the bathroom floor.<\/p>\n

It was 1970, and Karen was 6. She\u2019d contracted measles shortly after Easter. While an early vaccine was available, it wasn\u2019t required for school in Miami where they lived. Karen\u2019s doctor discussed immunizing the first grader, but their mother didn\u2019t share his sense of urgency.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that she was against it,\u201d Tobin said. \u201cShe just thought there was time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then came a measles outbreak. Karen \u2013 who Tobin described as a \u201cvery endearing, sweet child\u201d who would walk around the house singing \u2013 quickly became very sick. The afternoon she collapsed in the bathroom, Tobin, then 19, called the ambulance. Karen never regained consciousness. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe immediately went into a coma and she died of encephalitis,\u201d said Tobin, who stayed at her bedside in the hospital. \u201cWe never did get to speak to her again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, all states require that children get certain vaccines to attend school. But a growing number of people<\/a> are making use of exemptions allowed for medical, religious or philosophical reasons. Vanderbilt\u2019s Schaffner said fading memories of measles outbreaks were exacerbated by a fraudulent, retracted study claiming a link between the MMR shot and autism.<\/p>\n

The result? Most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners<\/a> \u2014 the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very upset by how cavalier people are being about the measles,\u201d Tobin said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that they realize how destructive this is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polio changed a life twice<\/p>\n

One of Lora Duguay\u2019s earliest memories is lying in a hospital isolation ward with her feverish, paralyzed body packed in ice. She was three years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could only see my parents through a glass window. They were crying and I was screaming my head off,\u201d said Duguay, 68. \u201cThey told my parents I would never walk or move again.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was 1959 and Duguay, of Clearwater, Florida, had polio. It mostly preyed on children and was one of the most feared diseases in the U.S., experts say, causing some terrified parents to keep children inside and avoid crowds during epidemics. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Artist<\/p>\n

Artist Lora Duguay paints on a stone from her wheelchair at home in Clearwater, Fla., on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Chris O\u2019Meara)<\/p>\n

Artist Lora Duguay paints on a stone from her wheelchair at home in Clearwater, Fla., on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Chris O\u2019Meara)<\/p>\n

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Given polio\u2019s visibility, the vaccine against it was widely and enthusiastically welcomed. But the early vaccine that Duguay got was only about 80% to 90% effective. Not enough people were vaccinated or protected yet to stop the virus from spreading.<\/p>\n

Duguay initially defied her doctors. After intensive treatment and physical therapy, she walked and even ran \u2013 albeit with a limp. She got married, raised a son and worked as a medical transcriptionist.<\/p>\n

But in her early 40s, she noticed she couldn\u2019t walk as far as she used to. A doctor confirmed she was in the early stages of post-polio syndrome, a neuromuscular disorder that worsens over time. <\/p>\n

One morning, she tried to stand up and couldn\u2019t move her left leg.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Artist<\/p>\n

Artist Lora Duguay poses for a portrait in her wheelchair with some of her artwork at home in Clearwater, Fla., on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Chris O\u2019Meara)<\/p>\n

Artist Lora Duguay poses for a portrait in her wheelchair with some of her artwork at home in Clearwater, Fla., on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Chris O\u2019Meara)<\/p>\n

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After two weeks in a rehab facility, she started painting to stay busy. Eventually, she joined arts organizations and began showing and selling her work. Art \u201cgives me a sense of purpose,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

These days, she can\u2019t hold up her arms long enough to create big oil paintings at an easel. So she pulls her wheelchair up to an electric desk to paint on smaller surfaces like stones and petrified wood.<\/p>\n

The disease that changed her life twice is no longer a problem in the U.S. So many children get the vaccine \u2014 which is far more effective than earlier versions \u2014 that it doesn\u2019t just protect individuals but it prevents occasional cases that arrive in the U.S. from spreading further. \u201c Herd immunity<\/a> ” keeps everyone safe by preventing outbreaks that can sicken the vulnerable.<\/p>\n

After whooping cough struck, \u2018she was gone\u2019<\/p>\n

Every night, Katie Van Tornhout rubs a plaster cast of a tiny foot, a vestige of the daughter she lost to whooping cough at just 37 days old.<\/p>\n

Callie Grace was born on Christmas Eve 2009 after Van Tornhout and her husband tried five years for a baby. She was six weeks early but healthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loved to have her feet rubbed,\u201d said the 40-year-old Lakeville, Indiana mom. \u201cShe was this perfect baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Callie turned a month old, she began to cough, prompting a visit to the doctor, who didn\u2019t suspect anything serious. By the following night, Callie was doing worse. They went back.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Katie<\/p>\n

Katie Van Tornhout looks through photos of her late daughter, Callie, at home in Lakeville, Ind., on May 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

Katie Van Tornhout looks through photos of her late daughter, Callie, at home in Lakeville, Ind., on May 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

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In the waiting room, she became blue and limp in Van Tornhout\u2019s arms. The medical team whisked her away and beat lightly on her back. She took a deep breath and giggled.<\/p>\n

Though the giggle was reassuring, the Van Tornhouts went to the ER, where Callie\u2019s skin turned blue again. For a while, medical treatment helped. But at one point she started squirming, and medical staff frantically tried to save her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin minutes,\u201d Van Tornhout said, \u201cshe was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Tornhout recalled sitting with her husband and their lifeless baby for four hours, \u201cjust talking to her, thinking about what could have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Callie\u2019s viewing was held on her original due date \u2013 the same day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called to confirm she had pertussis, or whooping cough. She was too young for the Tdap vaccine against it and was exposed to someone who hadn\u2019t gotten their booster shot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Katie<\/p>\n

Katie Van Tornhout sits with her son, Cain, at home in Lakeville, Ind., on May 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

Katie Van Tornhout sits with her son, Cain, at home in Lakeville, Ind., on May 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Shelby Lum)<\/p>\n

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Today, next to the cast of Callie\u2019s foot is an urn with her ashes and a glass curio cabinet filled with mementos like baby shoes. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy kids to this day will still look up and say, \u2018Hey Callie, how are you?\u2019\u201d said Van Tornhout, who has four children and a stepson. \u201cShe\u2019s part of all of us every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Tornhout now advocates for childhood immunization through the nonprofit Vaccinate Your Family. She also shares her story with people she meets, like a pregnant customer who came into the restaurant her family ran saying she didn\u2019t want to immunize her baby. She later returned with her vaccinated four-month-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s up to us as adults to protect our children \u2013 like, that\u2019s what a parent\u2019s job is,\u201d Van Tornhout said. \u201cI watched my daughter die from something that was preventable \u2026 You don\u2019t want to walk in my shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

____<\/p>\n

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) \u2014 In the time before widespread vaccination, death often came early. Devastating infectious diseases…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3881,6064,723,57,210,15006,6323,2862,20326,20328,2036,1060,3879,3880,20327,159,1123,67,132,68,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-22145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-ap-top-news","9":"tag-fl-state-wire","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-immunizations","14":"tag-in-state-wire","15":"tag-indiana","16":"tag-katie-van-tornhout","17":"tag-lora-duguay","18":"tag-measles","19":"tag-medication","20":"tag-nd-state-wire","21":"tag-north-dakota","22":"tag-patricia-tobin","23":"tag-science","24":"tag-sioux-falls","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}