Measles: A Patient’s Perspective

IN 2015, Jannae Yslas-Roach’s private decision to forgo vaccinations for her four children exploded into a public debate after she and her husband, Aaron, took their family to Disneyland for five days in mid-December. “It was to be the big Christmas present for the kids,” she recalls. But what the Kearny, Ariz., family didn’t realize was Disneyland had just become the staging ground for a measles outbreak that would eventually sweep the country.

Shortly following the trip, four members of the Yslas-Roach household got sick with cough, high fever and rash. During the next two weeks, Jannae says, family members visited medical professionals on multiple occasions without getting a firm diagnosis. Their son Gabriel was the first to get sick on January 2, with a fever and rash on his forehead. Medical tests were inconclusive, although scarlet fever was suspected. Gabriel was prescribed an antibiotic, and after three doses of the medication, his condition improved. But by January 7, Jannae and sons Christian and Isaiah had all come down with 103-degree fevers, cough, rash and nausea. Her daughter, Serenity, had a high fever but no rash.

Jannae immediately quarantined the family, staying home from her job and keeping the sick kids out of school. By January 11, Christian’s condition had significantly worsened, and he was taken to urgent care. By then, the family knew of the measles outbreak and alerted the center their son had been to Disneyland and possibly exposed. Unfortunately, the attending physician decided against testing for measles and instead diagnosed Christian with a viral infection. It was a decision with dire consequences. Pinal County Public Health officials later determined Christian did have measles, and his urgent care visit exposed 18 other people, one of whom became infected. That patient later returned to the urgent care center and exposed at least 195 others.

Jannae was the next family member to seek medical help when she awakened on January 14 around midnight, unable to breathe. “Something’s wrong,” she whispered to her husband. “I’ve got to get to the hospital.”

After arriving at the hospital, Jannae received chest X-rays and blood work, but test results were still inconclusive for measles. It was nearly a week later on January 22, after testing by a team from the Pinal County Public Health Services District, that all sick family members were definitively diagnosed with measles. While the news came as a bit of a relief, the ensuing backlash from the media threw the family into an unwelcome spotlight. After a public health announcement about a local family of four children contracting measles at Disneyland, it was not long before Jannae and her family were identified, and the outcry was intense, with many chastising them for what they perceived as gross negligence and irresponsibility.

Jannae says she felt horrible about exposing others to measles: “Our family went through hell, dealing with the commentary on social media. It was difficult to listen to people’s opinions on your parenting, and people can be cruel. I had to remember that everyone has a right to voice their opinion. I am a firm believer in free speech even when it’s not easy to hear. There were days we just shut off the television, closed Facebook and stayed off the Internet.”

Jannae recognizes many medical professionals today have never seen a case of measles, and she does not blame the doctors who inaccurately diagnosed her family, inadvertently putting others at risk. She explains she was not immunized in childhood because her uncle had a severe reaction to a vaccine and her mother decided against them. Later, when Jannae had her first child at 19, she also chose not to immunize because she worried about what she dubbed “a one-size-fits-all vaccine.”

Without question, the experience she and her family had with measles gave her pause, and she used the opportunity to do her own research on the efficacy of vaccines. In the end, she made the decision to vaccinate. “I found an amazing pediatrician who listened,” Jannae explained. “She answered any questions and helped me ease into vaccinations.”

The experience also sparked some positive, ongoing dialogue about healthcare decisions between Jannae and her kids, who are now 17, 13, 11 and 9. “It led to a lot of different talks for us, some about not bullying, some about understanding others’ opinions, some about my decision not to vaccinate and the responsibility that comes with making that choice (not intentionally infecting others),” says Jannae. “Then, explaining how the world is changing and ‘bugs’ are becoming stronger and not wanting them to experience something like this again. I want my kids to always make informed decisions about everything, but especially about their health.”