Marsha Engle-Reinecke, 61, contracted measles as a child before vaccines were available. She has suffered from extreme hearing loss ever since, which forced her to abandon her dream job of being a teacher and to eventually quit her 25-year career in brand management.
“A vaccine would have made such a difference in my life. Please vaccinate your children,” Ms. Engle-Reinecke wrote in a recent Facebook post.
Others who shared their stories include Dan Flaherty, 55, who became deaf in one ear due to the mumps, and Traci Cobb-Evans, 56, who was born with visual impairments after her mother contracted rubella during pregnancy.
Most discussions about vaccination focus on the risk of death, but the risk of disability is also an important reason to vaccinate, Patsy Stinchfield, senior director of infection prevention and control at Children’s Minnesota hospitals and clinics, told The Chicago Tribune.
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