## ‘I would never wish it on anyone’: Measles resurgence spurs memories of past toll in Wisconsin

By Janelle Mella, Wisconsin Watch

This story was produced and originally published by Wisconsin Watch in collaboration with Door county Knock.

The measles started like a typical childhood illness for Dorothy Thompson – with just a runny nose. But she soon developed itchy red blotches across her skin and a fever so high doctors feared it could cause brain damage. She was just 5 years old, but decades later, some of her memories remain vivid.

“It was so horrible,” recalled Thompson, 72, of Richland Center. “I would never wish it on anyone.”

In the years before a measles vaccine became widely available in the 1960s, Thompson’s experience was not uncommon. Nearly every child in the United States caught measles before age 15.what many considered a normal part of childhood was disruptive and even deadly. It wasn’t unusual for students to go home from school sick. In hundreds of cases each year, they never returned.

After vaccine advances eliminated the virus in the U.S., measles is spreading again. More than 1,300 measles cases have been confirmed across 41 states, the latest being Wisconsin.

The state Department of Health Services on Aug. 2 announced it confirmed nine measles infections in oconto County – the first in Wisconsin in 2025.

To understand what the reemergence of measles might look like, Wisconsin Watch spoke with residents who contracted the disease decades ago as children, including some who still live with complications today. They described high fevers and days of bed-ridden isolation during the infections, as well as lasting damage to their bodies – like the hearing loss some live with now.

health professionals across the state told Wisconsin Watch they’re preparing to recognize the signs of a disease they’ve rarely, if ever, treated – and to respond to potential outbreaks.

When nothing stopped measles

In the days when measles ran rampant, medical treatment was limited.Families largely cared for sick children at home,relying on home remedies and passed-down knowledge,or the occasional house call from a doctor.

thompson remembers her days sick at home. Her mother applied calamine lotion to relieve itching around her rashes, and Thompson was required to stay in a dark room wearing sunglasses for fear that the disease would damage her eyes. The worst part, she recalled, was being packed in ice to manage her over 100-degree fever.

Pam Goodlet sits in her living room, surrounded by the antiques she has collected her whole life. Goodlet still lives in her childhood home on Washington Island, where she was bedridden for weeks with a severe case of measles in 1963.(Credit: Emily Small / Door County Knock)

Of the estimated 3 to 4 million Americans infected each year before vaccinations, an estimated 48,000 were hospitalized and 400 to 500 died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 1967, a column published in the Waukesha Daily Freeman described the stories of children whose lives were permanently altered by the disease.

They included a Watertown toddler who was hospitalized and diagnosed with a cognitive impairment after an infection that occurred one year before vaccines became widely available in 1963.

“Too late for Valerie,” the toddler’s mother reportedly lamented.Another child was described as healthy until developing encephalitis – a dangerous inflammation of the brain – at the age of 2 due to measles. The condition left her mentally impaired and also deaf, the newspaper reported. An estimated 1,000 children annually suffered encephalitis from measles in the pre-vaccination era.

Leslie fedorchuk of Milwaukee still lives with the effects of her measles infection.

She was about 6 years old when she realized something wasn’t right with her hearing. As her mother’s friend kept dialing her home’s wall-mounted phone, Fedorchuk, perched on a chair to reach it, would answer, hear nothing and hang up.

It took her mother picking up to realise her friend was speaking each time, but Fedorchuk couldn’t hear from her right ear. The episode happened shortly after Fedorchuk contracted measles and mumps simultaneously.

“I’m in my 70s, and I’ve lived with it my whole life,” Fedorchuk said. “When I hear people say, ‘Oh, nothing can happen if you don’t get a vaccination,’ I think, ‘Oh, yeah, something can definitely

Measles Cases Rise, Raising Concerns in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is seeing a rise in measles cases, and public health officials are preparing for a potential outbreak. This comes as vaccination rates in the state remain below levels needed to protect the population.

As of mid-August 2025, Wisconsin has confirmed 14 cases of measles this year. While this number isn’t extremely high, it’s a significant increase compared to recent years, when cases were rare due to successful vaccination efforts. The Centers for disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that most cases are linked to international travel.

Wisconsin is one of just 15 states that allow vaccine exemptions for medical, religious, and personal belief reasons.No Wisconsin county comes close to reaching the 95% vaccination rate considered necessary for herd immunity protection.

Public health officials are bracing themselves to respond.

Dorothy Thompson, 72, poses for a portrait in the dining room of her home alongside family photo albums from her childhood, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Richland Center, Wis. Thompson contracted measles at 5 years old while living in kasuga, Japan, with her family. “We all expected to get measles back than because everybody did,” Thompson said.”All of us knew someone who died.” (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)

Jennifer Weitzel, director for public health in Sauk County, said her department began closely monitoring measles in 2025 after a