<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Laine Bradley was just 10 months old when she contracted the measles - too young to be vaccinated.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her mother, Cecily Johnson, had taken her on a trip from Western Australia to Sydney.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I didn't know there was an outbreak. If I had known I would had have had her immunised early," Johnson said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/woolworths-ai-job-interviews-jamie-rejected-exclusive/f3fc936d-4190-4f9b-b832-9648a8c8c9e7" rel="" target="" title="Jamie wanted a job at Woolies. He claims he was rejected after two AI interviews"><strong><span>Jamie wanted a job at Woolies. He claims he was rejected after two AI interviews</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When the pair returned to Western Australia, little Laine broke out in a rash.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As a paediatric nurse, her mother immediately recognised the signs of measles.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After a few grizzly days of being unwell, Laine recovered. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/laine-died-of-complications-from-the-measles-antivaxxers-turned-up-at-the-12yearolds-funeral/42120da3-eaa8-4fbe-8c5f-9189d92a43a0" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She was fine and over it. She had no real problems. I never thought any more of it until she was seven," Johnson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was at that age when Johnson began to think something was wrong with her daughter, but it was hard to pinpoint what exactly.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Laine was naturally smart and bright girl, who even taught her brother to read and write before he went to school.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"One day she said to me, 'I can't go to school anymore. I feel dumb'," Johnson said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That's when I went, oh my God, there's something wrong here."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Laine began to show signs of confusion. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I would say, 'Oh, come on, have a shower.' And she would answer, 'Where's the shower?'" Johnson said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Johnson said she took Laine to multiple doctors and had her seen at the hospital, but everyone told her there was nothing wrong with her daughter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was only when Johnson desperately appealed for help from a specialist doctor she knew that she got some answers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He said one thing: 'Did she have measles as a baby?'" Johnson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Laine was diagnosed with Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE), a rare and fatal neurological disorder caused by the measles virus she contracted as an infant.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Within two weeks of her diagnosis Laine went blind, and then lost the ability to walk or speak. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Laine hung on for five more years, but for much of that time she was completely bedridden and unable to do anything for herself.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She died when she was 12 in 1995.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During Laine's illness and after her death, Johnson began sharing her story, raising important awareness about SSPE, measles and the importance of immunisation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If more people knew that having measles isn't just having a rash getting over it, that kids can die with it, they would make sure their kids were vaccinated," Johnson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Speaking out has made Johnson a target of anti-vaxxers who do not care to hear her message.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In an appalling move, a group of anti-vaxxers even showed up at Laine's funeral, Jonhson said, adding police officers were needed to escort them away.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They were yelling, 'She didn't die of that, it's something else. She's a liar.'"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Johnson has had to put aside her feelings about people who oppose vaccinations when she helps children with SSPE through a support group.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I've helped anti vaxxers when their kids have gotten ill. I put it all away, and I think of the child," Johnson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While anti-vaccination sentiment had waxed and waned over the decades since Laine's death, Johnson said she had noticed a marked uptick since the pandemic.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She has noticed it particularly with her interactions online.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I just had a guy laugh at Laine's photo, a dead child's photo," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I have to go past all the comments because they will break my heart."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Johnson is sharing Laine's story again as Australia is experiencing the highest number if measles cases in six years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>So far this year, there have been 137 cases of measles, federal </span><a href="https://nindss.health.gov.au/pbi-dashboard/" rel="" target="" title="health records"><span>health records</span></a><span> show. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The last peak before then was back in 2019, when 284 were recorded for the full year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Thursday, Queensland Health issued a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/measles-alert-gold-coast-schools-and-buses-queensland/a7219e9d-e06a-4d9a-8c20-998d097d50c1" rel="" target="" title="measles alert"><span>measles alert</span></a><span> for South East Queensland after several cases were reported, including a school student.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Earlier this month, multiple alerts have been issued across Queensland and Western Australia stemming from infected travellers returning from Bali.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Measles was considered to have been eradicated in Australia in 2014, when The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Australia free of the disease.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Australia's thorough childhood vaccination program has largely kept any subsequent outbreaks to a minimum over the intervening years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Measles is one of the most contagious human diseases and WHO recommends at least 95 percent of the total population receive two doses of the measles vaccine in childhood to achieve "herd immunity".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Australia, doses of the measles vaccine are given at 12 months and 18 months.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Leading up to the pandemic, Australia had its highest level of </span><a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/immunisation-data/childhood-immunisation-coverage/historical-coverage-data-tables-for-all-children" rel="" target="" title="vaccination rates"><span>vaccination rates</span></a><span> ever, with 94.85 percent of 1-year-old children fully vaccinated and 92.55 percent of two-year-olds.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, since the pandemic that number has been steadily declining.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2024, there were 92.14 percent of 1-year-old's fully vaccinated and 90.44 percent of 2-year-olds.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Writing in a joint piece for </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/new-measles-cases-in-queensland-show-herd-immunity-is-more-important-than-ever-265850" rel="" target="" title="The Conversation"><span>The Conversation</span></a><span> last month, University of Sydney's public health associate professor Frank Beard and Katherine Macartney, a professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at the same university, said the trend was concerning.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In terms of overall herd immunity, the impacts at this stage may be relatively small. But measles immunity gaps are much greater in some parts of Australia, such as the north coast of New South Wales and the Gold Coast in Queensland," the pair wrote.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Measles immunity is also lower in some adults, because vaccination rates were lower when they were children. A second dose of measles vaccine was not added to the National Immunisation Program until 1992."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Australia is not the only country to see increased rates of measles. In the US, cases of measles are at their highest level since 2000, when the disease was declared eliminated there.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Amid a global resurgence of measles and more cases in travellers, supporting international efforts to boost immunisation rates in all countries is critical. This will further reduce the chance of outbreaks here," Beard and Macartney said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>Do you have a story? Contact reporter Emily McPherson at</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="mailto:EMcPherson@nine.com.au" target="_blank" title=""><em><strong><span>EMcPherson@nine.com.au</span></strong></em></a></div></div>