Exaggerated natural measles following attenuated virus immunization: a refraction--toxic shock syndrome.

In 1976, we reported a case of an adolescent girl who, in the absence of detectable measles virus antibody despite two inoculations of live attenuated vaccine, incurred an exaggerated atypical measles illness following exposure to wild virus prevalent in Los Angeles at that time (1972-1973).1 The editors of Pediatrics and we were puzzled that the measles virus hemagglutination inhibition anti-body response in this youngster was not as striking as the antibody responses reported for other children with untoward atypical wild virus infections following repetitive doses of inactivated measles vaccine.