Eyewitness to History: 1989 measles outbreak

Sunday, February 8, 2015
Eyewitness to History 1989 measles outbreak
The measles cluster in Cook County is not Chicago's first modern fight against the potentially fatal disease.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The measles cluster in Cook County is not Chicago's first modern fight against the potentially fatal disease.

Back in 1989, health officials scrambled to gain control of a measles outbreak that infected thousands of people in Chicago. By the end of 1989, Chicago and the suburbs reported more than 2,200 people infected with the measles. Eight people died, seven of them under the age of 5. Those children were not vaccinated.

We look back at Alan Krashesky's report from July of 1989, where some things look different but the medical community's advice remains the same.