This child died from measles, yours don't have to

Marissa Cortes-Torres holds a photo of her son, Ramon Junior Cortes, 9, who died in 1998 of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a complication of measles, after having contracted the disease as a baby. Photo: TNS

Measles is commonly thought to be a one-time deal: Get it once, survive and you’re immune for life.

But like a Trojan horse, the virus can find a way to hide from a baby’s undeveloped immune system. The baby will survive, but within his or her body, a weakened form of the measles lurks, beginning to infect the brain.