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A teen developed severe complications after contracting measles — even though she was vaccinated — because her autoimmune disorder made it difficult to fight the virus.
Makayla Skjerva, a 14-year-old from Cavalier, N.D., first started to feel sick on Feb. 10, complaining of neck pain. As her stepmother Ashley told ABC News, three days later they tried to bring Makayla to a local emergency room, but staff advised them that, due to a measles exposure at the teen’s school, they should keep her home and treat her symptoms with over-the-counter medications.
But her condition quickly deteriorated, and on Feb. 19, the family brought Makayla to a local clinic when she was having trouble breathing. Her oxygen was a dangerously low 62%, and she was transferred to a hospital where she was diagnosed with measles, pneumonia, COVID-19 and Haemophilus influenzae, which is a bacterial infection that can cause illnesses like bronchitis.
Although Makayla was fully vaccinated against measles, she also had autoimmune encephalitis, a disorder where the immune system attacks the brain’s cells, according to the Cleveland Clinic. This condition — with which she was diagnosed at 5 years old — left her especially vulnerable to infections.
“Makayla has had [the vaccine], but with a [weak] immune system, it doesn’t do anything,” Ashley told the outlet.
Makayla’s family learned they had just hours to get the teen to a bigger hospital in Minneapolis to save her. “They had put her in a paralytic state to transfer her, and we had people come up and say their goodbyes,” Ashley told the outlet.
Makayla was put on life support, with the family establishing a GoFundMe to help them be by her side. By Feb. 28, the teen had improved enough to be transferred to a facility closer to home, and on March 6, she was discharged from the hospital. But as Ashley says, her recovery is far from over. “She had to use a walker, and she can take slow bites,” Ashley said. “She has to chew for a very long time because with the tube [her throat] was very, very, very sore.”
The teen will attend school virtually while she recovers. As Ashely tells the outlet. “Makayla is a fighter but the fight’s not over.”
Measles cases in the U.S. have spiked year over year. So far this year there are 1,362 cases of the contagious virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports. Last year, there were 2,281 confirmed cases of measles, with illnesses reported in 45 states. In 2024, there were 285 cases — a fifth of the cases the U.S. has seen barely three months into this year.
The best way to protect against the measles, the CDC says, is to vaccinate: “Two doses of the MMR vaccine are recommended by doctors as the best way to protect against measles, mumps and rubella.” However, recent distrust of the vaccines has led some parents to not vaccinate their children, causing many populations to fall below the recommended percentage to maintain herd immunity and contributing to outbreaks.
“I understand that people have the right to vaccinate or choose not to but please think about the fact that there are millions with autoimmune compromises,” Ashley said. “That one poke can save their lives and can protect not only yourself and your children but others and their children as well.”