Abstract
Evidence concerning the theory that certain populations, specifically American Indians and Eskimos, are unusually susceptible to measles is reviewed. The early history of measles as a disease introduced into the New World is summarized, and mortality rates in virgin-soil epidemics are examined. With the measles-vaccine reaction as a model for the natural disease, the postvaccinal febrile reactions in eleven different Amerind populations are compared with reactions in a standardized series of studies in Caucasian populations. The average fever in the Amerinds was higher by 0.4 C. No consistent pattern of intercurrent disease or immunologic variation that might have contributed to this difference was found. Genetic differences in these populations remain a hypothetical alternative explanation.
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