Despite a system set up to protect against measles, Children's Hospital was unable to keep the virus from spreading within its walls.
During last winter's epidemic, a fragile 6-year-old with an immune problem died of measles that she caught from her roommate, according to the hospital.
In addition, the hospital says, more than 100 patients, many chronically ill or recovering from surgery, were exposed to measles; six doctors and nurses caught it, unknowingly exposing patients, and five children hospitalized for other problems came down with measles, complicating their recoveries.
"We knew how bad measles were," said Mary Kohler, whose daughter Kristin died Feb. 25 at Children's. "We didn't know the extent of the toll it would take on her. We had no idea."
A decade after public health officials thought that measles had been virtually wiped out, the disease has re-emerged as a national concern, fueled by the fact that so many children in this country don't get their childhood shots. Earlier this month, the federal government underscored the problem by launching a nationwide immunization drive.
For hospitals, measles are especially worrisome because a person is infectious for several days before the telltale rash breaks out. To make matters worse, a pediatric facility such as Children's is filled with patients susceptible to the disease because their immune systems aren't working right.
What happened at Children's Hospital shows a little-known but far-reaching consequence of a measles outbreak.
"We care for very ill children, and then we get this very infectious agent that comes in the hospital," said Louis Bell, a physician who is medical director of infection control at Children's Hospital.
"It really made me nervous, the whole thing," he said.
During last year's epidemic, Children's Hospital treated more than 200 children with measles, some so ill they needed to be hospitalized.
