No it's not a normal childhood thing really, only I got it, I was about 10 years old. I seemed to get the things that gave you a sore throat and fever. I had chicken pox really young and whooping cough but never measles. Quinsy was horrible, it's an abscess in the throat that can develop from tonsillitis, you can't swallow at all and often it needs to be removed or burst before it swells and blocks your breathing. I went to the doctor two weeks after getting it and she said after poking it I had to go into hospital in the morning to have intravenous antibiotics and maybe surgery if it was still the same. the nice lady doctor had obviously poked it well as it burst that night, it tasted like shit, but I could swallow after that.