Measles: why are they so afraid of it and isn't it better to get sick

What is measles?

Measles is an infectious disease and one of the world's leading causes of death in young children. Measles is caused by a virus from the paramyxovirus family.

The first symptoms appear 10-12 days after infection. The disease begins with a high fever, runny nose and cough, watery eyes. Gray-white spots form on the inside of the cheeks.

After a few days, patients develop a rash in the form of reddish-brown spots. It begins on the face and head, then gradually descends below.

Symptoms last 7-10 days, then go away.

How can measles be cured?

Since measles is a virus, antibiotics do not work on it. And there is no specific treatment for measles. So you have to endure until the body itself cope with the disease.

The most that can be done is to support the person, give him full nutrition, make sure that there is no dehydration, and hope that complications do not happen.

What complications does measles cause and how are they dangerous?

It is complications that are the reason why measles is deadly.

Due to measles, encephalitis and cerebral edema, otitis media, pneumonia develop, the mucous membranes of the eyes and intestines become inflamed. Sometimes blindness and weakened immunity remain as consequences.

Why do complications develop?

Because the body and immunity are not strong enough to resist the virus. The most common complications are:

Children under the age of five, because it is babies who are most sick.
Weakened children who are malnourished.
People with HIV or other chronic medical conditions.

According to the WHO, now every fifth patient develops complications. That is why you should not think that it is better to get sick with measles: the risk of a severe course of the disease and death is too great.

In addition, measles is dangerous for pregnant women because it threatens the life and health of the fetus.

How to avoid getting measles?

Measles spreads easily from person to person. And if there is no immunity against this disease, then there is only one way not to get infected: not to contact patients. The problem is that a person is contagious a few days before the first symptoms appear.

Only immunity, which is developed after an illness or after vaccination, saves from measles.

Will the vaccine help?

Measles vaccinations are highly effective. Children are vaccinated twice: a year and at the age of six. After that, immunity appears in 95–98% of those vaccinated. If the child is not yet a year old, then the vaccine is administered only for special indications, if the baby has been in contact with sick people and if he is six months old.

After vaccination, immunity lasts up to 25 years. If the vaccinated person still gets sick (this is rare, but it happens), then measles proceeds without complications and is much easier than usual.

Even if the vaccine is given within 72 hours of contact with an infected person, it will help to survive exposure to measles.

I'm an adult, do I have anything to fear?

In fact, measles is not a childhood disease. She is very contagious, anyone can get sick. Indeed, cases among adults are extremely rare, and here's why:

In countries where vaccines are in short supply, there are many epidemics. There, residents are constantly exposed to measles. Only adults already have immunity, because they got sick when they were little. Children have no immunity, so they immediately fall ill.
Since 1980, active measles vaccination has been carried out. Because of this, there are practically no epidemics in developed countries and many simply do not face the virus throughout their lives. Herd immunity protects adults and children.
When an insufficient number of people in a country are vaccinated, an epidemic breaks out, as it happened now. If at the same time the older generation was vaccinated, the children who did not receive the vaccines get sick again.

That is, if an unvaccinated and unrecovered adult meets a sick person, he will also become infected, because the measles virus does not ask for a passport.

Do adults need measles vaccine too?

Yes, if you have not been vaccinated or do not know if you are immune. If you have been vaccinated for a long time, it makes sense to check if the immunity is preserved and get vaccinated.

By the way, even if you have immunity, then an extra measles vaccine will not do any harm. The body will react to it in the same way as to the measles virus, that is, you will not get sick and nothing terrible will happen.

If you or your children are not vaccinated, get immunized.