Measles unusual before 9 months of age
Measles, also known as rubeola, is a highly contagious viral disease characterised by fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes and a spreading skin rash. The disease causes red and blotchy rash, which usually appears first on the face and behind the ears, then spreads downward to the chest and back and finally to the feet.
Measles is unusual before 9 months of age due to the presence of maternal protective antibodies.
Measles is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons. Initial symptoms usually appear after 10-12 days of an incubation period. It can start out with rashes, but can escalate very quickly to dangerous complications.
Pneumonia is the most common fatal complication of measles and accounts for 56-86 percent of measles-related deaths, and other complications include diarrhea, oral ulcer, middle ear infection (otitis media), laryngitis, secondary bacterial infections, flaring of dormant TB, encephalitis and depletion of vitamin A with xerophthalmia followed by blindness and malnutrition.
Long-term effects of measles are hearing loss, brain damage and immune suppression. Deaths may occur in up to 5-10 percent of infected children in the developing countries.
Another contagious viral infection that is often confused with measles is rubella or German measles. It is also transmitted through airborne droplets when infected people sneeze or cough.
Though milder than measles, if rubella infects a pregnant woman during the first half of her pregnancy, she may have a 90 percent risk of passing the virus on to her fetus, which may cause miscarriage, stillbirth or severe birth defects that especially affect the eyes, ears, heart, and brain known as Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS). Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect against measles and rubella.
There are nationwide measles-rubella follow-up campaigns that target children aged 9-59 months every 2-5 years. There is no specific treatment for measles and rubella, it is necessary and wise to get children vaccinated to prevent transmission through immunisation.
[Dr Rukhsana Parvin is an assistant professor at Department of Pediatrics, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College]
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