Measles Outbreaks – Why You Should Protect Your Child
Measles infection (also called rubeola) is caused by a Morbillivirus and is highly contagious. It is spread quickly and easily through respiratory secretions when a person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. It initially infects the respiratory tract but spreads to affect the entire body. It is one of the most highly contagious infectious diseases in the world, and unfortunately it is currently on the rise in areas of the United States.
The populations at highest risk for severe measles disease are infants and children under 5 years old, older adults, pregnant women, and those with compromised immune systems.
Symptoms of measles
Early symptoms of measles usually begin to show up about 10-14 days after exposure to the virus. These include:
- Runny nose
- Fever
- Cough
- Watery, red eyes
- Small white spots in the mouth, called Koplik spots
At about 3-7 days after infection begins, a rash develops. This starts on the head and face and progresses downward over the body. This prominent rash is the most visible and recognizable symptom of measles, but unfortunately by the time this develops and can be recognized, the individual has already been highly infections to others for several days, with lots of respiratory secretions. This is what makes it so easy for measles to spread quickly. In fact, 9 out of 10 susceptible (ie – unvaccinated) people exposed to measles will become infected.
Complications of measles
While many children may feel ill for a few weeks and then recover, some may go on to have either severe disease from the measles infection or secondary complications. Hospitalization occurs in about 1 out of 5 previously healthy individuals as a result of these potentially life-threatening complications:
- Pneumonia (infection of the lungs)
- Seizures
- Encephalitis, or swelling of the brain (occurs in 1 out of 1,000 patients)
- Eye damage or blindness
- Deafness
- Subacute sclerosing panencphalitis (SSPE) – rare but fatal disease that develops 7-10 years after measles infection.
- Death (1 to 3 out of 1,000 children) due to respiratory and neurological complications
Prevention of measles
There is no treatment for measles.
Once the infection has begun, there are no medications to stop the course of disease, and no way to know how that infection will progress in an individual. I have had parents tell me they’d rather their child get the treatment for measles than the vaccination, but let me say it again: there is NO treatment for measles other than medications for symptom relief. There is no anti-viral medication that will eliminate or improve the disease once it has established in the body. Supplementation with Vitamin A can be given to help prevent eye damage and blindness.
The number one thing you can do to protect your child from measles infection is to vaccinate. The MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine is highly effective at prevention of measles infection. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), prior to the widespread availability of the measles vaccine in 1963, an estimated 2.6 million deaths worldwide were caused by measles infection. As recently as 2021 an estimated 128,000 people died from measles, and most of these were under the age of 5 years.
The anti-vaccine movement
The MMR vaccine has long been a target of the anti-vaccine movement. This has largely stemmed from a study that reportedly demonstrated a connection between the vaccine and development of autism. Concerns about MMR causing autism have been addressed by dozens of scientific studies that have shown no evidence of increased risk in vaccinated children compared to unvaccinated children. No link between the vaccination and autism has been discovered. Unfortunately, the damage was done. I still have parents ask about “MMR vaccines causing autism” in clinic when it is time for the vaccine to be given.
Now, it seems the focus has shifted, with a growing sentiment that professes the vaccination to be more harmful than the disease. Proponents of this faction state that measles is “benign” in childhood, and should not be considered as a serious illness. This is simply not true, and parents who obtain health information from influencers and other non-scientific sources may be easily misled if they do not confirm the information with their child’s pediatrician.
Final thoughts
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, infants and children under 5 years of age are one of the high risk groups for severe measles infection and subsequent complications. Sending the message that measles is a “benign childhood illness” or that “the vaccine causes more injury than the disease” spreads misinformation that can be incredibly harmful to this population of children. Hopefully the information given today can help parents to see that measles is a potentially harmful or even deadly infection that should be protected against as early as possible. In our global society exposure to measles could happen easily, with potentially devastating effects.
Resources
https://www.chop.edu/news/health-tip/measles-outbreak-how-protect-your-family
If you enjoyed this post, please sign up below to subscribe for blog emails. You will receive notification when new posts are available. If you do not receive a welcome email upon registering, please check your spam folder.
