COMMON CHILDHOOD ILLNESSES 1: MEASLES

 

Has your baby received the necessary vaccinations?

Measles, also called rubeola (not rubella) is a very common childhood disease caused by a virus that spreads easily through the air and settles on surfaces.

 

A vaccine can prevent measles infection.

Most people recover from measles in about 10 days. Although it usually doesn’t cause long-term medical issues, measles can be serious and even deadly. This is especially true for children younger than age 5 and people with severely weakened immune systems.

Measles is treated by managing the symptoms. Getting the measles vaccine when recommended can help keep the virus from spreading. Because of vaccination, measles cases have really reduced in places like the US for more than two decades.

Measles illness causes a blotchy rash. It may be shades of red, purple or brown depending on your skin color. The rash often shows up first on the face and behind the ears and then spreads to the chest and back and finally to the feet.

 

SYMPTOMS

Measles symptoms show up around 7 to 14 days after contact with the virus.

The first symptoms usually are:

1. Fever, which may be as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.6 degrees Celsius).

2. Dry cough.

3. Runny nose.

4. Red, watering eyes, called conjunctivitis.

5. About 2 to 3 days after the first symptoms, you also may see tiny white spots inside the mouth, called Koplik spots.

6. About 3 to 5 days after symptoms first start, or about 14 days after you come into contact with the virus, it’s common to see a rash. The rash is made up of large, flat spots and small raised bumps. The rash starts on the face or neck and spreads down the body from the chest to the arms and legs.

7. A person with measles can spread the virus four days before the rash appears and four days after. Measles can spread very easily.

8. Note also, that about 90% of people who haven’t had measles before or haven’t been vaccinated will become infected when around someone with measles.

Please call your doctor, if you think you or your child may have been around measles or you or the child have a rash that looks like measles.