Measles - characteristic symptoms, treatment and prevention

The first symptoms of measles, treatment, prevention

Measles is an infection of viral etiology, which is characterized by lesions of the upper respiratory tract and rashes throughout the body. The virus negatively affects the immune system, affects the walls of blood vessels. Measles affects not only children, but also adolescents and adults.

Transmission routes

The measles virus is transmitted by airborne droplets - it is enough to be with a sick person for 10-15 minutes to become infected. There is a version that the infection can be transmitted transplacentally (from mother to child during pregnancy), such cases are confirmed by official medicine, but are exceptions.

Measles is an insidious disease, because doctors cannot answer exactly how many days the incubation period of measles lasts. It is generally accepted that this period is 9-11 days, but there are cases of variation from 7 to 28 days. It depends on the general health of the person, the level of the immune system. Official medicine also knows patients who are carriers of the virus, but do not get measles themselves.

Large-scale infection occurs rarely, but with a certain frequency - once every 8-10 years, if the virus is not imported into the region from outside. The consequences of measles outbreaks are not considered critical or catastrophic - it does not lead to numerous fatal consequences. However, there is at least one very serious complication of measles, which more often occurs in children who have had this infection before the age of 2, more often in those who have not been vaccinated against measles. This complication is called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (PSPE). It occurs 7-10 years after the infection and is manifested by the gradual loss of all motor and mental functions of the brain and always ends in the death of the patient. The incidence of PSE is 4-11 cases per 100,000 measles cases, in countries with a low vaccination rate it can be 27-28 cases per 100,000 measles cases. The presence of this complication is an important argument in favor of vaccination. It is believed that the optimal period of the year for measles is spring and early summer, when the air temperature allows the virus to remain viable in the environment for a long time.

Symptoms of measles in children

How do the signs of measles in a child manifest themselves:

1. The incubation period is asymptomatic, but there is already a danger to those around them. Unwanted contacts in the last 2-3 days of incubation are one of the causes of epidemics.
2. Then symptoms of a common respiratory disease begin to appear - fever, dry and unproductive cough, eye inflammation (conjunctivitis), loss of appetite up to a complete refusal to eat. Among the first symptoms of measles in children, tearing and photophobia, hyperthermia in the morning and hoarseness of the voice are often noted.
3. On the second day from the beginning of the active phase of the disease, a characteristic sign appears - Koplik's spots, which are a small rash in the form of "semolina". The spots are localized in the projection of the location of the small molars - they most often become the reason for diagnosing measles.
4. A maximum of three days later, the spots disappear and a rash appears all over the body. It begins to spread from the head and gradually descends downward, "absorbing" the entire surface of the body. At the same time, the patient's regional lymph nodes increase, but remain painless even when palpated.

Knowing what the initial stage of measles looks like in patients, you can make the correct diagnosis in time and begin appropriate treatment. When examining a patient during the period of active rashes on the body, the doctor may detect a rapid heartbeat, an enlarged liver and spleen, and wheezing in the respiratory tract. Usually, even such health disorders do not prevent a full recovery without any consequences, but measles often occurs with complications. It is extremely undesirable to allow infection of adults - the disease is very severe in them, can be fatal. It is especially necessary to monitor the health of a pregnant woman - intrauterine infection with the virus of the fetus can provoke its incorrect anatomical development. To prevent the risk of giving birth to a defective child, women are offered a blood test for antibodies to the measles virus - they are produced in the body after recovery or against the background of regular vaccination. If there are no protective antibodies to measles, it is necessary to get vaccinated against measles at least 1 month before conception.

Treatment of childhood measles

There is still no effective drug in medicine that will stop the development of the infection or lead to the instant death of the virus. Therefore, the treatment of childhood measles is reduced to symptomatic therapy:

• the patient is shown bed rest, abundant drinking (preferably rosehip decoctions and natural citrus juices) and a sparing diet;
• the oral cavity should be rinsed as often as possible with a decoction of chamomile flowers or a solution of chlorhexidine;
• if the virus has affected the eyes and conjunctivitis has developed, the doctor will prescribe antibacterial drops, the curtains should be lowered in the patient's room and the intensity of artificial lighting should be reduced;
• at high body temperature, the patient is given antipyretic drugs;
• the patient should receive a vitamin A preparation to prevent complications from the eyes.

How to treat a rash with measles? Doctors do not recommend doing anything - it does not bother the patient, does not cause severe itching - and therefore even treating the rash with brilliant green will not speed up recovery. But if the rash resembles pustules in appearance, the patient's condition worsens, then he is shown hospitalization - it is quite possible that another infection has joined, and aggressive antibacterial therapy is required.

Preventive measures

The following questions often arise among patients of pediatricians and infectious disease specialists:

• how many times and when is the measles vaccination done - 2 times in 1 year and at 6 years, if an adult has not been vaccinated, then it is done once at any age, after 4 weeks it is necessary to check for the presence of antibodies to measles, if they are not there - the vaccination must be repeated. More than 2 times vaccination is usually not done for adults and children.
• what happens in the body after vaccination – the immune response to the measles vaccine is predictable: a slight increase in temperature, general malaise without any consequences; the reaction to vaccination is delayed - it occurs 7-12 days after vaccination.
• at what age is measles revaccination carried out – according to the vaccination calendar, it is shown to children at 6 years old, but the pediatrician must take into account various factors and issue permission for the manipulation only after examining the child.

More details about the disease and how dangerous measles is and how its complications are tolerated can be found on the pages of our website Dobrobut.com.