The Latin name for measles is rubeola. The pathogen which causes the disease is a paramyxovirus, which is one of a group of RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses. Measles is a respiratory disease caused by a virus, and also comes out in a rash. The virus enters the body via the respiratory system, and grows in the cells at the back of the throat and in the cells that line the lungs, from there it then enters the blood stream and circulates the body.
Common Symptoms
Usually a person doesn’t start to get symptoms of measles until they have been infected with the virus for 7-11 days. The symptoms are:
• Runny nose
• Dry hacking cough
• Sore throat – lymph nodes swell
• Sneezing
• Fever – this can be mild or severe and can reach 105Fº
…show more content…
(see image 1)
The symptoms usually last about 2 weeks in all.
Rare Symptoms
There are more serious symptoms of having mumps, but although these are more severe they are also a lot less common.
The rare or uncommon symptoms include:
• Encephalitis- inflammation of the brain
• Inflammation of the nervous system
• Infection of the middle ear
• A very high fever
• Severe headache
• Breathing difficulty
Long term damage & disabilities
It is very important to immunise against this disease not only because it is a very contagious virus but because it can have some very serious long term effects.
The most serious of these is obviously death, and people can and do die from measles; there are 1 million deaths worldwide caused by measles.
Also measles can cause deafness because of the inner ear infection.
Another long term damage of measles could be SSPE (Subacute Sclerosing Panencaphilitis). This can occur 2 to 10 years after contracting the measles virus, this results in progressive neurological deterioration because of brain inflammation.
Common side effects of the vaccine
Although it is very important to immunise against this disease, the vaccine does have side-effects, and no vaccine is completely safe. The Measles vaccine is given as part of the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella. The common and less severe side effects are; fever; mild rash; temporary pain or stiffness of joints,
Around 10 days after you get the measles infection, the following symptoms begin to appear:
According to the Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine Preventable Diseases textbook aka “The Pink Book” (2015) which was produced jointly by the Communication and Education Branch, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Measles is a paramyxovirus with the primary site of infection in the nasopharynx. It has an incubation period of 10-12 days. The first symptoms to occur are fevers (increasing stepwise 103-105 degrees), cough, runny nose and conjunctivitis approximately 2-3 days after exposure and last 2-4 days. The second part of the infection occurs approximately 14 days after exposure; which is evidence by Koplik spots on the oral mucosa. Then, 1-2 days later, a maculopapular rash develops along the hair line, face,
(Center For Disease Control).Those at greatest risk for contracting the disease are individuals who do not vaccinate or children to young to receive the vaccine. Signs and symptoms of measles include high fevers up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, rash, cough, conjunctivitis and runny nose. Many other complications may evolve once a person is infected with measles some being otitis media and pneumonia. The infected person is contagious roughly about 4 days prior to the rash forming and for about 4-5 days after the rash disappears. Most people that have died from the disease did not die from measles but the complications of measles and secondary illnesses. (The History Of Vaccines).
One in every 1000 children who contract measles will develop encephalitis, one in 1000 children will die from it, and 25% will have neurological brain damage (National Center for Immunizations n.d.). Morbidity: The most common is ear infections--one in every 20 people with measles will have permanent hearing damage (CDC, 2015). Expectant mothers who contract the disease can go into premature labor and birth, have a spontaneous abortion, or deliver a low birth weight baby.
It can transfer from person to person through coughing and sneezing since it lives in the throat and nasal cavity. The droplets of the disease can live up to 2 hours in the air. The victim can touch a contaminated surface then touch their eyes, mouth, nose, or breathe in the air and become infected. The infected person can be contagious four days prior or four days after the measles rash appears. (Measles)
What are Measles? According to Center of Disease Control, Measles start, “Three to five days after symptoms begin,” then, “a rash breaks out.” Measles are very contagious because if a person sneezes, coughs, or is even breathing next to you, you would most likely get it. Like Center of Disease Control says, “It usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline”. It starts from there and works its way down. To conclude,
with pus. On day twelve the blisters start to get hard and crust over and stomach pain starts and confusion starts to occur. On the third or forth week the blisters start to fall of and leave big nasty scars all over. If not treated the long term affects of the virus include blindness and deformed hands and feet. It kills 3 out of every 10 people it infects. After you get vaccinated on the third or forth day after vaccination a red itchy bump will start to appear it is called the vaccination cite. The bump becomes a blister and will then begin to fill with pus then will later drain. A health care worker should check to see
a. Measles is a highly contagious disease spread by mucous from the nose or mouth. Its symptoms include fever, rash, and painful red eyes. Thus, leaving children absent from school for two weeks for recovery ("Symptoms of measles, mumps and rubella.").
disease and Alzheimer’s. Severe infection that has spread to the brain, epilepsy, stroke, and the late
MMR stands for measles, mumps, and rubella (Measles). It’s very safe and effective (Measles). The CDC recommends that “all children get two doses of the vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12-15 months, and the second dose at 4-6 years of age” (Measles What). “People who received two doses of MMR vaccine as children according to the United States vaccination schedule are considered protected for life” (Measles What). There is also a MMRV vaccine which includes the varicella vaccine (Measles What). Measles is a disease that causes a rash, fever, cough, a runny nose, and watery eyes (Measles). “Complications can include ear infection, diarrhea, pneumonia, brain damage, and death” (Measles). Mumps consists of a fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, loss of appetite, and swollen salivary glands (Measles). “Complications can include swelling, deafness, inflammation of the brain and/or tissue covering the brain and spinal cord (Measles). It rarely causes death. Rubella can cause a fever, sore throat, rash, headache, and itchy eyes (Measles). “If a woman is pregnant and gets Rubella, she could have a miscarriage or her baby could be born with serious birth defects” (Measles). Even though this vaccine can have side effects, it is still important to get this
Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by the paramyyoviles virus. According to the World Health Origination, the disease remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a vaccine.
Patients that are contracted by this disease don’t actually become ill until about 7-18 day after they are infected by the virus(Carson-DeWitt). The most contagious time period is the three to five days before symptoms begin through about four days after the characteristic measles rash has begun to appear(Carson-DeWitt). A few days after the first few symptoms, a rash appears in the mouth, mainly on the mucous membrane that lines the cheeks(Carson-DeWitt). The rash is made of tiny white dots on
In order to detect if a person has the mumps the first thing would be to look at the symptoms. Mainly the swollen jaws would be a good indication. After this confirming what we think is the next step so a sample must be collected. Depending on what exactly you are looking for and what type of test is to be done depends on what type of sample you must get. For a detection of the mumps antibody a blood sample is going to be the choice specimen. To get this sample a normal venipuncture procedure will be used. If you are testing for the virus in a culture there are several specimens that can be used. Examples include blood, urine, CSF, nasopharyngeal aspirate/washing and throat swabs (Measles and Mumps Tests). We use antibody testing most commonly to determine if a person has this virus. Once infected the body make IgM antibodies to the virus. Over time these antibodies disintegrate and IgG antibodies take their place forever, allowing the person to become immune to the mumps virus if ever in contact with it again. There is also another test that detects the genetic strain of the virus called the RT-PCR test (Measles and Mumps Tests). This is used to help determine a cause especially if the results do not match the doctors suspicions.
Encephalitis is a condition caused by viruses which cause the brain to become inflamed. There are two types of encephalitis one is called primary because the viruses affect the brain itself. Secondary is the viruses travel from some other part of the body that has been affect to the brain. When the virus reaches the brain it begins to multiply causing inflammation. The brain’s white matter can be destroyed. This destruction causes cell death, hemorrhage and edema. The edema begins to compress the blood vessels this causes intracranial pressure (Mayo Clinic, 2011).