Can measles go away on its own?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Bui Thi Ha - Pediatrician - Neonatologist, Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Ha Long International Hospital
Measles is a benign disease that causes complications only on specific sites. The patient will gradually recover after 3-4 days the rash is over. Currently, there is no specific treatment for the disease, up to 90% of measles patients recover on their own and only 10% have severe complications.

1. Can measles go away on its own?

Measles is a disease for which there is no specific treatment. Up to 90% of measles patients can recover on their own, only 10% of cases have severe complications.
The nature of measles is a benign disease, the disease can go away on its own after 7-10 days without leaving dangerous complications. Only on special sites is there a high risk of complications. If the case is mild, children with measles should be isolated at home. After 3-4 days, the rash will gradually recover. In case of complications such as pneumonia, myocarditis or encephalitis due to antigenic reactions, bacterial superinfection, etc., parents need to quickly bring their children to the hospital for timely treatment.
Measles vaccination is an active prevention measure that helps the body produce antibodies against the measles virus. Immunity begins to form after 7-10 days of vaccination, and protective immunity is achieved after 3-4 weeks. Therefore, people, especially children from 9 months old should be vaccinated to prevent disease effectively.

2. Why is measles likely to become epidemic?

The first reason is because high-level hospitals are overloaded and difficult to control the epidemic. Children with measles will cross-infect other children, so the disease outbreaks very quickly.
The expanded vaccination program only covers about 90-95% of the population, each year about 5-10% remains unvaccinated. Furthermore, although the measles vaccine is very effective, only an immune response is in the range of 85-90%. Accumulating in 3 - 4 years, there are people who have not been vaccinated or vaccinated but cannot generate immunity is also a relatively large number. When pathogens appear, these people are very susceptible to infection.

3. Measles is transmitted by what ways?

Measles is an infectious disease that can be transmitted in the following ways:
The disease is usually transmitted by direct respiratory droplets: The measles virus can survive in a patient's nose and throat. When a patient coughs, sneezes, or talks, tiny droplets containing the virus are released into the air and can be inhaled by others or these droplets can land on a place such as a table or phone. If an uninfected person touches these places and touches their nose or mouth, they will catch the disease. They are usually already able to infect others 4 days before the redness appears. The disease is also capable of indirect transmission, but it is very rare because the measles virus is easily destroyed in the outside.

4. Signs of Measles

Most people with measles present with fever, upper respiratory tract inflammation, conjunctivitis, and rash. Measles progresses through the following stages:
Incubation period: lasts from 7 to 21 days, the average is 10 days. The onset stage (the pharyngitis stage) lasts from 2 to 4 days with symptoms of high fever, upper respiratory tract inflammation, conjunctivitis, sometimes acute laryngitis, possibly with Koplik granules inside. mouth across the upper jaw. The full-blown phase lasts from 2 to 5 days: After 3-4 days of fever, the patient presents with a pink rash, the rash begins to spread from behind the ears, forehead, chest, back and finally down to the thighs and feet. Recovery phase: The rash turns gray, scabs leave dark spots, tiger skin stripes and fades away. To prevent measles outbreaks into epidemics, children with measles need to be isolated to avoid spreading the disease to healthy people. When in contact with sick people or people suspected of having measles, it is necessary to wear a mask if having contact; clean hands before and after contact; Keep the environment and surrounding areas clean and cool.
Vinmec International General Hospital is currently providing a Package Immunization Program with a variety of vaccines for different audiences, from infants, young children, adults, women before and during pregnant.

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