Join Vinmec International General Hospital to learn about measles

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor II Pham Thi Khuong - Pediatric Center - Vinmec Times City International Hospital.
Measles spreads very quickly and can cause many dangerous complications if the patient is subjective. To learn about this disease, follow the following article to be provided with the most necessary information.

1. What is measles?

Measles is a seasonal disease, usually in early spring. The disease occurs in small groups and spreads very quickly, forming an epidemic. Patients with measles are mainly children under the age of 5 years, and some cases appear in the elderly. If you are not immune (have not been vaccinated against the disease) or have never had measles, you are likely to be infected through the respiratory route.

2. Causes of measles

Measles is caused by the measles virus of the Paramyxovirus group. This is a virus that has a rather weak tolerance and is easily destroyed by common antiseptics or sunlight... The measles virus exists in the throat and in the patient's blood from the end of the incubation period until later. rash for a short period of time. Measles is highly contagious, often seen in children, causing inflammation of the conjunctiva of the eyes, respiratory tract, digestive tract and specific rashes. Measles will leave many serious complications.

3. Measles transmission route

Measles can be spread in the following ways:
Measles is transmitted through the respiratory tract. Measles is transmitted directly when the patient coughs, sneezes, talks... Indirect measles is rare because the measles virus is easily destroyed in the outside. Specifically, the measles virus exists in millions of tiny saliva droplets from the nasal cavity and oral cavity of an infected person every time they cough or sneeze. We can easily get measles by coming into contact with these saliva particles. There is also a risk of infection if your hands come into direct contact with a surface contaminated with measles virus and then touch your mouth or nose. The measles virus can survive in the environment for several hours. After entering the body, the measles virus will quickly multiply in the nasopharynx and lungs before spreading to the whole body.
People with measles are contagious from the time their first symptoms appear until 4 days after the first rash appears. Therefore, people with measles need to avoid public places such as schools, offices... for at least 4 days from the time the first spot appears in order to avoid spreading the disease to others.

4. Symptoms of Measles

When infected with measles, the patient will have an incubation period of 10 to 12 days, then the disease will spread into specific disease manifestations. Signs of measles include:
Red eyes are a sign of retinitis, eyes cannot tolerate light, mild fever accompanied by dry cough, cough without phlegm appears and lasts continuously, and Nasal discharge...Inside the oral cavity, near the cheekbones, the first signs will appear that are greenish white nodules. At the rash stage, measles has begun to spread rapidly to the outside with large and prominent rashes on the skin surface in the face, arm neck, thigh ....and gradually spread to the legs. During the rash stage, the rash will spread very quickly with symptoms such as high fever, sometimes up to 104 degrees F. The patient will feel uncomfortable and tired.

5. Ways to prevent measles

To prevent measles from being a worry, we should have the best preparation for young children to strengthen their immune system by prevention methods as follows:
Children need to be vaccinated against measles as soon as possible. . When a child is one year old, it is necessary to give him two doses of measles vaccine. When the baby is not old enough to be vaccinated, it is necessary to breastfeed the baby as much as possible. Because breast milk contains antibodies against measles. Regular body hygiene for children, especially oral and respiratory hygiene. Pay attention to keep your baby clean, avoid direct contact with people who have measles. Strengthen the supplement of vitamins, green vegetables to increase the resistance of children. When suspecting that a child has symptoms of measles, the child must be taken immediately to the nearest medical facility for diagnosis and treatment.

Conclusion: In order to limit the dangerous complications of measles, parents should quickly take their children to the doctor as soon as they detect signs of the disease. At the same time, parents need to focus on preventing measles with the necessary methods to keep their children healthy.

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