What are the symptoms of measles and how many days should be isolated to avoid spreading the disease?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Senior Doctor, Dr. Vu Van Tam - Infectious Internal Medicine Doctor - Department of Medical Examination and Internal Medicine - Vinmec Ha Long International Hospital
Measles is caused by the measles virus. This is a respiratory disease so it is easy to spread around. If not controlled in time, an outbreak of measles can cause extremely serious consequences, especially for young children. What are the symptoms of measles? How many days should be isolated to avoid spreading the disease?

1. What are the symptoms of measles?

Measles virus is spherical, very small in diameter, only about 100 - 250 nm. When an infected person talks, coughs or sneezes, the virus can be released into the air. A person who is not immune can be infected if inhaled. Because of the rapid spread of measles, measles has become one of the most notable infectious diseases today. Measles outbreaks are difficult to control, easily leading to dangerous complications.
Symptoms of measles include:
High fever from 39 - 40 degrees Celsius, body aches, red eyes due to conjunctivitis, runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, loss of appetite, people appear nodules tiny red rash.

The rash usually develops on the face, shoulders and neck first and then spreads over the body. During the rash, the patient will have a fever, muscle aches and pains continuously until the rash covers from head to toe.
After a few days, the rash will gradually fade away to form skin bruises. About 1-2 weeks after the new bruises disappear. Usually, measles lasts about 7-10 days. During the illness, the body's resistance declines rapidly, patients are prone to complications such as: acute diarrhea, otitis media, pneumonia, bronchitis, even encephalitis, blindness. , myocarditis... Pregnant women infected with measles can have miscarriage, premature birth or cause birth defects.

2. Who is susceptible to measles?

Measles is a very contagious disease that can be contracted by anyone who has not been immunized, especially children. More than 90% of people under the age of 20 have been infected with measles, especially in the pre-vaccination age. It is one of the leading causes of death for children under 5 years of age.

3. How is measles transmitted?

Measles has an incubation period of 12-15 days, in some cases up to 20 days. The time when the disease is most contagious is from about 4 days before the rash appears until 4-5 days after the rash appears. In which, 4 days before the rash is the most contagious period, because the patient himself does not know he is infected, still has normal contact with people around.

Measles is transmitted through the respiratory tract, by splashing the saliva of an infected person into the air or by direct contact with the secretions of an infected person. Sometimes you can spread the disease indirectly through objects that have been contaminated with the virus. Usually, if one person in the family has measles, the other person (who is not immune) will catch the disease.
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease. Anyone who is not immune is susceptible to the disease. The time of measles outbreak is usually from February to April - the time of winter-spring transition. The disease can only be controlled when more than 95% of measles immunity is achieved in the community. Therefore, adults and children need to be vaccinated against measles to increase immunity to the virus that causes the disease.

4. How many days do you need to be isolated to avoid spreading measles?

When detecting symptoms of measles, it is necessary to quickly isolate to avoid spreading the disease:
Limit contact with people around within 7 days from the onset of the rash. Young children should be out of school for at least 4 days from the date of the rash. If possible, take extra breaks to avoid infecting other students. Measles patients treated in the hospital should be isolated from the respiratory tract until the 4th day after the rash appears.

5. Ways to prevent measles

Ways to prevent measles include:
Isolate, limit contact with sick people, people suspected of being infected. If you have contact with sick people, you should wash your hands and disinfect them. Keep personal hygiene, living place, working place cool and clean. If there is an outbreak of measles, it is necessary to limit going to crowded places. However, the most effective and long-term prevention of measles is still the measles vaccine. Infants who have received maternal immune antibodies transmitted through the placenta will have immunity until 6 months of age, many babies retain these antibodies until 9 months. From 9 months onwards Go, children need to be protected by the measles vaccine. Two doses of measles vaccine will be given when the child is 9 months old and a booster shot when the child is 18 months old. When the first dose is given, the child will have about 80-85% immunity. After completing the 2nd dose, the child's immunity increases to 90-95%.

In recent years, measles has had unpredictable developments, often breaking out into a rapid epidemic. The main reason is that measles vaccination has not been fully implemented in all children. Many parents are concerned about reactions after vaccination, so they do not take their children to medical facilities for vaccination. Currently, the measles vaccine is still considered safe, the post-injection reactions are usually quite mild and the incidence is low. Fully vaccinated is the best way to proactively protect your children from measles and prevent outbreaks in the community.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.