What do we know about measles? It is a highly contagious viral disease that affects mainly preschool children. The incubation period is about 10 days, and the spread occurs through sneezing and coughing. That, in fact, that's all. Therefore, in this article we will talk about what we do not know about measles. And that must necessarily know.
Measles in children: symptoms, treatment - that's a topic that excites many parents. First, let's see what the measles are and how to recognize it. The measles virus belongs to the genus Morbillivirus. It penetrates the epithelium of the respiratory tract and spreads through the bloodstream to all organs and tissues of the body. Droplets of sputum, mucus and saliva of the child, containing the virus, when coughing, sneezing, talking fall into the air and there it spreads quickly. Infection occurs even with a surface contact or inhalation of dust containing the virus. Infection can be "caught" even if you are traveling in an elevator with an infected child. Knowingly measles is called a "traveling" disease.
Symptoms:
The initial symptoms are high fever, catarrh (inflammation of the mucous membrane of the lungs), conjunctivitis and cough (which can go to bronchitis), then a red rash that begins behind the ears and spreads rapidly throughout the body.
The disease is divided into three periods.
1. The first - hidden, has a duration of 6 to 18 days, during which the virus in the body does not cause any symptoms.
2. The second period is intermediate. It lasts 3-4 days and is accompanied by symptoms typical of any acute respiratory infection: malaise, runny nose with copious discharge from the nose, coughing, inflammation of the conjunctiva of the eyes, high fever. Gradually, these phenomena are intensified - photophobia, facial swelling, pertussis, and sometimes inflammation and even swelling of the larynx occur with the onset of attacks of severe suffocation. There is irritability, bad sleep. You can observe headache, vomiting, abdominal pain, problems with stool (most often diarrhea). This period is characterized by the appearance on the inside of the cheeks and gums tiny white spots with red circles around them. This is a sure sign of measles - the so-called spots of Filagov-Koplik. They usually appear 2-3 days before the rash or on the first or second day of the rash.
3. The third period of the disease is the period of the "eruption": it is characterized by a new rise in temperature and a worsening of the general condition of the patient. There is a red rash - first behind the ears, then on the cheeks, on the forehead, and then becomes more extensive, covering the whole body and limbs. Within 3-4 days the rash disappears, and light brown spots remain. The skin becomes dry and begins to peel off. All this time the child suffers from terrible itching. But as soon as the body temperature decreases - the situation gradually improves.
Who can not get measles
Despite the extremely high incidence of measles, there are groups of people who are unresponsive to this disease. First, they are children in the first three months of life, whose mothers have ever had measles. Most of these children retain their mother's immunity, from the gestation period to 3-4 months of life. Increased percentage of increased immunity to disease in infants who are breastfed. Individual cases of immunity to measles among children who appear to have previously suffered the disease without any symptoms are also described. Immunity to measles is developed once and for life. However, in children who had experienced measles at an early age in a latent form, after a few years, there may be a re-infection - the disease will return again.
Prevention:
Do not underestimate such a disease as measles in children, with symptoms that all parents should be aware of. But not less important is the prevention of this disease. Prevention of measles is the timely isolation of patients. It should be discontinued no earlier than 5 days after the onset of the rash. In addition to confirming the diagnosis of measles, you must immediately report this to the kindergarten in which the child walks.
This disease is the most dangerous for children under 2 years old, so if a child has any medical contraindications to get vaccinated - you need to especially protect him from infection. If there are no contraindications to vaccination, then after 15 months the child needs to be actively immunized.