Measles, also called rubeola, is a highly contagious disease due to the fact that it is airborne. It can be spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes and other people inhale the droplets. The droplets remain contagious and active on surfaces for hours and therefore, people can become infected if they touch a surface and touch their eyes, nose, or mouth. Also, it is transmittable four days before and after rashes appear. The incubation period lasts from ten to fourteen days. Symptoms include a high fever, dry cough, inflamed eyes, runny nose, and skin rashes. The rashes start on the face and later spread throughout the body.
Measles, however, is more than just a rash and a fever. It’s one of the leading causes of death for children worldwide. According to the Washington Post, more kids died from measles than from AIDS or car accidents in 2013. The recent outbreak started at Disneyland. California health officials believe that it was spread from a tourist visiting from overseas. As of January 30, 2015, there are 102 cases of measles across fourteen states. This is the highest number of cases in the past two decades, considering that measles was declared “eliminated” from the United States in 2000. Besides California, there are cases in states from Illinois to Pennsylvania.
There have been reported cases around the world. According to German authorities, the recent measles infections in Berlin allegedly began from a Bosnian child whose family was seeking asylum. The first death in this outbreak occurred in Berlin. The eighteen-month boy had a preexisting medical condition, but the Charite hospital states that it wasn’t serious enough to lead to his death without the measles infection. Since October, there have been over 570 cases in the German capital.
There have been recent measles outbreaks throughout Europe and Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan currently has around 7,480 cases, Bosnia and Herzegovina has around 5,340 cases, and the Russian Federation has around 3,250 cases. Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, states that they “are taken aback by these numbers” since they were “just a step away from eliminating the disease” over the past two decades. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines has 21,420 confirmed cases.
Dr. David Elliman, an immunization expert for the Great Britain’s Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, states that deaths of measles patients mostly occur when the patients have other health problems, including asthma. In addition, people with a vitamin A deficiency have a higher rate of contracting measles. It kills around 1 in every 1000 people in developed countries, but the rate is higher in the developing world. According to the World Health Organization, around four hundred people die of measles every day, which comes out to about sixteen deaths an hour! In addition, 1 in every 1000 infected patients will develop encephalitis, or brain swelling, due to infection. This can lead to brain damage. The most effective way to avoid catching measles is to get the MMR – measles, mumps, and rubella – vaccine.
Audrey Do is a Staff Writer for Pulse Magazine.