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Measles: What You Need to Know

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Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, and college students are in one of the highest risk groups of people who still get the disease–and often suffer more complications as well.

The multi-state outbreak of measles has not reached Idaho.  Measles is a preventable disease, and the outbreak is a reminder to check your vaccine records to see if you have received at least 2 doses of the MMR vaccine.  In addition to Measles, this vaccine also prevents Mumps (there has been a previous outbreak of mumps in Idaho this year—see previous blog posts), and Rubella (German Measles).  At this time, University Health Services recommends:

  • Check your vaccine records. You are protected against Measles if you have had 2 doses of the MMR vaccine.
  • If you have only received one or no MMR dose(s), you should get a second dose now, or start the 2 dose series to prevent Measles.
  • If you are unsure of your vaccine status, have your health care provider check your blood for antibodies to Measles (a Measles titer test). If your titer shows no immunity, you should get the MMR vaccine.

Signs and Symptoms of Measles:

The symptoms of measles generally appear about seven to 14 days after a person is infected.

Measles typically begins with

  • high fever,
  • cough,
  • runny nose (coryza), and
  • red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis).
  • Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth.

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  • Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash breaks out. It usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet. Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots. The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body. When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104° Fahrenheit.

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  • After a few days, the fever subsides and the rash fades.

Why is Measles such a big deal?

Measles can be a serious in all age groups. However, children younger than 5 years of age and adults older than 20 years of age are more likely to suffer from measles complications.

Common Complications:

Common measles complications include ear infections and diarrhea.

  • Ear infections occur in about one out of every 10 children with measles and can result in permanent hearing loss.
  • Diarrhea is reported in less than one out of 10 people with measles.

Severe Complications:

Some people may suffer from severe complications, such as pneumonia (infection of the lungs) and encephalitis (swelling of the brain). They may need to be hospitalized and could die.

  • As many as one out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children.
  • About one child out of every 1,000 who get measles will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain) that can lead to convulsions and can leave the child deaf or developmentally disabled.
  • For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die from it.

Measles may cause pregnant woman to give birth prematurely, or have a low-birth-weight baby.

The post Measles: What You Need to Know appeared first on University Health Services.


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