Need-to-Know Info about Measles

For the first 10 years of the twenty-first century, the United States saw an average of 62 cases of measles per year. In January 2015, following a widely publicized outbreak at Disneyland, there have already been 102 cases. Measles, once considered to be eradicated from the US, is now a major health concern. Here’s why.

• Measles is considered to be one of the most contagious diseases there is. The virus lives in droplets that are sprayed out in coughs and sneezes. The droplets linger in the air for up to two hours and can sicken others who never came face-to-face with the original carrier.
• One case of measles can lead to 20 more. Compare that to Ebola, one case of which generally leads to two more. 
• People are contagious before they become sick, and they unknowingly spread the virus to 90 percent of non-immune people who come in contact with the virus.
• Symptoms of the measles virus start with fever, cough, stuffy nose, and loss of appetite. Within a few days, an uncomfortable rash starts, and patients get spots all over their bodies. Around 40 percent of patients suffer complications — mostly pneumonia, but sometimes encephalitis — from the virus.

Ask any healthcare professional, and he or she will tell you that measles is entirely preventable with a widely available vaccine. The shot isn’t given until patients are at least a year old, however, and that’s why infants are most at risk. And as for the notion that the vaccine causes autism, that theory was debunked and retracted back in 1998.

If you have never received the vaccine, or you’re not sure if you have, call your doctor right away. You can have a blood test to check for immunity, but it’s a whole lot easier to just get the shot — it won’t hurt you if you’ve already had it.