Measles is an acute infectious disease caused by a virus from the paramyxovirus family. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases in the world, which can lead to serious complications. In case of contact with the measles virus, 9 out of 10 people who are not immune to the disease will get sick.
The danger of measles lies in the fact that this disease is transmitted very quickly: even direct contact with a carrier person is not required for infection. It is enough to simply visit the room from which a sick person recently left, because the virus circulates in the room for 2 hours after the sick person left it. Also, the insidiousness of the disease is that about a third of patients have various complications, starting from pneumonia and ending with myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). The disease is especially difficult in young children. In the Middle Ages, measles was often called the "children's plague."
The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets: a sick person releases the virus into the air with droplets of saliva when talking, hugging, kissing, sneezing, coughing. For about two hours, the virus will still circulate in the room and remain on the surfaces on which the infected person sneezed or coughed. The risk of infection in people who do not have immunity against measles is about 90 percent.
Symptoms of the disease appear 7-14 days after contact with the virus. Important: the patient is contagious 2-3 days before the appearance of the first symptoms of the disease, the entire period of catarrhal manifestations and the first 4 days after the onset of rashes.
The first symptoms can be very similar to the symptoms of a common "cold": fever, dry cough, runny nose, swelling and redness of the eyes, photophobia. Cough, runny nose and conjunctivitis is the so-called cow triad, which is present at the beginning of the disease. White spots, surrounded by a red border, as if covered with salt, characteristic of scabies, may also appear on the inner surface of the cheeks, most often opposite the molar teeth (so-called Koplik spots), but their appearance is not necessary at all. Then the rash period begins. On the 3rd-5th day, the patient becomes worse, the temperature rises rapidly, the runny nose, cough, conjunctivitis intensifies; a rash in the form of red spots begins to appear on the head and face. Then, as a rule, the next day, the rash spreads to the body, and the next day to the limbs. Measles is characterized by a gradual rash: from head to toe. The elements of the rash slightly protrude above the surface of the skin and increase in size. Approximately on the 5th day, the elements of the rash begin to decrease or disappear completely, replaced by pigmentation; after that, the skin may peel for about a week or a half.
The most common complications of measles are acute otitis media (ear inflammation), bronchopneumonia, laryngotracheobronchitis, and diarrhea.
Pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs) occurs in 1 in 20 children with measles. It is the most common cause of death in young children who have the disease.
About 1 in 1,000 patients develop encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), which can cause seizures, deafness, or mental retardation.
1-3 children out of 1,000 who get measles die from respiratory and neurological complications of the disease.
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a rare but incurable complication of measles. This is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system that develops 7-10 years after measles . The patient gradually loses intellectual and behavioral skills; convulsions develop.
Measles in a pregnant woman can provoke premature birth or the birth of a child with a low body weight.
The disease is highly contagious, that is, extremely contagious. You can get infected even after the patient has left the room, because the virus is able to circulate in the air for another two hours, as well as remain on surfaces. If you are not vaccinated against measles or have not contracted it, the probability of infection is about 90%. Vaccination is the only effective prevention of measles.
In Ukraine, as in most countries of the world, the comprehensive CPC vaccine is used, which also protects against rubella and epidemic parotitis ("mumps"). For optimal protection, it is necessary to receive 2 doses of the vaccine, which provide protection against measles at the level of 97%. Between 2000 and 2017, measles vaccination reduced global measles deaths by 80%.
According to the National Vaccination Calendar of Ukraine, children receive budget-funded vaccinations at 12 months and 6 years. ( Note: in the case of contact with a measles patient, the child can receive a “zero” dose of the vaccine from 6 months, in which case this dose is not counted, and the child is further vaccinated according to the calendar. If the contact with the patient occurred after the child received the first dose, but earlier 6 years old, in this case, the second dose of the vaccine can be administered earlier, and this dose is counted ).
If, for certain reasons, the vaccination schedule was violated, vaccination is carried out according to the vaccination calendar with a violation of the schedule . If the child received the first dose of the PDA vaccine at an age older than 12 months, the second dose is administered according to the calendar - at 6 years of age (with a minimum interval of 1 month from the previous dose). If it so happened that measles vaccination began after 6 years, two doses of the vaccine can be received with a minimum interval of 1 month.
Adults, in the absence of contraindications listed in the instructions for the use of the vaccine, are vaccinated without age restrictions, if they have not suffered from the specified infections and/or do not have confirmation of the administration of two doses of the vaccine indicated in the medical documentation, or have negative laboratory test results for the presence specific IgG antibodies. Unvaccinated adults should receive two doses of vaccine with a minimum interval of 1 month between doses (or at least one dose of vaccine in the case of limited vaccine availability). Currently, due to the limited number of vaccines for routine vaccinations of children, adults can only be vaccinated against measles at their own expense. The vaccine can be purchased in a pharmacy network, and the vaccination procedure can be carried out at the medical facility where you signed the declaration (or at the medical facility where you are currently being treated, if you are an IDP). You can also sign up for vaccination at a private medical institution. The minimum interval between two doses of the PDA vaccine is 1 month.
To ensure vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella, the vaccines Priorix (manufactured by Glaxosmithkline Biologicals SA, Belgium) and MM -RII (manufactured by Merck & Co., Inc., USA) are used in Ukraine ).
In this case, emergency prevention is used. That is, actions to prevent the disease are carried out already after a person has come into contact with a measles patient.
If such contact occurred, during the first 72 hours, vaccination with the PDA vaccine is carried out.