Measles is a highly contagious and potentially serious disease, most common in the 3-5 years age group. It sometimes affects older children and adults. It is spread from person to person by ‘droplet’ infection, usually by coughing or sneezing. If your child gets measles, he is infectious from a week before until a week after the rash appears.

Cause

Measles is caused by a type of virus called a paramyxovirus.

Clinical features

The incubation phase occurs 10-12 days prior to the onset of illness, and usually there are no signs of ill health. The earliest symptoms are rather like those of a heavy cold — a runny nose, sneezing, fever, conjunctivitis and a dry, often severe, cough. You may notice Koplik’s spots, tiny white marks on the inside of the cheek and at the back of the mouth, which are characteristic of measles.

A typical rash appears on the third or fourth day of the illness. It starts behind the ears and along the hairline, and consists of numerous small, red, irregular patches, which spread over the face and neck in the first 24 hours. These later extend to the body and limbs. The patches merge to give a blotchy, red appearance to the skin. At this stage of illness the fever may become very high. After 3-5 days, the rash starts to fade and the fever drops, which makes the child feel better. There may be some peeling of the skin. Occasionally there are complications of measles. These include secondary infections such as otitis media (ear infection), laryngitis, and pneumonia. These are usually bacterial, and respond well to antibiotics. A rare complication of measles is encephalitis.

Treatment

See your doctor if you suspect that your child has measles. There is no cure for measles, but keeping the fever under control and making sure that your child drinks plenty of fluids and gets lots of bed rest can lessen the severity of the symptoms. Keeps lights dim, if your child complains of sore eyes. Keep your child at home, to prevent spread of the disease to other children.

Prevention

Routine immunisation is now given to all children against measles, in conjunction with mumps and rubella (see Chapter 4). It is important to make sure that your child is fully immunised.

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