What Cause Measles Outbreak Recently?

A measles infection (Image from patch.com/Shutterstock) 

It was surprising that within four months, January to April, there were about 704 individual cases of measles in the US from 22 states. This is a big number since the US declared that measles was eliminated in 2000 (CDC, 2019).

What is Measles?

Measles is a disease that caused by virus (family Paramyxoviruses). Measles virus causes the potentially serious infection. This disease is characterized by fever and maculopopular rash or rubeola, and it's more severe than rubella. This disease is super contagious and highly transmissible disease. The transmission of measles is by inhalation of large droplets aerosols from the infected person. 

What are the symptoms of the measles?

The initial symptoms

During the early phase, between one and four days, the symptoms develop an upper respiratory, such as runny nose and hacking cough, and also pink eye (conjunctiva). Sometimes, the symptoms will not shown until one or two week, so that the person does not know that she/he already get contagious.

Koplik Spots

Two or three days after initial symptoms, the small spots with white in the centers appear in the inside of the cheek or soft palate. These spots look like grain of salt with red color as their background (reddish halo). Their size are very small, about 1 or 2 mm. Koplik's spots also can appear on the conjunctiva, and vaginal mucosa. These red spots lesions can last for one or two days. See the picture below.

Koplik 's Spots or small red spots in the soft palate mucosa

(CDC/ Heinz F. Eichenwald, MD )

The measles rash.

Within 12 or 24 hours after the Koplik's Spots are shown, the rash or skin eruptions of measles will appear starting below the ear and spread over the body. After one or two day the rash can cover all around the body surfaces. When the rash is appearing, usually the fever is high.

The complications from rubeola could be very serious. It can cause ear infections, broncho-pneumonia, croup, and also inflammation in the brain. 

The person who never get vaccine measles and the person who has problem with immune system, they are in high risk to get contagious of measles virus. To prevent from the infection of measles, the series of shot measles vaccine are required. The vaccine is live vaccine that combine with Rubella and Mumps (MMR).