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MeaslesFacts.com is brought to you by AllNetHealth.com and is intended to provide basic information that you can use to make informed decisions about important health issues affecting you or your loved ones. We hope that you’ll find this information about Measles helpful and that you’ll seek professional medical advice to address any specific symptoms you might have related to this matter. In addition to this site, we have created the "Healthpedia Network" of sites to provide specific information on a wide variety of health topics.
Why is a measles vaccination necessary? Is measles still a problem in the United States? Why do I need the measles vaccine? What kind of vaccine is given to prevent measles? Where can I buy home test kits for contributing factors of this condition?
Measles is an infectious
viral disease that occurs most often in the late winter and spring. It
begins with a fever that lasts for a couple of days, followed by a
cough, runny nose, and conjunctivitis (pink eye). A rash starts on the
face and upper neck, spreads down the back and trunk, then extends to
the arms and hands, as well as the legs and feet. After about five days,
the rash fades the same order it appeared. Measles is highly
contagious. Infected people are usually contagious from about 4 days
before their rash starts to 4 days afterwards. The measles virus resides
in the mucus in the nose and throat of infected people. When they sneeze
or cough, droplets spray into the air and the droplets remain active and
contagious on infected surfaces for up to two hours. Measles itself is
unpleasant, but the complications are dangerous. Six to 20 percent of
the people who get the disease will get an ear infection, diarrhea, or
even pneumonia. One out of 1000 people with measles will develop
inflammation of the brain, and about one out of 1000 will die. Before the measles vaccine became available, there were approximately 450,000 measles cases and an average of 450 measles-associated deaths were reported each year. Widespread use of measles vaccine has led to a greater than 99% reduction in measles cases in the U.S. compared with the pre-vaccine era. However, measles is
common in other countries where it spreads rapidly and can be easily
brought into the U.S. If vaccinations were stopped, measles would return
to pre-vaccine levels in the U.S. and hundreds of people would die from
measles-related illnesses. We still see measles
among visitors to the U.S. and among U.S. travelers returning from other
countries. The measles viruses these travelers bring into our country
sometimes causes outbreaks. However, because most people in the U.S.
have been vaccinated, these outbreaks are usually small. It is true that vaccination has enabled us to reduce measles and most other vaccine-preventable diseases to very low levels in the United States. However, measles is still very common — even epidemic — in other parts of the world. Visitors to our country and U.S. travelers returning from other countries can unknowingly bring this disease into the United States, and if we were not protected by vaccinations, it will quickly spread causing an epidemics here. The disease is very contagious. We should be vaccinated
protect ourselves and our children. Even if we think our chances of
getting measles is small, the disease still exists and can still infect
anyone who is not protected. The MMR vaccine prevents
measles and two other viral diseases — mumps and rubella. These three
vaccines are safe given together. MMR is a attenuated (weakened) live
virus vaccine. This means that after injection, the viruses grows, and
causes a harmless infection in the vaccinated person with very few, if
any symptoms. The person's immune system fights the infection caused by
these weakened viruses and immunity develops which lasts throughout that
person’s life. More than 95% of the people who receive a single dose of MMR will develop immunity to all three viruses. A second gives immunity to almost all of those who did not respond to the first dose.
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