measles
Measles is an infectious disease caused by a virus. It spreads easily from person to person.
Signs & Symptoms
The symptoms of measles generally appear about seven to 14 days after a person is infected:
Risk Factors
Risk factors for measles include:
Complications
Complications of measles may include:
Communicable / Non-communicable
Communicable
Signs & Symptoms
The symptoms of measles generally appear about seven to 14 days after a person is infected:
- High fever (when the rash appears, a person's fever may spike to more than 104° Fahrenheit)
- Cough
- Runny nose
- Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
- Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth
- Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash breaks out:
- flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet
- Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots
- The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body
- flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet
Risk Factors
Risk factors for measles include:
- not vaccinated against measles
- travel to developing countries
- not enough vitamin A in your diet
Complications
Complications of measles may include:
- bacterial ear infection
- inflammation of voice box (larynx)
- innflammation of main air passageways of lunch (bronchial tubes)
- Pneumonia
- encephalitis (1 in 1,000 people with measles) which may cause
- vomiting
- convulsions
- rarely, coma or even death
- vomiting
- pregnancy loss, preterm labor or low birth weight
- decrease in platelets — the type of blood cells that are essential for blood clotting
Communicable / Non-communicable
Communicable