Measles lesson from Dr. Hady Masri

With a sudden surge in measles cases due to the lack of vaccination nationwide reaching over 2 thousand, lets briefly review measles, measles comes from the rubeola virus and it's highly infectious with an R naught of 16, where one infected person has the potential of infecting 16 others and the symptoms start with the 3 Cs as in cough, Coryza and conjuctivitis. Coryza simply means nasal congestion as indicated here with R F K, coughing, sneezing & red eyes. Following these symptom comes Koplik spots which are bluish white spots found inside mucosa of the mouth. If you're wondering why I chose R F K, R F K stands for Rash Following Koplik Spots, so a maculo-papular rash occurs after the Koplik spots. Some other things that can occur are Otitis Media & Diarrhea specially if one is Vitamin A Deficient. Next is the issue of post Infectious complications, which can be very serious with the main cause of death being Pneumonia. There can be eye complications with Keratitis, Ocular ulcers & eye scarring. Permanent hearing loss can occur following an acute infection, a serious neurological condition called Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis may occur or ADEM. Another serious neurological complication that can occur years after the Infection is called Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis and that's why it is so important to vaccinate with the M M R vaccine being 97% effective. So besides the 3 Cs standing for Cough, Coryza & Conjunctivitis, the 3 Cs could also stand for Citizens Can Choose, vaccination that is.