As multiple measles have occurred throughout the countryDoctors argue that they are afraid that infected can be endangered by long -term health complications.
The measles match sends the immune system to shock and demolish critical cells that help our bodies respond to threats. This can leave people very susceptible to other pathogens.
The virus also attacks the memory cells of the immune system. These cells remember and recognize the pathogens you have encountered during your life and protect against them, said Dr. Michael Mina, a former professor of epidemiology at Harvard Th Chan School of Public Health, who studied measles and immunity. Scientists call the phenomenon “immune amnesia”.
Anyone who gets sick with measles will experience a certain level of immune amnesia, said Dr. Mine. This happens in the spectrum. For some people, this might mean that the flu descent will keep them in bed for the next day or two, he said. But others may lose much greater immunity and end up from the viruses they encounter seriously ill. This immune amnesia may take about three years.
“The real concern is that you not only get measles and get sick, but over the next few years your child will be really vulnerable for many other things,” Dr. Aaron Milstone, pediatric specialist in infectious diseases in the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
Measles can also cause serious, long -term complications. About one in 1,000 children who develop measles, experience swelling of the brain, which can cause hearing and vision loss, mental disability and permanent brain damage. And people of any age who are immunocompromised are exposed to a greater risk of developing and A specific type of brain swelling This can only occur a year after recovery, said Dr. Milstone.
In extremely rare cases, adults and children develop subacute sclerotizing pinencephalitis, a fatal disease of the central nervous system. This disease, which can cause seizures, usually seems seven to 10 years after the patient has recovered from measles. There is no medicine. According to Some estimates, Approximately four to eleven per 100,000 cases of measles lead to the condition. The risk is slightly higher in children who are infected within 5 years.
Approximately one of every 20 children with measles develops pneumonia. Lung infection is the most common cause of death in children with measles. Even IUs who survive can disrupt pneumonia in the long run, said Saad Omer, professor of public health at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The disease can make the lung scar, which makes it difficult to breathe. Children who develop pneumonia may also be more likely to develop asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease as adults.
Most cases of measles in the United States were among children this year. However, adults are also susceptible to long -term effects and serious infections.
In addition to people who are immunocompromised, adults over 20 years of age and children under 5 years of age high risk For complications from measles according to the Center for Control and Prevention of Diseases. Measles are also dangerous for pregnant women who are more often Become hospitalized and develop pneumonia. Pregnant women are also exposed to an increased risk of abortion, premature birth and dead birth.
Vaccines provide lifelong defense against the virus for the vast majority of people and protect them from short and long -term risks, Dr. Walter Orenstein, Emeritus Professor at Emory University and former director of the National Immunization Program on CDC
“It is a community protection and not only individual protection,” he said.
