Causes, symptoms and treatment for Measles 2016/11/17

We continue to talk about exanthematic diseases, this is, diseases that show up with spots, skin redness, itchiness and irritation.

Today we’ll talk about measles.

This pathology affects mainly children between the ages of 1 and 3 years old and it is very contagious. Fortunately, once a person catches the disease, he or she becomes immune for life.

The incubation period is about ten days. As it affects the respiratory tract, the symptoms are initially similar to those of a common cold: runny nose, cough, red eyes, uprising fever… it looks like a typical flu!

After a few days, white dots appear inside the mouth followed by brilliant red dots behind the ears and on the face that will extend to all the rest of the body in a few days. When they begin to disappear, they will leave a very dry skin.

The child is contagious up to 5 days after the cutaneous eruption. The contagion is produced by air when the affected child sneezes or coughs: so that the mucus or saliva drops spread involuntarily.

As it is caused by a virus, the disease must continue its course not having a specific treatment. Complications can be diarrhea, ear infections or severe respiratory problems.

Your pediatrician can relieve symptoms and prescribe acetaminophen to reduce the fever and a syrup to calm the cough.

This is simple information, it does not in anyway replace the opinion of your child’s pediatrician: please never doubt to contact your doctor if the symptoms appear.