Measles is rarely seen in the United States, but the American stopped viruses are more worried about as the rural West Texas continues to increase cases.
This week, an unnatural child died in west of West Texas, including more than 120 cases. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the final confirmed measles death in the United States was in 2015.
There are also nine measles cases in Eastern New Mexico, but the State Health Department said that there is no direct connection for outbreak in Texas.
What do you know about measles here and how to protect yourself.
What is measles?
It is a respiratory disease caused by one of the world’s most infectious viruses. The virus is air and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It usually affects children.
“On an average, an infected person can infect around 15 other people,” said the Center of the Director of Excellence for the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. “There are only a few viruses that come close to him.”
Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing high fever, flowing nose, cough, red, water eyes and a rash.
The rash usually appears after three to five days of the first symptoms, which begins as a flat red spots on the face and then spreads downwards to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and legs. When the rash appears, according to the CDC, fever can exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
There is no specific treatment for measles, so doctors usually try to reduce symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.
Health officials say that people who have measles cannot meet again.
Can measles be fatal?
It usually does not kill people, but it can do it.
General complications include ear infection and diarrhea. The CDC said that 1 out of 5 5 of measles receiving are hospitalized. Pregnant women who have not received the vaccine can give birth ahead of time or are a child of low birth.
In measles children, about 1 pneumonia develops every 20, the CDC said, and one in one of every 1,000 brain inflammation is called encephalitis – which can lead to convulsions, deafness, or intellectual disability.
It is fatal “In less than 1% of cases, mainly in children,” Weaver said, which works at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. “Children develop the most serious illness. In this type of cases the cause of death is usually complications from pneumonia and pneumonia.”
How can you stop measles?
The best way to avoid measles is to obtain measles, kanthamala and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 to 15 months and the second for children between 4 and 6 years.
“Before a vaccine developed in the 1960s, everyone found” Khasra, Weaver said. “But then when the vaccine came together, it was a full game-chain and one of the most successful vaccines in medical history.”
There is “great data” on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, he said, because it has been around for decades.
“Any of these outbreaks we are seeing can be easily stopped from increasing the rate of vaccination in the community,” he said. “If we can maintain 95% vaccinated people, we are not going to do so in the future. And we have slipped well below that level in many parts of the country.”
The Covid -19 epidemic has led to a nationwide decline in the rate of vaccination, and 95% for most state kindergarters is below the vaccination limit – the levels required to protect communities against measles outbreaks.
If you have received the MMR vaccine some time ago, do you need a booster?
Health care professionals are sometimes tested for measles for antibodies and boosters are given if necessary, the weaver said – even if they already have a standard two dosage as a child.
He said that high risk people for infection who received shots many years ago want to consider getting a booster if they live in an outbreak area. They can include family members living with someone who have measles or are weak for respiratory diseases due to particularly underlying medical conditions.
“But I don’t think everyone needs to go to their doctor and go out, if they got two doses as a child,” he said. “If people get only standard vaccination, then there will be none of it.”
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)