Measles

Measles is a respiratory disease that is caused by a virus, also called measles.  Before the vaccine was created, it was estimated 3-4 million people were infected with measles in the United States. Even though it has almost been eradicated, it can still kill up to 164,000 people each year around the world. Recently, we have seen outbreaks occurring in developed nations regarding measles, including the United States.

Symptoms:

•   Fever
•   Runny nose
• Cough
• Rashes all over the body   

Complications:

• Pneumonia- most common complication, and often the cause of death in young children.
• Ear Infection- 1 in 10 cases have ear infection and permanent loss of hearing can occur.
• Diarrhea- 8% of the cases

Measles is a highly contagious disease that is spread through air by breathing, coughing, or sneezing.  If a child is not vaccinated, and is exposed to the virus will get the disease.

There use to be low incidence of measles outbreak and deaths in countries with high rate of vaccination, but recently we have seen outbreaks occurring in these countries, including the United States, due to lack of childhood vaccination. This year the United States saw a record-breaking number of measles cases with 593 cases. This is the most reported since the year 2000. Measles is a preventable disease by having children vaccinated using the MMR vaccine.

http://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/overview.html