Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known. One case in a market can infect nine out of ten unvaccinated people nearby, and the virus stays in the air of a room for up to two hours after the person has left. In an undernourished child it is a killer.
What it looks like
- Three or four days of high fever, runny nose, cough and very red watery eyes.
- Tiny white spots inside the cheeks, before the rash.
- Then a flat red rash that starts at the hairline and face and spreads downwards over the body.
Go to hospital now if
- Fast or difficult breathing, or chest indrawing. Pneumonia is the commonest way measles kills.
- A fit, confusion, or unusual drowsiness.
- Cannot drink or breastfeed.
- Diarrhoea with sunken eyes or very little urine.
- Deep mouth ulcers, or pus from the eyes, or clouding of the eye.
Two doses, not one
One dose protects most children but not all. The second dose at 15 to 18 months catches the ones the first missed. A child with only one dose is partly protected and is the reason outbreaks still happen in areas with good first-dose coverage. If a campaign offers an extra dose, take it: an additional dose is not harmful.
Vitamin A
Any child with measles should be given vitamin A, two doses on consecutive days, at the health centre. It reduces deaths and reduces the eye damage that blinds children after measles. Ask for it specifically.
Keeping it from spreading
- Keep the child at home, away from other children, for four days after the rash appears.
- Tell the health centre, and tell anyone whose unvaccinated child was in contact.
- An unvaccinated contact can sometimes still be protected if vaccinated within 72 hours of exposure. Go quickly.
- Keep feeding and keep fluids up throughout.
