Measles - a dangerous infectious disease in winter and spring
Recently, the girl N.L.D.C (14 years old, Hanoi) went to Medlatec Thanh Xuan General Clinic for examination with symptoms of high fever, with red rashes all over her body.
MSc. Dr. Tran Thi Kim Ngoc - Pediatrics, Medlatec General Clinic - said that through clinical examination, the child had a high fever, a runny nose, a bright red rash, when the skin was stretched, it grew in order after the collar, forehead, and the neck gradually spread to the torso and four limbs.
Exploiting the medical history, the patient and her family said that 2 days before coming for the examination, the child had symptoms of a high fever of 39 degrees Celsius, chills, within 8-10 hours of being accompanied by sore throat, then a scattered redness appeared in the back of the ear and face and spread all over the body.
The baby was taken by the family to a private clinic for Ears - Nose - throat, tested for influenza 5 with negative agents and was diagnosed with acute congenital pharyngitis, and prescribed outpatient treatment drugs.
By the 3rd day of the disease, baby C had a fever of 41 degrees Celsius, was tired, and had facial rashes. The family was worried and took the child to the doctor. Reversal
With those clinical symptoms, Dr. Ngoc suspected that the child had measles or dengue fever... so he prescribed some paraclinical tests for diagnosis.
As a result, the other test indicators were normal, except for the IgM measles test with a positive result, so the doctor diagnosed the child with rash fever due to measles. The child was prescribed medicine, treated as an outpatient and had a check-up every day, and the doctor also instructed relatives on how to care for and supplement the child's daily diet.
In the following days, the children were taken by their families for re-examination. After taking the drug, the child's clinical symptoms gradually decreased every day. After continuous treatment until the 7th day of the disease, the girl had had a fever and had given birth, had no more clinical symptoms, and was in stable condition.
According to Dr. Ngoc, measles is an infectious disease transmitted through the respiratory tract caused by the measles virus. The disease is common in winter and spring, mainly in children under 5 years old.
Measles virus can stay in the air and on the surface for up to 2 hours; 01 person infected with measles can infect 9-10 people in close contact (if not vaccinated). The chance of infecting others with measles is up to 90% at the time before and after the rash for 4 days.
Immunization with insufficient doses or no vaccination, easy to get sick
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thai Son - microbiologist, Medlatec Health System - added that the measles virus has the characteristics of causing a very strong immune inhibition in the infected body. People with measles have a high rate of respiratory complications, brain, myocardial disease and a very high mortality rate. Therefore, measles vaccines are recommended by countries and the World Health Organization to be included in expanded immunization at the global level.
When expanded immunization in Vietnam began (since 1985), the rate of measles in children decreased significantly. However, recently, measles infection has returned, not only in children but also in adults, there have been many very serious and serious cases in adults. The reason is that some people are not vaccinated or do not get enough doses; mothers are not vaccinated, leading to children giving birth without immunity, so they are susceptible to measles and early infection.
According to the new recommendation, some areas in circulation can vaccinate children with measles vaccine before 9 months old, and at the same time recommend giving 2 doses: 1 dosage at 9 months old and 2 doses at 18 months old. It is recommended that a third dose be given repeatedly at 4-6 years old. If they follow all 3 doses, their children will have a lifelong immune system.
For the above patient, the girl had been vaccinated with 01 single measles shot and 1 MR (measles-rubella) according to the expanded immunization program, and had not been vaccinated with additional measles doses. Therefore, the baby still has an immune gap, so the body's ability to protect against the virus is weakened.
Doctors have advised and recommended that the girl's relatives get vaccinated against measles to avoid infection and disease (if not vaccinated enough doses).
