2023-05-19 07:40:21
At the moment, seven cases of measles infection have been registered in the Voronezh region, including five children. Meanwhile, we have already forgotten that measles is a dangerous disease that can cause blindness, deafness, meningitis and even death. How to protect yourself from measles, we asked the chief specialist of the department of epidemiological surveillance of the Office of Rospotrebnadzor in the Voronezh region Lidia Melikhova and the leading adviser of the department of sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population of the regional health department Natalia Bazykina.
How can you get measles
It is very easy to become infected with measles – the virus is transmitted by airborne droplets, just standing next to the patient is enough. At first, it may seem that a person has caught a common cold, as happened with a resident of Moscow. In April, because of him, the entire toxicological department of the Sklifosovsky Research Institute was closed. The man tried to bring down the high temperature and drank regarding 30 antipyretic tablets. With poisoning, he was taken to toxicology. Already there, the patient showed a rash characteristic of measles. The patient was sent for further treatment to a specialized medical facility, and the Sklif toxicology clinic was closed. The doctors who had contact with the man were sent to quarantine.
The source of measles is only a sick person who sheds the virus into the external environment in the last two days of the incubation period and up to the fourth day following the rash. The total duration of the infectious period is 8-10 days. From the fifth day of the appearance of the rash, the patient is not contagious. In the initial period – the maximum virus excretion from the conjunctiva, nasopharynx when coughing, sneezing, talking. The route of transmission is airborne. Infection with measles occurs even with fleeting contact. The virus with air flow enters the premises through corridors, stairwells, ventilation system. Through objects, third parties, the infection is not transmitted due to the low resistance of the virus in the external environment. A transplacental route of transmission is possible when a woman is ill in the last trimester of pregnancy.
How many people got measles this year
At the moment, seven cases of measles infection have been registered in the Voronezh region, including five infected children. Among the sick are residents of the Voronezh region and one resident of Moscow who came to our region.
The last cases of measles infection in the Voronezh region were recorded in 2019. At that time, 16 people had contracted measles. From 2020 to 2022, no cases of measles were registered in our country. During that period, people went to doctors mainly with symptoms of covid.
measles symptoms
At the beginning of the disease (2-4 days) there is malaise, cough, runny nose with copious nasal discharge, scleritis, conjunctivitis with lacrimation, fever up to 38-39˚C. Symptoms of intoxication are also expressed – lethargy, weakness, refusal to eat and drink, tearfulness, sleep disturbance. Perhaps the development of headache, delirium, vomiting, seizures.
However, one of the main symptoms is a rash. With measles, the rash is papular, saturated pink, at first small, then the elements increase, merge, forming large, irregularly shaped, maculopapular, bright red elements once morest an unchanged skin background. Characterized by puffiness of the face, swelling of the eyelids and nose, dry cracked lips, red eyes. During the first day, the rash spreads to the face, neck, upper chest, shoulders. On the second day, it completely covers the body and extends to the arms. At the site of the rash, then there is pigmentation with peeling.
What should I do if I have symptoms of measles?
First, you need to isolate yourself, do not go to clinics, as many do. Call a doctor at home, you can from the clinic, or you can also an ambulance if you feel very unwell and you need hospitalization. If measles is confirmed, you will be admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital. But if the disease is not very difficult, you can be treated at home.
Who is the most sick?
Young children and adults over the age of 20 are at highest risk of getting measles and developing complications. Complications of measles are the cause of deaths.
Is there a specific treatment?
There are no specific antiviral drugs for measles. Treatment is exclusively symptomatic, aimed at eliminating the manifestations of infection. And in case of development of complications, their treatment is already carried out.
What are the complications of measles?
On the part of the respiratory system – pneumonia, laryngitis, laryngotracheitis, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, pleurisy; digestive system – stomatitis, enteritis, colitis; nervous system – encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, meningitis, myelitis; organs of vision – conjunctivitis, blepharitis, keratitis, keratoconjunctivitis; hearing organs – otitis media, mastoiditis; urinary system – cystitis, pyelonephritis; skin – pyoderma, abscess, phlegmon.
Complications can even lead to death. Fortunately, there were no such cases in the Voronezh region.
Can you protect yourself from measles?
Can. The most reliable protection once morest measles is a vaccine. In Russia, there is a monovaccine – it is once morest measles. There is a vaccine once morest measles and mumps. The most common vaccine is once morest three diseases: rubella, measles and mumps. Usually it is done to children. To avoid outbreaks of the disease, at least 95% of the population must be vaccinated. Thus, the main reason for the return of this almost forgotten disease is the decrease in overall routine immunization coverage. This happened, among other things, due to the refusal of parents to vaccinate their children. In addition, during the coronavirus, routine measles vaccination around the world has faded into the background. The World Health Organization notes that since the pandemic has led to a steady decline in vaccination coverage and a weakening of measles surveillance, there is a direct and clear threat of the spread of measles around the world.
Where can you get vaccinated?
Preventive vaccinations are done in the vaccination rooms of medical organizations that have a license that provides for the implementation of vaccination work (carrying out preventive vaccinations). On the territory of the Voronezh region, vaccination is carried out in polyclinics at the place of residence.
What if I already have immunity to measles?
People who have been vaccinated or have previously had measles should be immune to the virus. If you do not know if you are vaccinated once morest measles, take a test – it will show whether there are antibodies to the measles virus in your blood or not. If there are no antibodies, then you need to get vaccinated.
Children and adults vaccinated within the framework of the national immunization calendar, in whose blood serum no specific antibodies to the pathogen are found, are vaccinated once morest measles additionally in accordance with the instructions for the use of immunobiological preparations.
Can you get measles more than once?
Immunity following measles is persistent, lifelong. Post-infectious and post-vaccination immunity are qualitatively homogeneous. Recurrent cases of the disease are extremely rare.
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