Cell Phone Chicken Heatlth Blog

Measles Symptoms

August 28, 2010 on 6:11 am | By admin | In Health and Fitness | Comments Off

 

What is measles?

Measles is best known for leading to a rash in childhood, but measles can change other parts of the body and sometimes occurs in adults. Vaccination has drastically weaken the number of causes in the world today, although isolated outbreaks continue to occur.

There are two types of measles, each brought upon by a different virus. Both may produce a rash or a fever, however, they are in actuality two different diseases:

The Rubeola Virus

The rubeola virus creates “red measles”, also known as “hard measles” or simply “measles.” There are not a lot reported cases in which rubeola lead into pneumonia and even inflammation of the brain (encephalitis); these cases, however, are very rare.

The Rubella Virus

The rubella virus produces “German measles,” also referred to as “three – day measles.” Of course this is usually a milder disease than red measles. Though usually mild this virus may produce great birth defects if it is passed on from an infected pregnant woman to an unborn child.

What causes measles?

Both the rubella and rubeola viruses are carried through the respiratory route. Due to this they are contagious though coughing and sneezing. It is even said that the rubeola virus is one of the most easily spread viruses present in the world today. As a result, it can be passed on quickly in a susceptible population. Persons carrying this virus often spread the virus without being aware of it as they carry the virus within their respiratory tract.

In cases where the persons are immune to the virus either by having had measles in the past or via vaccination, they cannot get the disease caused by that virus. To clarify that is a person who caught rubeola as a child cannot get the ailment again. Bare in mind, however, that rubeola and rubella are different viruses, therefore, a disease with one of them will not protect against a disease with the other.

What are measles symptoms ?

Red Measles (Rubeola):

These symptoms usually appear about 10 – 14 days after the person becomes infected the rubeola virus. This period is often called the incubation period. During this period, the virus is multiplying. The rubeola symptoms tend to appear in two phases. The first phase would begin with:

Fever

Cough

A “run – down” feeling

Red eyes (conjunctivitis)

Loss of appetite

Runny nose

In the second phase the red measles rash formulates from two to four days later. During this stage:

Originates on the face as small red bumps, spreading to the trunk and then to the arms and legs or koplik spots.

Rubella (German measles)

This virus is generally a less complicated disease with an incubation period of 10 days to 2 weeks. Some of the rubella symptoms include:

Tiredness

Swollen lymph nodes on the neck.

Light red rash from the face down the trunk.

Measles symptoms are sometimes so passive that you may not even notice them particularly if the infected person is a child.

These are just some of the common symptoms of the two viruses though there may be different symptoms for different persons.