How Measles Affects Your Body

How Measles Affects Your Body IN SOME CASES SYMPTOMS CAN ALSO INCLUDE: USUAL COURSE OF ILLNESS: Infection occurs 7-14 DAYS LATER ENCEPHALITIS One in 1,000 people will experience measles encephalitis, or swelling of the Measles typically begins with a high fever, cough, brain. It can cause convulsions and make children deaf or mentally impaired. runny nose and red, watery eyes. EAR INFECTIONS One in 10 children with measles will get ear infections, which can cause permanent hearing loss. PNEUMONIA As many as one in 20 children will get pneumonia, which is also the most common cause of Tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth. death for children with measles. • DEATH For every 1,000 children who gets measles, one or two will die from it. Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face and spread downward. Fever may rise to more than 104° Fahrenheit. DIARRHEA A FEW DAYS LATER Usually, after a few days, the fever subsides and the In about 8 percent of recorded measles cases from 1985 through 1992, patients experienced diarrhea. rash fades. How Vaccines Provide Protection A live but weakened measles virus enters the body, where it attracts the NUCLEUS attention of immune cells called ARTERY macrophages. These macrophages swallow up the virus to kill it and then carry the virus's antigens (think of them as a virus's uniform) back to the lymph nodes to teach other other immune cells how to recognize VEIN SKIN and defeat the virus in the future. LYMPHATIC VESSELS Sources: CDC, Mayo Clinic, National Institutes of Health THE HUFFINGTON POST 2-3 DAYS LATER 0-2 DAYS LATER