Symptoms of measles

Measles is very common among children. It is an infectious respiratory disease and is acute. It has a high chance of being transmitted, especially in some areas where there has been no vaccination. There is a high possibility of measles. Once it occurs, it will be transmitted to other people. Everyone should pay attention to such infectious diseases, understand the symptoms of measles, and prevent and treat it as soon as possible.

There are many symptoms of measles. Generally, in some poor areas, children are not given relevant vaccines after birth, so they are easily diagnosed with measles. After suffering from measles, they will have fever symptoms and red papules will appear on the skin. This is the most obvious symptom.

1. Symptoms:

1. Typical measles

Incubation period: generally 10 days plus 2 days (6 to 21 days). For patients with severe infection or infection acquired through blood transfusion, the incubation period can be as short as 6 days. For patients who have received immune preparations (whole blood, serum, immunoglobulin, etc.) or have been vaccinated with measles vaccine and become ill, the incubation period can be extended to 3 to 4 weeks.

The main clinical manifestations of this period are: measles virus can be excreted from upper respiratory tract secretions 1 to 2 days from the end of the incubation period. Some patients may develop temporary mild upper respiratory tract symptoms and low-grade fever, or even a transient rash, a few hours after contact with a measles patient, but this is very rare.

The typical course of measles can be divided into three stages: prodromal stage, exanthema stage and recovery stage.

1) Prodromal phase: It usually lasts 3 to 5 days. It can be extended to 7 to 8 days in weak or severe cases, and as short as 1 day in those who have been vaccinated against measles or have passive immunity.

The main clinical manifestations of this stage are: physical examination shows obvious congestion of the oral and pharyngeal mucosa, catarrhal symptoms of inflammation of the upper respiratory tract (including the conjunctiva of the eyes), often accompanied by decreased appetite, and even gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.

There are fever, cough, runny nose, tears, photophobia, etc., accompanied by varying degrees of general discomfort. The fever is usually low during the day and high at night, rising day by day and can reach 39-40°C. Infants and young children may have febrile convulsions, and older children or adults often complain of headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and drowsiness. The cough gradually becomes more severe and is mostly dry cough. Because the inflammation of the upper respiratory tract mucosa often extends down to the throat, trachea, and bronchi, the cough is often hoarse, and young children may even experience shortness of breath and difficulty.

Koplik spots may appear on the buccal mucosa opposite the first molar 2 to 3 days after the onset of the disease. This is a characteristic sign of the prodromal stage of measles and has value for the early diagnosis of measles.

This type of tiny oral rash is white, 0.5 to 1 mm the size of a needle tip, and is scattered on the bright red and moist cheek mucosa. At first there are only a few, but they quickly increase in number and can fuse, spreading to the entire buccal mucosa, the inside of the lips, the gums, etc., and occasionally on the eyelid junction membrane. Very rarely, they occur on the hard and soft palate. When the number of spots is small, it is easy to see tiny white spots in the sunlight, surrounded by red halos. When the number is large, they can merge into patches, and only fine salt-like protruding particles can be seen on the congested buccal mucosa. Koplik spots usually last for 2 to 3 days and then disappear quickly, but they can sometimes still be seen 1 to 2 days after the rash appears. Some patients may develop a rubella-like, scarlet fever-like, or urticaria-like rash on the neck, chest, and abdomen at the beginning of the prodromal period, which disappears within a few hours and is called a prodromal rash. Sometimes brown-red spots can be found on the uvula (also known as the uvula), tonsils, posterior pharyngeal wall, and soft palate, which disappear quickly at the beginning of the rash.

2) Rash stage:

Rash: Rash begins to appear 3 to 5 days after onset when respiratory catarrhal symptoms and fever reach their peak, often 1 to 2 days after Koplik spots appear. First, a light red maculopapular rash appears on the hairline behind the ear, gradually spreading to the forehead, face, and neck, and then spreading from top to bottom to the chest, abdomen, and back, and finally to the limbs, and even to the palms and soles of the feet. It will spread to the whole body in 2 to 3 days. The rash is mainly maculopapular, bright red at first, fading when pressed, of varying sizes, with an average diameter of 2 to 5 mm, and sparsely and clearly distributed. When the rash peaks, the number of rashes increases, and they gather and fuse into flakes, and the color gradually darkens, but the skin between the rashes remains normal. Occasionally, small blisters or tiny hemorrhagic rashes are seen.

Now everyone should be aware of the symptoms of measles. Vaccines should be given to children in a timely manner after they are born. These vaccines can better prevent some infectious diseases, especially measles, which is now very common and its harm is also very great. If it is not treated in time, it can also cause pneumonia, bronchitis and other complications.