Thanks to proactive vaccination efforts, the threat of measles has been greatly reduced in many areas of the world. It is a serious disease that can be easily spread through the air and two immunizations are thought to be required for anyone who was born after 1966 to be immune to the viral disease. It has serious complications when an infection is present, so eradication is eventually the goal.
Here are some interesting facts about this problematic disease to help everyone understand the dangers of measles a little bit more.
1. Complications Are Common With The Measles.
About 33% of the people who get an active infection of the measles will experience at least one complication from it. The most common issues are pneumonia, diarrhea, or an ear infection and sometimes can be so severe that hospitalization is required. Encephalitis can also happen with the measles, which is thought to occur in one out of every 1000 cases.
2. Measles Are One of the Easiest Infections to Spread.
You don’t have to touch anything to get the measles. All you have to is breathe the same air where an infected individual coughed or sneezed to catch the virus. Just being in the same room with someone who has an active infection of the measles is enough to cause the disease to spread.
3. Measles Can Be Fatal.
The mortality rate for measles is about the same as the encephalitis rate. It is particularly deadly to women who are pregnant. Not only can it cause a pregnancy to miscarry, but it can also cause a mother to give birth prematurely. There may also be complications from measles during the birthing process that can put the life of the mother at risk. In developing countries where the measles vaccination is not widely available, the disease still kills 164,000 people annually out of 20 million estimated worldwide cases. About half of the fatalities are thought to occur in India.
4. Before Vaccinations, Almost Every Child Got The Measles Before The Age of 15.
Every year in the United States, about 500 people died from the measles before vaccines were widely available. Another 1000 people suffered from permanent brain damage or deafness because of contracting the measles. This is why vaccinations are so important. Without them, anyone who has not been vaccinated is at risk of developing the severe complications if they contract the disease. 92% of the people who got the measles in the United States in the last year were either not vaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown.
5. The Measles Vaccine Does Not Cause Autism.
The reason why people believe that vaccines cause autism is because of a 1998 study that linked the MMR vaccine to autism. The medical journal which published the study results retracted the publication in 2010 because the author had been found to be acting in an unethical manner while conducting the research and the results were skewed and biased, making the study invalid.