Measles is generally considered a childhood illness. People of the older generation still remember how schoolchildren were sick with whole classes, since the main way to transmit this disease is airborne. Currently, it has been possible to significantly reduce the incidence of viral infection among children due to vaccination, but adults have begun to get sick because they have refused or their parents once did this preventive measure. Therefore, it is so important to know how necessary a measles vaccine is for adults and what the disease poses.
I must say that measles in adults is much more difficult than in children, including more likely to get serious complications such as pneumonia, encephalitis, blindness, and hearing damage. The carrier of the disease is only a person, and you can get an infection even with accidental contact. Moreover, those who have not been vaccinated and did not tolerate this infectious disease before, become infected in 95% of cases. The only option is a measles vaccine for adults and children.
There is a population group belonging to the risk group to which vaccination is mandatory. These are medical students, doctors, educational workers . A woman preparing to become a mother, and not previously vaccinated, is also recommended to be vaccinated, since this disease, transferred during pregnancy, can adversely affect the development of the fetus.
The measles vaccine has a rather long duration. A child or an adult who has done it creates an effective immunity against infection, which usually lasts 25 years, and sometimes all his life. Although it is weaker than those who have had the disease, in most cases, it is enough to avoid measles. Usually, the first vaccine is given at the age of one year, revaccination is carried out after 6 years, before the baby enters school. The vaccine is free, as this event is included in the Russian calendar of preventive vaccinations.
An adult measles vaccine is given when you go to the clinic to a local GP who will examine and direct you for vaccination. If there is a risk that there will be close contact with patients (for example, a trip to areas dangerous for this disease), it is recommended that even vaccinated people take additional tests for antibodies to this infection and, if necessary, make additional vaccinations.
In most cases, measles vaccines are fairly easy to tolerate. However, there may be some side effects that indicate that the body began to form a defense against the disease. During the first day, redness, compaction at the injection site, soreness are allowed. A week after vaccination , a slight increase in temperature is possible. In any case, if any symptoms of illness appear, it is worth consulting a doctor who can give individual recommendations.
Use either a monovaccine (only for this disease) or a trivaccine (for measles, mumps and rubella). In both cases, the effectiveness is the same, however, the latter can be more difficult to tolerate, since the body needs to develop immunity not against one, but against several diseases at the same time. It should be noted that there are factors in which vaccination is not recommended. These are weakened immunity, tuberculosis, leukemia, HIV infection, pregnancy. Only absolutely healthy people get vaccinated, even if there is a mild cold, the procedure should be postponed, but not completely abandoned.
In order to avoid an insidious infection, it is necessary that the measles vaccine for adults and children be done in a timely manner. Thus, there will be no need to worry about the dangerous consequences of a severe virus.