Measles is an infectious disease that usually occurs in acute form. The disease is often accompanied by fever up to 39 degrees.
A pediatric pediatrician usually examines and treats measles in children. First, the specialist conducts an external examination of the child in order to determine what condition the patient is in. If after the examination the doctor needs additional examinations, he can refer the patient to an infectious disease specialist.
Paramyxovirus enters the child's body and a disease such as measles develops. When these pathogens are not found in the human body, they die under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, and the virus does not tolerate low humidity.
This disease can appear between October and early April, at which time all people spend most of their time indoors. Airborne transmission from another person with this disease occurs quite often.
You can even say that this is the main way the disease spreads, the incubation period of which is from a week to two weeks. A patient sneezing and coughing along with saliva releases many particles of the virus, these secretions are very dangerous 4 days before the rash in the patient.
As measles begins in children, the first signs and symptoms will be discussed further.
How does the disease go?
The first sign of measles in children (the photo can be found in the article) is a small rash that cannot be called a full-fledged rash that occurs with the disease.
The patient has the usual symptoms of a cold, a temperature of 38 to 40 degrees. In this case, a dry cough is observed.
A sick person passes the virus to healthy people through sneezing and coughing, the largest accumulation of paramyxovirus in the patient's secretions during the first 7-10 days of illness.
A healthy person becomes infected through the mucous membranes, the virus enters the body through the respiratory tract and eyes. It takes 3 days, and through the blood stream it penetrates the spleen, and after 7-14 days it infects internal organs and a skin rash appears.
If people who are near the patient do not have the vaccine made on time, then 100% infection occurs instantly. All healthy people who are in close contact with a sick patient should be vaccinated.
The virus is so dangerous that it can travel through ventilation pipes in multi-storey buildings and common areas. In addition to ventilation compartments, it is freely distributed along the staircases and in the air.
Some people have developed their own protective functions of the body, in which this virus is not dangerous. The most effective method in the fight against measles is to vaccinate the country's population.
Timely vaccinations save many people from this disease. After infection with measles, a process of complications can occur, which leads to the appearance of concomitant diseases. Children under the age of 5 are most susceptible to these ailments.
If the infection and the development of this disease appeared in a child under 2 years old, then the carrier of the disease is the mother. Her body has neither natural nor developed immunity after planned vaccinations.
Signs and symptoms of measles in children
Measles is a typical infectious disease caused by a virus. It has specific signs (rashes), by which the disease can be easily determined.
The measles virus can be caught without having close contact with its carrier, it is enough just to be in the same room with it. This virus lives for a short period, so it is almost impossible to get infected through the household (bedding, dishes, toys).
The disease includes four periods: incubation, catarrhal, stage of rashes and pigmentation. Photos and explanations of the signs of measles in a child - further in the article.
The incubation (latent) period
The initial stage of signs of measles in children, the photo of which is attached, lasts for 7-21 days. A child with measles can infect people around him during the last 5 days of this period. The dangerous stage begins from the penetration of the virus into the body, and ends at the time the first signs appear.
A viral infection enters the body by airborne droplets (through the mouth or nose) or organs of vision. After the virus multiplies to a certain size, it enters the bloodstream and the second stage of the course of the disease begins. It is then that the first signs of measles appear.
Catarrhal period
Lasts for 3-5 days. It is for him that the appearance of the first signs of an ailment is characteristic, which are very similar to a cold.
The first signs of measles in children (the disease mainly affects babies), which can occur:
- weakness and aches in the body;
- restless sleep or insomnia;
- irritability and nervousness;
- increased body temperature (up to 40 degrees);
- impaired appetite;
- redness of the throat and pain when swallowing;
- frequent sneezing
- dry cough;
- runny nose and swelling of the mucosa;
- headache;
- swollen lymph nodes in the neck;
- diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting;
- malaise.
After some time, specific signs inherent in this disease appear:
- lacrimation of the eyes and swelling of the eyelids;
- pain in bright light;
- hoarse or shrunken voice;
- purulent conjunctivitis;
- rashes in the oral cavity.
An experienced specialist can diagnose measles according to primary symptoms even before a skin rash appears. This will allow you to isolate the sick child from others in time and prevent the onset of the epidemic. Then the disease begins to progress, the symptoms worsen, and the next stage begins - a rash.
Rash period
Measles on the body - the first sign of measles in children of this period. It lasts up to 4 days, and on the 5th there are foci of rash.
On the first day, rashes appear behind the ears and on the skin of the head, in the area of hair growth. Then the rash gradually passes to the skin of the face, neck and chest area.
On the second day, rashes appear in the shoulders, arms, abdomen and back.
During the third stage of the rash, the lower limbs of the child (including the fingers and feet) are affected, and the face gradually turns pale. This period is the most acute during the illness.
Concomitant symptoms may appear on the background of the rash:
- increased fever (body temperature 39-40 degrees);
- increased intoxication of the body;
- bronchitis;
- tracheobronchitis;
- tachycardia.
Pigmentation period
Pigmentation of measles rash begins from 4-5 days from the appearance of the first rashes and lasts from 8 to 14 days. The spots begin to disappear in the same sequence as they appeared - from the upper half of the body down. They acquire a bluish tint, and then turn brown. Then the skin begins to peel off and gradually becomes clean.
The condition of the child returns to normal - conjunctivitis recedes, appetite normalizes, moodiness gives way to a good mood. Children cease to be contagious from the 6th day after the appearance of measles rashes.
Diagnostics
In order to make a reliable diagnosis, the pediatrician without fail prescribes a complex of laboratory tests for the child:
- general blood test - helps determine the presence of the virus, whether antibodies are produced that block it;
- general urine analysis - helps determine the presence of protein and white blood cells (with measles, these indicators are necessarily present in the patient's urine);
- chest x-ray - the presence of spots on x-rays indicates that the disease has passed into a complicated form with pneumonia.
This study is conducted in order not to confuse measles with diseases similar in signs and symptoms - scarlet fever, rubella, erythema.
Treatment
The most effective way to treat this disease is preventive vaccination. After the child has been in contact with a patient infected with this virus, measles immunoglobulin should be administered within the first five days.
If this drug is introduced later, the expected result will not be. Even when this immunoglobulin was ingested on time, there is no guarantee that the disease will be cured.
The introduction of this drug during the manifestation of the clinical signs of this disease will not bring any result. Basically, measles is treated at home under the guidance of a pediatrician.
In the hospital are only those patients who have a very severe form of the disease with the presence of complications. Due to the fact that there is no specific drug for the treatment of measles, all manifestations of this disease should be eliminated in a sick child.
A pediatrician prescribes medications that reduce a runny nose, sore throat, and cough. With a very dry cough, drugs are prescribed that thin the sputum and facilitate expectoration. These drugs make the mucus more fluid and remove it from the body.
When a child has a runny nose that interferes with normal breathing, the sinuses should be rinsed with medicines with sea salt, after the nasal passages are cleared, it is necessary to drip the nose. To do this, apply drops that constrict blood vessels and reduce the symptoms of rhinitis.
In order to lower the temperature, prescribe antipyretic drugs based on paracetamol.
Recommendations of pediatricians
To properly comply with the doctor's recommendations, you must follow these instructions:
- The child is prescribed bed rest, drinking plenty of water.
- Nutrition should be balanced and enriched with a diverse amount of vitamins. To do this, you need to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.
- All nasopharyngeal cavities should be without mucus, drops should be used.
- Rinse eyes with a special solution. This procedure should be carried out up to 4 times a day.
- If the rashes on the skin itch and bring discomfort, they need to be treated with ointments.
How to carry out procedures
Bathing at high temperatures is prohibited, after the temperature has gone, you can carry out water procedures. The spots that cover the body of the child should be lubricated with soothing ointments and itching and irritation.
When washing eyes, use a decoction of chamomile, warm boiled water, saline. If the child has conjunctivitis and purulent discharge from the eyes appears, you need to buy drops from acute conjunctivitis in the pharmacy.
In the case when the disease proceeds with intoxication or the patient is too weak, treatment is prescribed in a hospital with the use of an immunoglobulin preparation, which will increase the protective functions of the body.
The course of the disease with complications
When the patient has edema, allergic manifestations, the doctor prescribes antihistamines Zirtek, Suprastin, Fenistil.
If the patient has no complications, antibiotics are not prescribed. When an infection is detected after the examination, treatment with the following groups of antibiotics is prescribed - macrolides, penicillins and cephalosporins.
When a patient has a complex form of measles, he is prescribed medications to reduce the inflammatory processes in those organs that are infected with measles. Patients may be referred to the intensive care unit or intensive care unit. The reason for this may be complications: pneumonia, encephalitis, meningitis.
The danger of this disease is that measles affects the mucous membranes of the child, as well as immune blood cells. As a result, the child is more often exposed to infections.