India’s Measles Outbreak: What You Need to Know
Introduction: What is Measles?
Measles is a highly contagious, airborne virus that spreads through contact with droplets from the nose, mouth, or throat of infected people. It causes fever, cough, and a rash all over the body.
Measles is usually spread through the air when the infected person coughs or sneezes, spreading the virus into the air and another person inhales it. Most importantly, these viruses can survive in the air for up to two hours
It takes about 2 weeks (Average 7 -10 days) for someone who has been exposed to measles to show signs of infection (the symptoms).
What’s Causing the Worst Outbreak of Measles in India?
India is facing its worst outbreak of measles in the past 5 years, with over 1.5 lakh cases reported. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that India needs to take drastic measures to stop the spread of the disease.
The disease spreads when an infected person releases droplets that contain the measles virus into the air and another person breathes them in or touches a surface and then rubs their eyes or nose. Its symptoms are similar to flu in the early stage but in a little more severe form.
Symptoms are mainly fever, cold, cough, running nose, sore throat, and red eyes. The typical feature of this disease is the appearance of small white spots (Kopliks spots) inside the mouth. It can be treated very effectively if treated early. As the disease progresses, it can spread to the lungs, brain, and other parts of the body, and treatment becomes difficult at this stage
There are many factors that have contributed to this outbreak: lack of awareness about vaccination among parents, low coverage of children against measles-containing vaccines, and poor sanitation conditions in India’s slums which contribute to high infection rates among children and adults alike…
Complications of Measles
The common complications of measles include diarrhea, middle ear infections, and pneumonia, but also in some cases seizures, blindness, brain infections, etc also seen. The complications are developed due to the immunosuppressed condition caused by the infected virus.
Why this Measles Outbreak is so Important to You and Your Family
In recent times, the increasing number of measles cases in various states is becoming a major health problem in the country. Therefore, preventing the spread of the disease has been taken as an important task by the government
The central government has taken all possible measures to prevent the spread of the disease, but there have been some cases where people have not followed these guidelines. This is why there are still many cases seen all over India. These cases are mostly seen in children below 5 years old and adults above 35 years old who missed out on vaccines from their childhood.
This article will talk about the recent measles outbreak in India and its implications for public health care, as well as what steps can be taken to prevent it from spreading even further.
There are many concerns surrounding this outbreak, one of which is that it has led to increased numbers of deaths in children due to complications like pneumonia and encephalitis. With so many people who either aren’t vaccinated or didn’t get their vaccinations when they were younger, there are more unprotected people who could become infected with measles.
Diagnosis of Measles
Diagnosis of measles can be done from the clinical features of the infected persons especially, the presence of koplik’s spots, body rashes along with respiratory symptoms.
However, it is recommended to confirm the diagnosis with laboratory tests like detections of positive measles IgM antibodies and RT-PCR confirmation of nasal, throat, or urine specimens.
Treatment of Measles
There is no specific antiviral medicine against measles. The main goal of treatment is to prevent superinfection (a serious second infection on top of the current infection), administer an immune booster, supplementation of Vitamin A, improve the hydration of the child, and supportive therapy.
Prevention of Measles
MMR Vaccine is effective in preventing measles infection.
Conclusion: Why You Should Pay Attention to the Latest Measles Threat in India
The latest measles threat in India is something that we should all be paying attention to. It has been reported that the number of cases has doubled over the last couple of years, and this is something that needs to be taken seriously.
This new threat is not only a problem for India but for other countries as well. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that measles outbreaks are a global concern, and they’ve identified the ten countries with the most measles cases in 2018 so far.
In conclusion, we need to pay attention to this new threat because it could become a global crisis if nothing is done about it soon.