How to treat measles

Video: Measles, Causes, Signs and Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment.

Content

Steps
Method 1 of 2: How to Ease Symptoms
Method 2 of 2: How to prevent the spread of infection
Tips
Warnings
What do you need

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that usually causes a rash all over the body and inflammation of the airways. Measles is relatively easy to prevent with a vaccine, which is usually given at about one year of age and then at 4–6 years of age. If you get measles, it is best to see your doctor and stay in bed. Also try to relieve symptoms such as a high fever, rash, and persistent cough to speed up your recovery.

Attention:the information in this article is for informational purposes only. Before using any methods, consult your doctor.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: How to Ease Symptoms

1 See a doctor immediately. If you suspect that you or someone close to you has measles (see How to Diagnose Measles), see your doctor as soon as possible and describe your symptoms to them. The doctor will make an appropriate diagnosis and prescribe treatment. Follow all his instructions.
- Measles resembles chickenpox, so it is imperative that the doctor makes the correct diagnosis and prescribes the appropriate treatment.
- Your doctor will most likely recommend that you stay at home and avoid contact with other people. Measles is highly contagious and should be isolated to avoid an outbreak. Quarantine measures are described below in the section “How to prevent the spread of infection”.
- Be aware that when visiting your doctor, he or she may ask you to take special precautions, such as wearing a gauze bandage or using the back door to prevent the spread of infection. To prevent you from infecting medical staff and other patients, especially pregnant women, the doctor may even go to your car and examine you there.
- All of the information below is in no way intended to replace your doctor's instructions. If you are in doubt, be sure to consult your doctor.
2 Bring down the temperature with over-the-counter products. Measles is often accompanied by a high fever, which can reach 40 ° C. Take over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen or paracetamol to help lower your fever. Follow directions for use and respect the recommended dosage and interval between doses.
- These drugs not only lower the temperature, but also relieve pain caused by measles.
- Not Give acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) to children without a doctor's prescription, as it can lead to a rare but dangerous condition called Reye's syndrome.
3 Get some rest. Nearly everyone who gets measles needs more sleep and rest to get better and recover from the disease faster. Measles is a serious viral infection that requires a lot of strength and resources for the body to fight. In addition, measles symptoms sometimes cause you to fatigue more quickly than usual. Get enough sleep and limit physical activity while you are sick.
- People with measles are contagious 1 to 2 days before they show symptoms and about 4 days after they show symptoms. However, the incubation period for measles is 14 days, and you can be contagious during that entire time. Measles is transmitted by coughing and sneezing, so you need to be at home during illness. Plan to stay at home for about one week. People usually become non-infectious 4 days after symptoms start, although the rash will clear up later.
4 Dim the lights. A rash on the face caused by measles sometimes leads to conjunctivitis, which causes the eyes to become inflamed and watery. Because of this, people with measles are highly sensitive to light. Cover windows with blackout curtains and dim room lights to reduce eye irritation.
- While you should stay at home with measles, if you need to go outside for any reason, wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from the glare.
5 Clean your eyes with soft cotton swabs. As noted above, measles is often accompanied by conjunctivitis. One of the most noticeable symptoms of conjunctivitis is a profuse discharge from the eyes. Because of this, a crust of dried secretions can form on the eyes, and sometimes it can even be difficult to open them (especially after sleeping). To remove this crust, soak a cotton ball in clean warm water and wipe your eyes from the inner corner to the outer corner. Use a separate cotton swab for each eye.
- Conjunctivitis can be very serious, so it is best to prevent it. Practice good hygiene to keep pathogens out of your eyes. If you are caring for a child with measles, wash their hands and wear gloves to reduce the likelihood that they will carry viruses into their eyes when they touch them after the rash has scratched.
- Apply minimal pressure when you dry your eyes - they are very sensitive due to inflammation.
6 Try not to touch the genital area. In some cases, measles spreads to the genitals and causes urinary tract infections and other complications. Be sure to wash your hands before washing or wiping your genital area.
- When caring for a child with measles, be careful not to touch the genital area.
7 Turn on a humidifier. Air humidifiers increase the amount of moisture in the air by evaporating water. When you are sick, keeping a humidifier in your room can help relieve sore throat and measles-related coughs.
- If you don't have a humidifier, just place a large bowl of water in the room to increase the humidity.
- Note that some humidifiers allow you to add inhalation medications to the water vapor. If your humidifier has this capability, add a cough inhaler.
8 Maintain the body's water balance. Like many other illnesses, measles depletes body fluids faster than usual, especially in the case of a high fever. In view of this, you need to ensure that during the period of illness you have enough fluids, which is necessary to fight the infection. In general, it is best for sick people to drink clear liquids, especially plain clean water.

Method 2 of 2: How to prevent the spread of infection

1 Get vaccinated if you haven't been vaccinated yet. The quickest and easiest way to prevent the spread of measles is for everyone who is not contraindicated to get the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella combination vaccine) vaccine. This vaccine has a 95-99% chance of preventing infection and almost always provides lifelong immunity. As a rule, healthy people can get vaccinated after they are about 15 months old, so getting this vaccine is mandatory for most families.
- Like any vaccine, the MMR vaccine can cause some side effects, although serious side effects are extremely rare, and the measles virus is much more dangerous than any of them. The following side effects are possible:
- slight increase in body temperature;
- rash;
- swelling of the lymph nodes;
- aching pain in the joints, their stiffness;
- very rarely, convulsions or an allergic reaction are observed.
- Not The MMR vaccine has been known to cause autism - the only study claiming this was deliberate deception, and no link has been found between vaccinations and autism in all further studies. Children should be vaccinated twice, unless they are allergic to it. Vaccinations are often given at 1 year old and at 4–6 years old.
2 Isolate the patient. Measles is highly contagious and should be isolated from other people, with very few exceptions. Infected with measles should not leave the houseunless required to receive medical attention. There can be no question of going to school or work - one visit from you can paralyze your entire unit for a week or more if you infect your colleagues. People with measles should stay at home as long as necessary to prevent the spread of the disease. The person usually becomes non-infectious about four days after the rash appears, so you will need to stay off work for one week or longer.
- Note that it is not safe for unvaccinated people even be where a person with measles has recently been... The measles virus is able to remain in tiny droplets floating in the air for up to two hours after the patient has left the room.
- If you are using a nanny and your child has measles, tell her immediately - it is especially important to warn her if she is pregnant. Remember that a child may have infected someone for 14 days before symptoms develop.
3 Keep those at high risk away from the patient. Quarantine compliance is especially important in order not to infect people with increased vulnerability to the virus. For healthy people, measles is usually only temporary inconvenience, but for some it is a serious danger. The following categories of people are at increased risk:
- babies who have not yet been vaccinated;
- Small children;
- pregnant women;
- aged people;
- people with weakened immune systems (for example, people with HIV);
- people with chronic diseases;
- those who are malnourished (especially those with vitamin A deficiency).
4 Wear a gauze bandage if you have to be in contact with other people. As noted above, people with measles should minimize contact with other people (it is best to observe full quarantine). However, in situations where contact cannot be avoided (for example, if the patient requires care or urgent medical attention), a gauze bandage should be worn to reduce the risk of infecting others. The bandage can be worn both by the patient himself and by people in contact with him.
- A gauze bandage lowers the risk of infection because the measles virus is transmitted through tiny droplets of moisture that are released into the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes.Because of this, the physical barrier between the lungs of a sick person and a healthy person helps prevent infection. Still a gauze bandage not eliminates the need for quarantine.
- In case of contact with a patient, a gauze bandage must be used for at least 4 days after the first symptoms appear. If you have any questions, be sure to talk to your doctor - he will tell you how long to use the gauze bandage.
5 Wash your hands often and thoroughly. Measles can not only infect people around you, it can easily spread to other parts of the body, such as the eyes. The best way to avoid this is to wash your hands thoroughly (for a few minutes) with warm water. Use antibacterial soap to get rid of germs.
- If you are caring for a child with measles, trim their nails as short as possible and help them wash their hands more often. Wear soft gloves on his hands at night.
6 See your doctor immediately if you experience severe symptoms. As noted above, measles usually does not pose a serious threat to healthy people. However, in rare cases (for example, with weakened immunity), it can be much more dangerous and even lead to lethal outcome: For example, in 2013, more than 140 thousand people died from measles worldwide (mostly unvaccinated children). In the rare event that a person with measles develops symptoms beyond the usual ones listed above, urgent medical attention is needed. These symptoms include:
- severe diarrhea;
- a serious ear infection;
- pneumonia;
- visual impairment, blindness;
- in rare cases, encephalitis, which is accompanied by convulsions, clouding of consciousness, headaches, paralysis, hallucinations;
- a rapidly deteriorating general physical condition with no signs of improvement.

Tips

Wear long sleeves to avoid scratching your arms.
The MMR vaccine has certain side effects. For example, about one in every six vaccinated children will have a fever 7–12 days after vaccination, and about one in every three thousand have a febrile seizure. Because of this, some people think that vaccination is unsafe, but this is not the case. Doctors do not hide the existence of these side effects, most of which are benign. The benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks of these known side effects. The MMR vaccine has excellent safety records. Hundreds of millions of children have been successfully vaccinated worldwide.
Calamine Lotion helps relieve the itching of a measles rash.
Your child needs to get the MMR vaccine. Insufficient vaccination coverage increases the likelihood of measles outbreaks. Among other things, measles increases the risk of encephalitis, as it leads to this deadly disease in one in a thousand cases.
Stay out of sunlight and heat to prevent itching.

Warnings

Do not give cough medicine to children under 6 years of age. Do not give acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) to children under 16. If you have any questions about what medications to give to someone with measles, talk to your doctor.
If symptoms worsen or your condition does not improve within 5 days, see your doctor.