What are the characteristics of measles

I believe most people are familiar with measles, but few people know about its symptoms. In fact, if we understand the characteristics of measles, we can detect it in time during the incubation period of measles. The earlier it is detected, the easier it is to treat. So we need to properly understand the characteristics of horse signs.

(1) Incubation period: Generally 10 days ± 2 days (6 to 21 days). For patients with severe infection or infection acquired through blood transfusion, the incubation period can be as short as 6 days. For patients who have received immune preparations (whole blood, serum, immunoglobulin, etc.) or have been vaccinated with measles vaccine and become ill, the incubation period can be extended to 3 to 4 weeks. Measles virus can be excreted from upper respiratory tract secretions 1 to 2 days before the end of the incubation period. Some patients may develop temporary mild upper respiratory tract symptoms and low-grade fever, or even a transient rash, a few hours after contact with a measles patient, but this is very rare. The typical course of measles can be divided into three stages: prodromal stage, exanthema stage and recovery stage.

(2) Prodromal phase: It generally lasts 3 to 5 days. It may be extended to 7 to 8 days in weak or severe cases, and as short as 1 day in those who have been vaccinated against measles or have passive immunity. The main clinical manifestations of this stage are catarrhal symptoms of inflammation of the upper respiratory tract (including the conjunctiva of the eyes). There are fever, cough, runny nose, tears, photophobia, etc., accompanied by varying degrees of general discomfort. The fever is usually low during the day and high at night, rising day by day and can reach 39-40°C. Infants and young children may have febrile convulsions, and older children or adults often complain of headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and drowsiness. The cough gradually becomes more severe and is mostly dry cough. Because the inflammation of the upper respiratory tract mucosa often extends down to the throat, trachea, and bronchi, the cough is often hoarse, and young children may even experience shortness of breath and difficulty. It is often accompanied by decreased appetite, and even gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. Physical examination may reveal obvious congestion of the oral and pharyngeal mucosa. Koplik spots may appear on the buccal mucosa opposite the first molar 2 to 3 days after the onset of the disease. These are characteristic signs of the prodromal stage of measles and have value for the early diagnosis of measles. This type of tiny oral rash is white, 0.5 to 1 mm the size of a needle tip, and is scattered on the bright red and moist cheek mucosa. At first there are only a few, but they quickly increase in number and can fuse, spreading to the entire buccal mucosa, the inside of the lips, the gums, etc., and occasionally on the eyelid junction membrane. Very rarely, they occur on the hard and soft palate. When the number of spots is small, it is easy to see tiny white spots in the sunlight, surrounded by red halos. When the number is large, they can merge into patches, and only fine salt-like protruding particles can be seen on the congested buccal mucosa. Koplik spots usually last for 2 to 3 days and then disappear quickly, but they can sometimes still be seen 1 to 2 days after the rash appears. Some patients may develop a rubella-like, scarlet fever-like, or urticaria-like rash on the neck, chest, and abdomen at the beginning of the prodromal period, which disappears within a few hours and is called a prodromal rash. Sometimes brown-red spots can be found on the uvula (also known as the uvula), tonsils, posterior pharyngeal wall, and soft palate, which disappear quickly at the beginning of the rash.

(3) Rash stage: Rash begins to appear 3 to 5 days after onset when respiratory catarrhal symptoms and fever reach their peak, often 1 to 2 days after Koplik spots appear. First, a light red maculopapular rash appears on the hairline behind the ear, gradually spreading to the forehead, face, and neck, and then spreading from top to bottom to the chest, abdomen, and back, and finally to the limbs, and even to the palms and soles of the feet. It will spread to the whole body in 2 to 3 days. The rash is mainly maculopapular, bright red at first, fading when pressed, of varying sizes, with an average diameter of 2 to 5 mm, and sparsely and clearly distributed. When the rash peaks, the number of rashes increases, and they gather and fuse into flakes, and the color gradually darkens, but the skin between the rashes remains normal. Occasionally, small blisters or tiny hemorrhagic rashes are seen. In severe cases, especially when accompanied by heart and lung failure, the rash may suddenly turn darker and disappear quickly. As the rash reaches its peak, systemic poisoning symptoms worsen, body temperature further rises to over 40°C, mental fatigue, drowsiness, or irritability all day long, cough worsens with sputum, dry lips and tongue, extreme congestion of the throat, swollen eyelids, and excessive secretions. The cervical lymph nodes, liver and spleen are enlarged, and dry and moist rales are often heard in the lungs. Chest X-ray examination showed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes and thickened lung texture. In the era before universal vaccination, adults were less likely to suffer from natural infection caused by wild-type measles virus. During the rash period, poisoning symptoms in adults were often more severe than in children, and the rash was also more dense, but concurrent bacterial infections seemed to be less common than in infants and young children.

(4) Recovery period: In patients with simple measles, when the rash and poisoning symptoms develop to their peak, the body temperature usually drops rapidly within 12 to 24 hours. Subsequently, the patient's spirit improves and respiratory symptoms are alleviated, but the cough may often continue for a long time and the appetite is greatly improved. Generally, the rash disappears in the order it appeared 2 to 3 days after the body temperature drops, leaving light brown pigmentation spots accompanied by small bran-like desquamation, mostly on the trunk, and disappears within 2 to 3 weeks. If there are no complications, the general course of simple measles from onset to disappearance of rash is 10 to 14 days.

The above are the relevant characteristics of measles. We can also see that the symptoms of measles are divided into four parts. We must not confuse them and understand the specific symptoms. If we find similar symptoms in ourselves, we must go to the hospital immediately for treatment.