Do not be subjective with measles in adults

Recently, Bach Mai Institute of Tropical Medicine (Bach Mai Hospital) has continuously received many measles cases.

This disease has the ability to spread quickly, even more easily than Covid-19. Therefore, health experts recommend paying special attention to controlling the epidemic in the community and strengthening proactive vaccination to reduce the number of new cases and limit the risk of complications.

Many serious complications

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Duy Cuong, Director of Bach Mai Institute of Tropical Medicine, said that since the beginning of the year, the number of measles cases in adults coming to the hospital for examination and hospitalization has increased sharply. Every day, on average, there are about 10-20 suspected measles cases coming to the hospital for examination and hospitalization.

Not only for children, measles in adults can also cause dangerous complications.

Patients with measles mainly have symptoms such as fever, rash, severe cough, watery eyes, runny nose. Some cases also have serious complications such as pneumonia, increased liver enzymes, diarrhea, and in some severe cases, patients may have pneumonia or meningoencephalitis.

A typical case treated at the hospital is a male patient, N.D.H, 51 years old, from Hanoi. The patient was admitted to the hospital on March 13 with a diagnosis of measles complicated by pneumonia. Due to a history of underlying diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and bronchial asthma, the patient's condition quickly worsened. After treatment, the patient still had to be on an invasive ventilator and was in critical condition.

In addition, another case is patient TTT, 28 years old, in Nam Dinh, who is 8 weeks pregnant. Ms. TTT had symptoms of high fever, muscle and joint pain, and after a few days, a red rash, dry cough and diarrhea. Although she was treated at home to reduce the fever, her condition did not improve, so the patient had to be hospitalized for timely treatment.

Measles is an acute infectious disease caused by a virus of the Paramyxoviridae family. The disease is transmitted through the respiratory tract, mainly through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

It is worth noting that the measles virus is highly contagious, with a much higher infection rate than Covid-19 and influenza. On average, one person with measles can infect 12 to 18 other people, which shows that the risk of an outbreak in the community is very high.

Measles can cause serious complications such as encephalitis, pneumonia, conjunctivitis, keratitis and other infections. These complications can directly affect the health and even threaten the life of the patient.

Measles can cause serious complications in adults, especially those with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or respiratory problems.

Early detection and timely treatment are needed.

In particular, measles can also seriously affect pregnant women, especially in the first 3 months of pregnancy. Measles can cause pregnancy complications such as miscarriage, premature birth or affect the development of the fetus.

According to experts, vaccination is the only effective preventive measure to reduce the spread of measles. In particular, measles vaccine helps protect the community from new cases, reducing the incidence of disease and dangerous complications.

Associate Professor Do Duy Cuong recommends that vaccination is the best way to prevent measles, especially for adults with weakened immune systems or those who have not been vaccinated.

For children, in the Expanded Immunization Program, they are vaccinated against measles at 9 months of age and again at 18 months or 2 years of age. For adults, when immunity decreases, they need to be re-vaccinated with the MMR vaccine (including measles, mumps, rubella).

In addition to vaccination, people also need to pay attention to other preventive measures such as maintaining personal hygiene and a clean living environment, wearing masks when in contact with sick people and avoiding crowded gatherings.

Symptoms of measles include high fever, dry cough, inflammation of the respiratory tract, conjunctivitis and especially a skin rash. The measles rash usually appears in sequence from behind the ears, the nape of the neck, spreading to the face and neck on the first day, then spreading to the arms, abdomen, thighs, and finally the two lower limbs. The rash is red or dark in color, not itchy and lasts about 5-7 days. When the rash is fully spread over the whole body, the patient's fever will decrease and he will begin to recover.

If there are symptoms of measles, people need to quickly go to a medical facility for testing, diagnosis and timely treatment.

To cope with the current measles outbreak, the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) has launched a measles vaccination campaign for children aged 1-10 years in 18 high-risk provinces and cities. However, there are still some children who are not old enough to be vaccinated against measles, so the Ministry of Health plans to expand the age of vaccination to 6-9 months in the near future.

Emphasizing the role of vaccines, according to Dr. Nguyen Tuan Hai, Safpo/Potec Vaccination System, vaccination is the only way to protect children and adults from this potentially dangerous disease. Countries around the world are required to achieve and maintain a coverage rate of over 95% with 2 doses of measles vaccine.

Children and adults need to proactively get vaccinated against measles fully and on schedule to help the body produce specific antibodies against the measles virus, helping to prevent the risk of measles and severe complications, with outstanding effectiveness of up to 98%.

In addition, each person needs to proactively clean their eyes, nose, and throat with antiseptic solution every day. Limit gathering in crowded places, avoid close contact with people showing signs of measles or suspected of having the disease, and do not share personal items with people with the disease. Keep your living space clean and supplement foods to help strengthen the immune system.

If you see symptoms of measles (fever, runny nose, dry cough, red eyes, sensitivity to light, rash all over the body), you should quickly go to the nearest medical center or facility for timely examination and treatment.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/khong-the-chu-quan-voi-benh-soi-o-nguoi-lon-d257240.html