Measles: Dangerous in children, could cause blindness

For hundreds of years, measles has been one of the most contagious and lethal viruses known to humans. It poses a significant risk to individuals, especially children under five years of age who lack vaccination, as their immune systems and organ systems are still developing.

Measles disease caused by the measles virus is highly infectious. Despite the availability of a safe and affordable vaccination, measles kills more children than any other vaccine-preventable disease, with over 17,000 cases reported in Nigeria each year.

To be sure they are immune, children should get the vaccine twice. In nations where measles is prevalent, the first dosage is often administered at nine months of age; in other nations, it is given between 12 and 15 months. Later in childhood, often between 15 and 18 months, a second dosage should be administered.

Furthermore, the goal of the 2024 Integrated Measles Vaccination Campaign, Professor Oladele Olatunya, a paediatric consultant at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital in Ado Ekiti, said is to guarantee that children receive extra doses of the vaccine to develop immunity to the illness.

“The Federal government re-emphasises the need for booster doses of measles vaccination just because of the resurgence of cases of measles infection in countries where the disease has been somehow controlled to a greater extent,” he added.

For example, in the USA, in recent years they have started having outbreaks, and this has been traced to a lack of commitment and inadequate vaccination of children for them to now develop immunity against measles infection.

Of the 809 suspected cases recorded in Nigeria alone in May 2024, 62.92% were from Borno (329), Katsina (58), Osun (33), Bayelsa (30), Ogun (30), and Oyo (29). Of the reported suspicious cases, 242 (29.91%) were eliminated, 219 (27.07%) were pending, and 348 (43.02%) were confirmed (28 lab-confirmed, 0 epidemiologically connected, 320 clinically compatible). Two (2) confirmed cases resulted in reported deaths.

According to Professor Olatunya, the Paediatric Association of Nigeria advises giving children booster doses of the measles vaccine in order to stop outbreaks or recurrences of the disease in the community.

Immunity from the original vaccine can fade over time, and a booster shot can help the immune system “boost” the protection it provides.

For many of the immunisations that adults and children receive, booster doses are administered. One of these is the Hemophilus influenzae type B vaccine, which children between the ages of two and six months receive in two or three doses. When they are 12 to 15 months old, they receive a booster dose.

Three doses of tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccination are administered to infants at the ages of two, four, and six months. At the ages of 15-18 months, 4-6 years, 11-12 years, and then every ten years, they receive booster doses.

However, he said that cases of children said to have measles despite the vaccination could be because the potency of the vaccine they received was not good enough.

Additionally, Professor Olatunya stated that the majority of rashes that youngsters get on their bodies may not be caused by a measles infection, as mothers had claimed.

“To any mother, once the child develops any rash, the child’s mother will call it measles. It cannot be referred to as measles until the child is examined by a physician. Numerous things can cause a child to get a rash or mimic measles rash.

Heat, friction, allergens, and changes in the child’s body cream, lotion, or toilet soap as well as fabrics are all included in this. Overheating is the source of heat rash, which is typically found on clothing-covered areas such as the arms, chest, legs, neck, and chest.

Professor Olatunya, however, said that the most common measles symptoms include a cough, running nose, and fever, typically followed by a rash.

He declared, “The child will undoubtedly be sick, exhibiting symptoms such as coughing, a high fever, watery or red eyes, eye discharge, and nasal congestion. Additionally, the rash may develop inside the gut or on the body. The child may have diarrhoea, weakness, and vomiting as a result of that. Therefore, a measles infection is not likely to be the cause of rashes on child playing football.

“Measles can result in severe breathing issues, including pneumonia, convulsions, encephalitis (an infection that causes swelling of the brain and possibly brain damage), ear infections, blindness, and other long-term, incapacitating health complications in addition to hospitalisation and death.”

It also can damage the immune system by “deleting” its memory of how to fight infections, leaving measles survivors vulnerable to other diseases like influenza for weeks or even months.

“I want to admonish mothers that they should bring any child with any rash on the body, of which they are suspicious to have measles, to the hospital. Only the healthcare professional can determine whether the rash is measles rash or not,” he said.

Professor Olatunya assured that booster doses of the measles vaccine are safe, adding, “The booster doses will reduce the rate of occurrence of measles infection in society.”

He claims that booster doses are comparable to supporting doses, adding, “When you take normal doses, you also take booster doses, which are recommended by PAN and by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.”

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s hunger crisis deepens with 33 million at risk