Measles on children
Measles on children
Causes, signs, symptoms
A common contagious disease caused by virus, it is characterized by fever, colds, cough, and redness and swelling of the eyes. Pinhead sized reddish rashes usually appear 4 days after the onset of symptoms or at the height of fever. Signs and symptoms appear 10 to 14 days after exposure. This is a very communicable disease even before rashes appear and long after they disappear. All young children can have measles if not immunized.
It is a self-limiting viral disease. Once the child has the disease, he or she will not have the disease again.
Complications of Measles
- 1. Malnourished children have some chances of becoming blind especially if they have vitamin A deficiency before they have measles.
- 2. Respiratory infection
a. Bronchopneumonia
initially occur due to
the virus, but bronchitis and pneumonia due to secondary
bacterial infection
commonly occur later
especially if the child
has poor living conditions.
b. Tuberculosis can re
cur or flare up during or after measles.
3. Infection in the ears (otitismedia); watery yellowish discharge from the ears may be observed during or after measles. •
4. Inflammation or damage with the brain (encephalitis) a rare complication can occur once in 1,000 to 2,000 cases.
5. Inflammation of the lymph glands in the neck.
6. Death among young children; death rate is estimated to be 400 times more among malnourished children in developing countries than in rich countries.
Treatment
1. Isolate the sick child as soon as symptoms are observed and until rashes disappear.
2. Keep the sick child in bed and let him or her rest until fever is gone.
3. Give medicine for fever (aspirin or acetaminophen) and steam inhalation for the cough.
4. Let the child eat nutritious food like eggs, fish, oil, meat, milk, yellow and green vegetables, and others. It is important that the child has oil or fat in his or her diet for the vitamin A to be absorbed in the body.
The amount of vitamin A in the body goes down during illness. This leads to mildness if not treated. Give high dosage of vitamin A capsule (200,000 I.U.) for immediate treatment and repeat after 6 months. This dosage is not applicable for children below 2 years old.
5. Clean eyes with cooled boiled water with salt two to three times daily. Mother's milk may be used to clean the eyes.
6. When the fever is high, severe cough and difficulty of breathing are observed; most probably the child has pneumonia. Immediately consult a doctor or any health worker for possible complications.
7. If a child has primary complex (initial stage of tuberculosis in the lungs) characterized by poor appetite, low-grade fever in the afternoon or evening, loss of weight, and enlarged nodes (lymph glands) in the neck before or during measles, treat him or her adequately with antiTB drugs (INH) for an average of one year (15-29 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day).
8. Give homemade salt and water solution for diarrhea.
9. Watch for other complications like frequent convulsions, vomiting, and watery to yellowish discharge from the ears. Clean ears with hydrogen peroxide.
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