What parents should know about the long-term effects of the Measles Virus

The measles virus — formerly a hallmark of childhood — used to infect 3 to 4 million people in the United States each year. But after a vaccine was developed, the disease was nearly eliminated by the year 2000.

But now the disease has started to make a return in a population unfamiliar with the short- and long-term effects of a measles infection. While people may be familiar with the telltale rash and fever, many may not know that the disease can lead to long-term, or even lifelong, effects.

As more outbreaks of the disease have been reported in the United States, experts are concerned that complications from the disease could cause lasting problems for children.

The latest outbreaks

In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the United States. However, in recent years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted an uptick in measles cases.

In 2014, there were a reported 667 cases in 27 states. Worldwide cases of the disease have spiked. Despite costeffective vaccines being widely available, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported over 110,000 measles deaths globally in 2017, with the majority of the cases being children under 5.

From 2016 to 2017, the number of measles cases increased by 31 percent worldwide according to a CDC report.

In 2018, the New Jersey Department of Health has confirmed 18 cases from mid-October to late November. And as of December 5, the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has confirmed 39 cases of measles in Brooklyn — particularly in Orthodox Jewish communities — since Oct ober.

The initial child who contracted the illness was unvaccinated and acquired measles on a trip to Israel, where there have been almost 900 confirmed cases.

Last year, a measles outbreak in Minnesota infected 65 people, nearly all toddlers, and left 20 of them hospitalized.

Measles is one of the most highly contagious viruses on the planet. It can spread to others simply by coughing and sneezing. Once in the air, it can infect those who come into contact with it for up to two hours.

The CDC reports that measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90 percent of people close to that person who don’t have the immunization will become infected.

Risks of measles infection

The return of measles has frustrated many medical experts, both because it spreads easily among people who aren’t vaccinated and because it can cause dangerous shortand long-term consequences for young people.

For those infected, the more serious complications of measles include: blindness encephalitis, an infection that causes brain swelling extreme dehydration ear infections pneumonia

This means there aren’t only dangerous short-term symptoms, but a potential for long-term permanent damage from the infection.

“Acute encephalitis, which often results in permanent brain damage, occurs in approximately 1 of every 1000 cases of measles. In the post-elimination era, death predominantly resulting from neurologic and respiratory complications has occurred in 1 to 3 of every 1000 cases reported in the United States,” said Dr. Claudette Poole, assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Pediatric Infectious Disease.