Measles virus’ transmissibility more severe than Covid, says expert

The measles outbreak has not shown signs of slowing yet, a doctor warns, urging parents to vaccinate children and unvaccinated adults to get the jab.

Last month, the Gauteng provincial government launched a mass vaccination programme to immunise people against the disease.

Between October last year and early February, just over 14% of measles tests were positive, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

‘Highly contagious’

Measles is airborne and highly contagious. The virus’ transmissibility is several times more severe than Covid, Dr Jonathan Redelinghuys of Medicare24 said.

He added: “You could be anywhere public and an infected and contagious person can be close by. Chances are you’ll become infected if you have no immunity against measles.”

Measles typically spreads amongst children, though. “Statistically we look at how diseases spread and what the likelihood is of one person spreading it to many people.

This value of measles is one of the highest and second only to a few upper respiratory tract infections. “It is one of the highest transmissible pathogens. So, the chances of one person spreading it to many others is very high,” Redelinghuys said.

Measles can be deadly

He appealed to parents to vaccinate their children against the disease. Measles can be deadly with complications like encephalitis, where brain tissue becomes infected, and severe lung infections.

Sometimes, patients do not recover from this, with long-term consequences. In other instances, patients are at risk of death.”

People with compromised immune systems and young children are particularly at risk. Redelinghuys allayed fears that the outbreak might blow up into pandemic status.

He said that South Africa’s vaccination coverage is very good but that sporadic outbreaks do occur from time to time.

The fact that most South Africans adhere to immunisation regimes, he said, will prevent measles from becoming a fully blown pandemic.

Outbreaks are a consequence of unvaccinated segments of the population placing other unvaccinated people at risk.

READ MORE: Measles cases soar 400 percent in Africa this year

Inadequate use of vaccine

“One of the main reasons for measles outbreaks is inadequate use of vaccination. For whatever reason, people are choosing not to vaccinate or people have delayed vaccination. Consequently, we are seeing a reduced immunity to the measles virus and, therefore, a greater spread of it,” Redelinghuys said.

The initial phase of measles is around three to five days, said Redelinghuys. Typical symptoms could be fatigue and malaise, a general feeling of discomfort.

This later develops into a dry cough, conjunctivitis or a redness of the eyes and upper respiratory tract infection. “We can develop a very typical rash, which often starts as spots on the inside of the mouth and that then spreads over to the rest of the body.”

Treatment

Because measles is a viral infection, said Redelinghuys, only symptoms can be treated, and it is up to an individual’s own immune system to battle the disease.

“We rely on our own immune systems to mount an antibody response to clear the virus.” Treatment normally aims to relieve painful symptoms and complications should they arise.

Treatment with vitamin A during the diseased period has also shown efficacy against further complications.

ALSO READ: Measles outbreak: Cases on the rise in Limpopo

– news@citizen.co.za