Measles Rubella

Measles rubella

        It is a highly epidemic contagious disease caused by a virus characterized by fever, cough, coryza (significant secretion occurring during a head cold), inflammation of the conjunctiva, a rash inside the mouth, called Koplik spots and the appearance of a characteristic red color rash . This infectious disease of childhood is almost always the cause of epidemics (like chickenpox). Measles has the distinction of being deadly in some countries when the affected population is malnourished. The contagion stops where there is a scaling (fall of tiny bits of skin) hardly noticeable.

        It is found exclusively in humans and is spreads most often directly, mainly by spraying tiny droplets of secretions from the nose, throat, eyes (conjunctiva) and the mouth. This transmission is for example when sneezing or coughing of an affected individual. The infectious period (propagation, transmission) starts 2 to 4 days before rash onset (during the incubation period, which corresponds to the installation of the virus in the body) and then continues until to 2 to 5 days after the start. This means that the disease may be transmitted for about 10 days. There are cases of so-called indirect transmission through objects or persons themselves, but this is rare.