Measles: what you need to know about the disease

Friday, April 19, 2013 - 09:32 in Health & Medicine

Measles is highly infectious, very unpleasant for the patient and can cause permanent damage – especially to adultsHow easy is measles to catch?Measles is a highly infectious disease, caused by a virus that spreads from one person to another in water droplets from coughs and sneezes. But it can also be picked up from touching a surface where droplets carrying the virus have landed and then taking the hands to the mouth. So if one person in a household has the virus, it is very likely to spread to everybody else living there, and their visitors. You won't know you have it for nearly two weeks after contracting the virus, however.What are the symptoms?A child with measles will initially feel generally unwell, as if he or she has a bad cold. They might develop red eyes, which are sensitive to light. They will probably run a temperature. There may be...

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