Many adults with measles have to be hospitalized

With a history of good health, 5 days ago, a 38-year-old man in Thanh Hoa had a continuous fever, sore throat, and upper respiratory tract infection. After the fever, he developed a rash on his face that spread to his entire body, accompanied by itching and discomfort. In the following days, he had a stomachache and had diarrhea 4-5 times a day. At the provincial hospital, he was diagnosed with rash fever, treatment did not improve, and he coughed a lot, so he was transferred to Bach Mai Hospital.

At the Tropical Disease Center, after examination, doctors discovered that this person had a rash syndrome suspected of measles, accompanied by inflammation of the upper respiratory tract. Examination of the throat revealed Koplik spots, which are white spots on the mucosa of the right cheek, in addition to signs of red eyes and swollen eyelids. The patient was tested and confirmed to be infected with the measles virus. After 5 days of intensive treatment here, the patient recovered and was discharged without complications.

A 37-year-old woman from Nam Dinh had a fever at home for 3 days, accompanied by a red rash that started on her face and neck and spread to her entire body, along with a sore throat, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and difficulty breathing. At the provincial hospital, she was diagnosed with rash fever/leukopenia, increased liver enzymes, and pneumonia. After antibiotic treatment, there was no improvement, so she was transferred to Bach Mai Hospital. Here, after testing, the patient was diagnosed with measles with pneumonia complications. Currently, after 3 days of treatment, the patient is out of danger.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Do Duy Cuong, Director of the Center for Tropical Diseases, Bach Mai Hospital, measles is an acute and dangerous infectious disease transmitted through the respiratory tract caused by a virus of the Paramyxoviridae family.

The weather in the North is changing seasons, so the center receives many adult patients with measles. The measles virus is easily transmitted through the air or droplets, susceptible subjects are children who have not been vaccinated, or adults when the amount of antibodies in the blood decreases.

Measles in adults and children can cause dangerous complications such as encephalitis, pneumonia, conjunctivitis, keratitis, secondary infections causing otitis media, enteritis and other infections that greatly affect health and even endanger life.

Many adults subjectively believe that measles only occurs in children, so they do not go to the doctor and get treatment. For pregnant women, measles has a negative impact on the mother's health and affects the fetus, especially in the first 3 months of pregnancy.