How do you know if you have measles and what to do if you do

First, take a deep breath. Do not panic. Chances are, almost everyone reading this article do not have measles. But you might want to know what to do if this statistical outlier is you (or your child).

Know the first most common symptoms

Measles is best known for its rashes of small red dots, but the rash does not manifest until you have had other symptoms for three to five days. The CDC lists the first common symptoms as follows:

• High fever (may reach more than 104 ° F)
• Cough
• Runny nose
• Red and watery eyes

Before the rash appears on the skin, small white spots called Koplik spots can sometimes be seen inside the mouth. (This is a helpful hint for doctors, but rashes due to looking for images in Google are probably not the best use of your time if you think you have measles.Call the doctor already.)

Symptoms usually take 7 to 14 days to appear. During this time, you may not know that you have been exposed, but you can start becoming contagious several days before you notice the symptoms.

The location is important

You must catch measles from somewhere. If you live in one of the regions affected by a measles outbreak, your doctor will be far more suspicious of fever and rashes than in an area hundreds of kilometers away from any known case.

If there are no cases of measles nearby, you may want to know if you have recently traveled to an area affected by an outbreak. Recent international travel may also put you at risk: the CDC is currently issuing travel advisories for measles in Israel, Ukraine, Japan, Brazil and the Philippines.

Call your doctor, but do not visit in person

The last thing any doctor wants in a waiting room is someone infected with the measles virus. It's so contagious that after leaving the room, there may be enough virus in the airborne droplets so that someone who enters the room two hours later can contract measles.

So, if you think you have measles, do not go, call. You do not have a primary care doctor? Call an emergency clinic or your favorite telemedicine provider – stay home until someone gives you further instructions.

What about the vaccine?

If you are up-to-date with measles vaccine, there is a 97% chance that you will be immunized (93% if you only have one dose, instead of the recommended one). This means that some vaccinated people will still be able to contract the disease.

But people who have not been vaccinated are almost at odds: 90% of unvaccinated people will catch the disease.

Unvaccinated persons include children who are too young to be vaccinated or who have failed to do so in time for any reason. They also include people with immune system problems who are unable to receive the shot safely. All of these people depend on the rest of the population to be vaccinated in order to stop the transmission of measles before it can reach them.

If there is a chance that you have been exposed to measles and have fever and rashes (or other characteristic symptoms), tell your doctor immediately and be ready to stay at home for a while. moment. Otherwise, you could infect others.