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What is baby measles?
Measles is a viral disease. Very contagious, measles is spread by the propulsion of droplets of saliva from another baby or an infected adult. But it is an immunizing disease, which means that you cannot have it several times. The measles causes a feverish rash in baby. Ten days after having been in contact with the measles virus, the fever rises sharply, between 39 and 41 ° C, and is associated with symptoms that suggest a cold, the first characteristic signs of measles appear in the form of small white spots on the inside of the cheeks. After four or five days, they disappear and the body becomes covered with pink-red pimples. First located on the face and neck, the buttons will then cover the whole body of the baby. The rash will go away after six or seven days and the fever will go down at the same time. Baby’s fatigue will persist for ten days.
Measles sometimes causes respiratory, neurological, digestive or ocular complications. Baby may thus have secondary pulmonary or ENT infections, or even meningitis or encephalitis.
How to diagnose measles?
For public health reasons, the diagnosis of measles should be made as early as possible. In fact, given the extreme contagiousness of measles, you have to protect those around you! See the doctor if you have cold-like symptoms associated with a high fever. The doctor will ask you about the baby’s history and her vaccines. Looking in his mouth, he will see the small white spots, called Koplik’s spots characteristic of measles. And if the rash has already happened, there will be no doubt, baby has measles.
How to prevent measles in babies?
The only thing you can do to prevent your baby from getting measles is to vaccinate him. The vaccine is given by injection of the MMR, which prevents against measles, mumps and rubella. The first dose is given at 12 months, the second between 16 and 18 months. According to the recommendations of the new immunization schedule, all 24-month-old children should have received two doses of this trivalent vaccine.
MMR is one of the 11 compulsory vaccines for children born since January 1, 2018.
How to treat measles?
If the baby has not been vaccinated and is diagnosed with measles, his body will fight it off and he will heal over time. It is a viral infection, so treatment for measles is to relieve the symptoms. The doctor will prescribe medicine to lower the fever, relieve the cough and sore throat. If he judges that there is a risk of bacterial superinfection, he can prescribe antibiotics.