Eleven children from the same school were infected with measles. Very contagious, the disease can cause serious complications.
- Eleven students at a college in Ardèche were infected with measles.
- The disease is very contagious: one infected person can infect up to 20 people.
- Vaccination is the best protection against the virus.
Measles is making a comeback in France. At the Charles de Gaulle college in Guilherand-Granges in Ardèche, eleven cases were recorded by theRegional health agency. The latter specifies that a child was hospitalized for a few days. The first case was reported on September 19: Tuesday September 25, the ARS recorded ten more.
Measles in Ardèche: a high risk of transmission
In a communicatedthe body calls for vigilance and “invites parents to check the vaccination status of their children and their own vaccination if they were born after 1980″. “This disease is very contagious; in the absence of preventive measures, one patient can infect up to 20 people., warns the ARS Rhône-Alpes. To limit the risks of transmission, a contact tracing system has been put in place: the objective is to identify people at risk of contamination in the entourage of sick people. These are individuals who are not vaccinated or not protected by previous contamination, and vulnerable people. In these different cases, the ARS invites them to “be vaccinated if their vaccination is not up to date or possibly benefit from protective treatment for vulnerable people in the patient’s close entourage”.
Eleven cases of measles in Ardèche: what are the signs of the disease?
She recommends that anyone with suggestive symptoms wear a mask when going to a medical consultation or pharmacy, because the disease is transmitted through respiratory secretions. “The incubation of measles (silent phase) lasts between 1 and 3 weeks before the first symptoms appear: generally high fever, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis, fatiguedevelops the ARS Rhône-Alpes. Classically, the appearance of pimples on the skin begins 2-3 days later on the ears and face and then quickly spreads down the entire body.
In 30% of cases, according toHealth Insurance, measles causes complications. They can be mild, such as ear infections, laryngitis or diarrhea. But some people are affected by more severe complications. Health Insurance cites in particular viral lung damage (viral pneumonia) sometimes followed by pneumonia, keratoconjunctivitis, rare in France, with serious damage to the eye and loss of vision, acute encephalitis, neurological complication which affects one in a thousand cases. Finally, measles can cause subacute sclerosing pan-encephalitis, “a slow degenerative disease of the central nervous system, linked to the persistence of the measles virus”develops Health Insurance.
Measles: vaccination is the best protection
“Today, there is no specific treatment for the measles virus and only very high vaccination coverage could allow the disease to disappear permanently.“, warns Ministry of Health. Vaccination is compulsory for all infants born on or after January 1, 2018. The first dose is administered at 12 months and the second between 16 and 18 months. The Ministry of Health considers that all people born after 1980 must have received two doses of the vaccine, otherwise, you must consult your doctor. For those born before 1980, it is likely that they have already been contaminated and are therefore protected.
