The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Auqiist. 1927 The Health Bulletin 13
It is said to be useful in terminating
epidemics in institutions such as orphanages;
and also in protecting,
when used, very young children in
cases where an attack is especially
feared. The use of this serum is said
to protect about four out of five
children to whom it is given. Such
immunity however is short, only lasting
from four to six weeks.
Cause Unknown
The infectious agent, that is the
germ causing measles, is as yet unknown.
It is known however very
definitely that it is one of the respiratory
infections. It is contracted
through direct personal contact or
direct contact with fresh nasal or
throat discharges from a measles
patient. The infectious agent is
present in the blood of a patient as
well as in the secretions of nose and
throat, even before the rash appears.
The disease is most contagious during
the few days just preceding the
appearance of the rash. This is generally
three or four days. It is therefore
very important for susceptible
children to be kept away from all
people with a cough or respiratory
infection of any kind. The armies in
the late war found out that by wearing
suitable gas masks, the individual
soldiers could protect themselves from
the poison gas attacks of the enemy.
Without the protection afforded by
the mask the result was disastrous.
If all persons could be somehow protected
against all other persons who
have a respiratory infection it is possible
that all such diseases would
disappear.
Symptoms of
Measles
When a child is directly exposed to
the disease and is infected, an interval
of some ten days to two weeks
ensues, known as a period of incubation,
before symptoms occur. In the
ordinarily severe cases the child
sneezes, coughs, has a running nose,
watery eyes. There is some rise of
temperature. The child complains of
aching, feels a chilly sensation and
has headache. After a day of such
symptoms, as noted with regularity
in the Raleigh epidemic of May and
June, the temperature drops, the
child apparently feels much better,
and the parents if not careful may
think there is no measles and it is
all over. But in about twenty-four
hours or more the symptoms return
or rather reappear with increasing
severity. Very soon the rash begins
to appear behind the ears first, then
quickly spreading to the face and all
over the body. The temperature goes
up again and the child is sure enough
sick. The eruption has a kind of flea
bite appearance, small red spots running
together in groups and being
especially prominent on the face. The
skin all over the body is discolored
and marked by the fantastic figures
of the eruption. The rash begins to
fade after two or three days during
which time the patient is annoyed
with intense itching.
The above brief description applies
to the ordinary or average type of
measles. The disease may be very
mild and with little or even no rash
at all. On the other hand the disease
may be virulent or malignant,
ending in death.
In the beginning of an epidemic in
a community the disease may be mistaken
for smallpox, scarlet fever, for
some drug eruptions and before any
rash appears, for influenza.
Complications
Fortunate is the child who can recover
from an ordinary attack without
any complication following. The
chief complications following an attack
of measles are various ear infections
and disease of the mastoid,
broncho-pneumonia, and sometimes
tuberculosis. Sometimes there is earache,
but not always. The ear drums
may rupture and discharge take place
without pain. Therefoi'e it is wise
to have the ears examined by a physician
two or three times after an attack
of measles, and particularly if