Measles - an old children's disease to remember

Abstract

Measles is a serious, highly contagious viral disease. The measles virus is a single-stranded, RNA virus of the genus Morbillivirus within the family Paramyxoviridae, transmitted by air, through droplets of aerosols or by direct contact with respiratory secretions of infected individuals. The infection is acquired through the mucosa of respiratory tract or conjunctiva. In 2005, the World Health Organization established that measles eradication in the European Region should be achieved by 2010, but despite the measures adopted by the various countries, measles re-emerged, with 10271 cases reported only in 2013 in 30 states of European Union, with more than 91% of them in Germany, Italy, Netherland and United Kingdom. In the beginning of 2017, Portugal was threatened with a measles outbreak, reporting in the first five months of the year 31 confirmed cases, 20 (65%) of them in adults (18 or older), of which 45% (13) were in health professionals. Because this measles outbreak had so many cases in adults, the authors decided to make a brief review, trying to remember an old infection, not so well known by younger doctors, and that can be overlooked in the approach of the adult patients. The authors also point out that measles virus could virtually be eradicated as there is an effective vaccine and there is no reservoir in nature for the virus other than humans.