Frequently Asked Questions

Measles is a highly-contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. It spreads easily through coughing and sneezing. Measles starts with a fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, and sore throat, and is followed by a rash that spreads all over the body. It spreads so easily that someone who is not protected through being immunized or having had measles in the past, can get it if they walk into a room where someone with the disease has been in the past couple of hours.

Measles is a very serious disease. About one out of 10 children with measles also gets an ear infection, which can result in hearing loss, and up to one out of 20 gets pneumonia. One or two out of 1,000 die from measles complications. Measles can also cause pregnant woman to give birth prematurely or have a low birth weight baby. Complications from measles are very common among children younger than five and adults older than 20.

Measles spreads so easily that anyone who is exposed to it and is not immune (for example, someone who has not been vaccinated) will probably get the disease.

Anyone who hasn’t been immunized or had measles in the past is at risk. Babies younger than 12 months are at risk because most are too young to have been vaccinated yet. Pregnant women, young kids, and people with weakened immune systems are at highest risk for complications from measles.

• 7 to 21 days after exposure: mild to moderate fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and sore throat.
• 2 to 4 days after symptoms begin: tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth.
• 3 to 5 days after symptoms begin: a red or reddish-brown raised rash that feels like sandpaper appears, usually beginning on the face. The rash rapidly spreads down the neck, upper arms, and chest. Later, it spreads over the back, abdomen, the rest of the arms, thighs, legs, and feet. When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Symptoms usually last seven to 10 days.

Call your doctor, nurse or clinic right away. Before you go to the provider’s office, call to tell them that you or your family member might have measles. This will allow them to take steps to avoid exposing other people. Try to stay away from other people until at least four days after the rash starts or a test proves it’s not measles.

The symptoms of measles generally appear about seven to 14 days after a person is infected.

Measles typically begins with:

• high fever,
• cough,
• runny nose (coryza), and
• red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)

Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth.

Three to five days after the start of symptoms, a red or reddish-brown rash appears. The rash usually begins on a person's face at the hairline and spreads downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet.

When the rash appears, a person's fever may spike to more than 104° F. After a few days, the fever subsides and the rash fades.