Measles and Rubeola: Know difference in signs & symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

Amid an increase in the number of measles cases in India, a lot of misconceptions have been doing rounds. While some are confusing it with chickenpox and smallpox, some are also scared it is Rubeola. While measles and rubeola are very similar to each other, they do have minor differences. Know about them here:

Measles and Rubeola cause

Rubella is also known as German measles and the infection is caused by the rubella virus. Rubeola, on the other hand, is simply referred to as measles and is caused by the virus in the paramyxoviridae family.

How measles and Rubeola spread?

Being highly contagious airborne viruses, when one coughs or sneezes, these spread through tiny droplets in air. Also, if you're in close space with the patient and are breathing the same air, there is a high chance of you getting infected. Also, you can catch the disease if you touch the same surface as the infected individual.

Symptoms of measles/rubella

fever
rash
headache
cough
stuffy nose
pink eye and mild swelling
swollen lymph nodes

Symptoms of Rubeola

Fever
rash
running nose
cough
red and watery eyes
Koplik spots or tiny white spots seen in mouth

Measles prevention and treatment

The vaccine for measles is given to children between 12 and 15 months of age and later between 4 and 6 years of age as a combined measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. This vaccine also includes chickenpox vaccine -- MMCV. Taking these vaccines the person is immune for life.

However, in rare cases, if one gets affected, it is recommended that one takes proper rest and consumes ample amounts of liquids.

Measles outbreak in India

Amid the upsurge in measles cases across many states in India, the Centre on Wednesday told all states to administer one additional dose of measles and rubella control vaccine (MRCV) to all children, aged between 9 months to 5 years, in vulnerable areas.

"Recently, increased numbers of measles cases are being reported from certain districts of Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, and Maharashtra. A rapid rise in number of cases and some mortality due to measles has also been observed specifically in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and certain other districts of Maharashtra," Joint Secretary, Health, Dr P. Ashok Babu, said in the letter.

This dose would be in addition to the primary vaccination schedule of first dose at 9-12 months and second dose at 16-24 months, the letter said. One dose of MRCV is to be administered to all children aged 6 months and up to less than 9 months in those areas where the measles cases in the age group of less than 9 months are above 10 per cent of the total measles cases, to be identified by the state government/UT administration, the letter said.