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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Measles is a common childhood disease that now can be prevented with a vaccine. Signs and symptoms of measles include cough, runny nose, inflamed eyes, sore throat, fever and a red, blotchy skin rash.
Also called rubeola, measles can be serious and even fatal for small children. While death rates have been falling worldwide as more children receive the measles vaccine, the disease still kills several hundred thousand people a year, most under the age of 5.
By 2000, the measles vaccine had practically eliminated measles in the United States. But there has been a recent resurgence of the disease, as more people have chosen not to vaccinate their children.
- Measles: Q&A about disease and vaccine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/measles/faqs-dis-vac-risks.htm. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Brunell PA. Measles (rubeola virus infection). In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/127725136-3/820414473/1492/1315.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50395-5_16443. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Fact sheet: Measles. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/index.html. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Update: Measles-United States, January-July 2008. MMWR. 2008:57:893. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5733a1.htm. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Barinaga JL, et al. Clinical presentation and diagnosis of measles. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Facts about measles for adults. National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. http://www.nfid.org/pdf/factsheets/measlesadult.pdf. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Bekhor D, et al. Prevention and treatment of measles. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 25, 2009.
- Vaccine safety: Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/mmr_vaccine.htm. Accessed March 25, 2009.
- Rosenow EC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 9, 2009.
