Last Updated on Thursday, 27 May 2010 17:12

Causes of Measles

Measles is a viral infection. There are two kinds of measles virus. The rubeola virus causes ‘red measles’ also known as ‘hard measles’. The rubella virus causes ‘German measles’ also known as ‘three-day measles’.

Transmission of measles virus

Once inside your body, the virus grows in the cells that line your nose, throat and lungs. It is then infectious to anyone who is not vaccinated or hasn’t been previously infected. Since rubella and rubeola are different viruses, an infection with one of these viruses does not protect you against infection with the other.

The measles virus may get transmitted in the following ways:

• The infection is highly contagious from 4 days before the appearance of a typical measles rash to 4 days after.

• Coughing, sneezing and even talking can spread the infection through the droplets that are sprayed into the air. Other persons inhale the droplets and get infected.

• The infected droplets remain active and contagious for several hours even if they land on surfaces like the furniture in your house. So you can infect yourself by putting your fingers in your mouth or nose after touching the infected surface.

• If you contract measles during pregnancy, the virus may get transmitted to the foetus through the placenta and can be fatal.