Symptoms of Measles

Symptoms of Measles

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Measles includes the 18 symptoms listed below:

• Cold-like symptoms
• Cough
• Runny nose
• Sneezing
• Conjunctivitis
• Red eyes
• Watering eyes
• High fever
• Red spots in mouth
• Red spots inside cheeks
• Koplik spots - small spots in the mouth
• Mouth spots with white center and red ring
• Skin rash
• Skin rash beginning near ears and neck
• Skin rash spreading rapidly
• High temperature
• Hacking cough
• Light sensitivity
• more information...»

Research symptoms & diagnosis of Measles:

• Overview -- Measles
• Complications -- Measles
• Doctors & Specialists
• Misdiagnosis and Alternative Diagnoses
• Hidden Causes of Measles
• Other Causes -- causes of these or similar symptoms

Measles: Complications

Review medical complications possibly associated with Measles:

• Brain damage - about 1 in 2000 cases of measles
• Earache
• Breathing difficulty
• Very high fever
• more complications...»

Research More About Measles

Do I have Measles?

• Measles: Introduction
• Alternative diagnoses and misdiagnosis for Measles
• How serious is it?
• Treatments for Measles
• More about Measles

Wrongly Diagnosed with Measles?

The list of other diseases or medical conditions that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses for Measles includes:

• Rubella
• Erythema infectiosum
• Exanthem subitum
• Primary HIV
• Infectious mononucleosis
• more diagnoses...»

See the full list of 14 alternative diagnoses for Measles

More about symptoms of Measles:

More information about symptoms of Measles and related conditions:

• Other diseases with similar symptoms and common misdiagnoses
• Symptoms that may be caused by complications of Measles
• Underlying causes of Measles
• Risk factors for Measles

Other Possible Causes of these Symptoms

Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions, or drug side effect causes of that symptom.

• Cold-like symptoms - see all causes of Cold-like symptoms
• Conjunctivitis - see all causes of Conjunctivitis
• Cough - see all causes of Cough
• Hacking cough - see all causes of Dry cough
• High fever - see all causes of High fever
• High temperature - see all causes of Fever
• Light sensitivity - see all causes of Photophobia
• Red eyes - see all causes of Red eye
• Red spots in mouth - see all causes of Mouth redness
• Red spots inside cheeks - see all causes of Mouth redness
• Runny nose - see all causes of Runny nose
• Skin rash - see all causes of Rash
• Skin rash beginning near ears and neck - see all causes of Facial rash
• Skin rash spreading rapidly - see all causes of Rash
• Sneezing - see all causes of Sneezing
• Watering eyes - see all causes of Watering eyes

Medical Books Online about Measles

Medical Books Excerpts Excerpts of published medical book chapters related to Measles are available from published medical books for more detailed information about Measles.

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

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Symptoms of Measles: Online Medical Books

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about the symptoms of Measles.

Rubeola: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Incubation is from 8 to 14 days. Initial symptoms begin and greatest communicability occurs during the prodromal phase, about 11 days after exposure to the virus. This phase lasts from 4 to 5 days; signs and symptoms include fever, photophobia, malaise, anorexia, conjunctivitis, coryza, hoarseness, and hacking cough.

At the end of the prodrome, Koplik's spots, the hallmark of the disease, appear. These spots look like tiny, bluish white specks surrounded by a red halo. They appear on the oral mucosa opposite the molars and occasionally bleed. About 5 days after Koplik's spots appear, temperature rises sharply, spots slough off, and a slightly pruritic rash appears. This characteristic rash starts as faint macules behind the ears and on the neck and cheeks. The macules become papular and erythematous, rapidly spreading over the entire face, neck, eyelids, arms, chest, back, abdomen, and thighs. When the rash reaches the feet (2 to 3 days later), it begins to fade in the same sequence that it appeared, leaving a brownish discoloration that disappears in 7 to 10 days. (See Incubation and duration of common rash-producing infections, page 232.)

The disease climax occurs 2 to 3 days after the rash appears and is marked by a fever of 103° to 105° F (39.4° to 40.6° C), severe cough, puffy red eyes, and rhinorrhea. About 5 days after the rash appears, other symptoms disappear and communicability ends. Symptoms are usually mild in patients with partial immunity (conferred by administration of gamma globulin) or infants with transplacental antibodies. More severe symptoms and complications are more likely to develop in young infants, adolescents, adults, and patients who are immunocompromised than in young children.

Atypical measles may appear in patients who received the killed measles vaccine. These patients are acutely ill with a fever and maculopapular rash that's most obvious in the arms and legs or with pulmonary involvement and no skin lesions.

Severe infection may lead to secondary bacterial infection and to autoimmune reaction or organ invasion by the virus, resulting in otitis media, pneumonia, and encephalitis. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a rare and invariably fatal complication, may develop several years after measles but it's less common in patients who have received the measles vaccine.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005

Rubeola: Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)

Incubation is from 10 to 14 days.

Prodromal phase

Initial symptoms begin and greatest communicability occurs during a prodromal phase beginning about 11 days after exposure to the virus. This phase lasts from 4 to 5 days; signs and symptoms include fever, photophobia, malaise, anorexia, conjunctivitis, coryza, hoarseness, and hacking cough.

At the end of the prodrome, Koplik’s spots, the hallmark of the disease, appear. These spots look like tiny, bluish gray specks surrounded by a red halo. They appear on the oral mucosa opposite the molars and occasionally bleed.

Progressive symptoms

About 5 days after Koplik’s spots appear, temperature rises sharply, spots slough off, and a slightly pruritic rash appears. This characteristic rash starts as faint macules behind the ears and on the neck and cheeks.

These macules become papular and erythematous, rapidly spreading over the entire face, neck, eyelids, arms, chest, back, abdomen, and thighs. When the rash reaches the feet (2 to 3 days later), it begins to fade in the same sequence it appeared, leaving a brownish discoloration that disappears in 7 to 10 days.

The disease climax occurs 2 to 3 days after the rash appears and is marked by a temperature of 103° to 105° F (39.4° to 40.6° C), severe cough, rhinorrhea, and puffy, red eyes. About 5 days after the rash appears, other symptoms disappear and communicability ends.

Symptoms are usually mild in patients with partial immunity (conferred by administration of gamma globulin) or infants with transplacental antibodies. More severe symptoms and complications are more likely to develop in young infants, adolescents, adults, and immunocompromised patients than in young children.

Atypical measles may appear in patients who received the killed measles vaccine. These patients are acutely ill with a fever and a maculopapular rash that’s most obvious in the arms and legs, or with pulmonary involvement and no skin lesions.

Complications

Severe infection may lead to secondary bacterial infection and to autoimmune reaction or organ invasion by the virus, resulting in otitis media, pneumonia, or encephalitis. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a rare and invariably fatal complication, may develop several years after measles. SSPE is less common in patients who have received the measles vaccine.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003

Measles (Rubeola, First Disease): Measles - signs & symptoms
(The 5-Minute Pediatric Consult)

• The disease involves fever, cough, conjunctivitis, or coryza with an erythematous rash, which has a characteristic progression.
  • The rash appears on the face (often the nape of the neck, initially) and abdomen 14 days after exposure. The rash is erythematous and maculopapular and spreads from the head to the feet often becoming confluent at the more proximal sites.
• Pharyngitis, cervical lymphadenopathy, and splenomegaly may accompany the rash.
• Atypical measles:
  • This group of young adults (2nd and 3rd decades of life) may become quite ill, with sudden onset of fever from 103–105°F associated with headache. The rash, unlike typical measles, appears 1st on the distal extremities and progresses in a cephalad direction.
  • Virtually all patients with atypical measles have respiratory distress with clinical and radiographic signs of pneumonia, often with pleural effusions.
  • Diagnosis depends on recognition and on acute and convalescent measles antibody titers.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: The 5-Minute Pediatric Consult, 2008

Measles as a Cause of Symptoms or Medical Conditions

When considering symptoms of Measles, it is also important to consider Measles as a possible cause of other medical conditions. The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that Measles may cause:

• Abnormal sputum
• Atypical pneumonia
• Bronchiectasis
• Conjunctivitis
• Dacryoadenitis
• Koplik spots
• Lymphadenopathy
• Maculopapular rash
• Meningoencephalitis
• Paroxysmal cold haemoglobinuria
• Pyrexia
• Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis
• Suppurative otitis media
• Thrombocytopenia
• Tracheolaryngobronchitis
• Upper respiratory tract infection
• VDRL positive

Measles: Onset and Incubation

Incubation period for Measles: 10-15 days

Medical articles and books on symptoms:

These general reference articles may be of interest in relation to medical signs and symptoms of disease in general:

• Research Alternative Diagnoses for Measles
• How serious is Measles?
• More about Measles
• Online Diagnosis
• Self Diagnosis Pitfalls
• Pitfalls of Online Diagnosis
• Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
• Lesser known silent killer diseases
• Books on signs and symptoms

Full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis

About signs and symptoms of Measles:

The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of Measles. This signs and symptoms information for Measles has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of Measles signs or Measles symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Measles may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they are indeed Measles symptoms.