What Type of Pathogen Is the Measles?
Measles is caused by the measles virus known as paramyxovirus and is spread by droplet transmission through the nose, mouth and throat of affected individuals to non-affected individuals, as reported by MedicineNet. There are vaccine shots available to help immunize people from measles, and those people who have received two doses of the vaccine shots will have a 98 percent chance of being immune to measles. Those who are not vaccinated or not immune to measles will have a 90 percent chance of contracting the disease.
Children who are less than 1 year of age and those who have not been vaccinated tend to be at high risk for measles. Children cannot receive vaccinations for measles until they have reached 12 to 15 months of age since the currently used vaccine is a live attenuated vaccine.
Those who are infected will be highly contagious for approximately 4 days before the rash appears and for 4 days after the rash appears. The virus can also remain airborne for up to 2 hours even after the infected person has left the room.
Cases pertaining to measles date as far back as the 7th century. The first vaccine that was developed to combat measles was in 1963. Through time, a lot of advancements have happened in the field, and the live attenuated vaccine used currently has been known to be extremely effective.
