The danger of measles

Pediatrician Lawrence Ross, MD, explains what the dangers of measles are for children and stress the importance of having your child vaccinated if traveling to another country
The Danger Of Measles In Children
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The danger of measles

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Measles is a disease of the respiratory tract. Meaning that children will present with this terrible cough, that will keep everyone up at night, with red pus-like eyes, and pus-like drainage from their nose; what we call rhinorhea. But that's not the bad part of it. The bad part of it is, in addition to developing fever and a whole body rash, the virus can cause complications very frequently; whether it be pneumonia, ear infections, or even, brain injury. The reason that we are so aggressive in giving vaccine, is that we know that 500,000 children die from measles in the world. While we may not see it very much in the United States, our children are going to be exposed; potentially, when they travel to other countries. There have been outbreaks in very advanced countries, such as, Switzerland, Germany, and France. If we have unimmunized children, they are going to be exposed. I'd like to tell you about a recent experience we had in California. That is, we had a young infant, that was not immunized, who traveled with family to an Asian country where there is a lot of measles. She developed measles. She was very sick, and exposed an entire airplane full of people, as well as, many children, when she returned to this country.

Pediatrician Lawrence Ross, MD, explains what the dangers of measles are for children and stress the importance of having your child vaccinated if traveling to another country

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Lawrence Ross, MD

Pediatrician, Infectious Disease, Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Dr. Lawrence A. Ross is a pediatrician and expert in infectious diseases.  He has been a full-time member of the Division of Infectious Disease at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles since 1978 and has served as Hospital Infection Control Officer as well as the Chairperson of the Infection Control Committee for 20 years.  He is also a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.  Dr. Ross graduated from the University of Illinois and subsequently attended medical school at the Chicago Medical School in Chicago. He completed residency training in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, followed by fellowships in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California School of Medicine. From 1981-1985, Dr. Ross served as the coordinator of the intern and residency program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. His areas of interest have included epidemiology of nosocomial infections as well as clinical aspects of care for patients with immune compromising diseases including patients with HIV infection. 

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Transcription: 
Measles is a disease of the respiratory tract. Meaning that children will present with this terrible cough, that will keep everyone up at night, with red pus-like eyes, and pus-like drainage from their nose; what we call rhinorhea. But that's not the bad part of it. The bad part of it is, in addition to developing fever and a whole body rash, the virus can cause complications very frequently; whether it be pneumonia, ear infections, or even, brain injury. The reason that we are so aggressive in giving vaccine, is that we know that 500,000 children die from measles in the world. While we may not see it very much in the United States, our children are going to be exposed; potentially, when they travel to other countries. There have been outbreaks in very advanced countries, such as, Switzerland, Germany, and France. If we have unimmunized children, they are going to be exposed. I'd like to tell you about a recent experience we had in California. That is, we had a young infant, that was not immunized, who traveled with family to an Asian country where there is a lot of measles. She developed measles. She was very sick, and exposed an entire airplane full of people, as well as, many children, when she returned to this country.