Measles in adults

Measles – a well-known childhood disease? Before developing a vaccination, everyone would answer this question with “yes”. But over time, adults are increasingly affected.Ten years ago, the proportion of people over 20 years of age affected was 8.5%, today it is almost 40%.

This development, which is not only manifested in measles but also in pertussis, for example, is due to the vaccination. Since measles is highly contagious, no one who is not already immune was spared before the vaccination. In this case, this meant that one had already gone through the disease in childhood.

Therefore, the disease mainly affected children. Today the situation is different: the children are immunized by the vaccination and it is mainly the elderly who were not vaccinated as children who are affected and have so-called “vaccination gaps”. Although there is a recommendation for all adults born after 1970 to catch up on the vaccination, according to a study by the Federal Center for Health Education, a large part of this target group knows nothing about the recommendation.

The dangerous thing about this development is that it creates two new risk groups: Children under the age of two and adults over the age of 20. Furthermore, encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, is a dreaded complication. 10 to 20% end lethal or fatal and about one third suffer permanent damage.

A very rare but certainly fatal complication of measles infection is subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, which occurs about five to ten years after the disease. Since measles weakens the immune system, other bacteria also find it easier to settle in the affected person. These superinfections include inflammation of the gums, eye and middle ear.

However, these infections can be treated well with antibiotics.

For small children there is an increased risk of falling ill, because vaccinated mothers cannot transfer their immunity to their protégé, they no longer offer nest protection through the vaccination.
For a sick person over 20 years of age there is an increased risk – as for children under five years of age – that the risk of a measles complication is higher. These include bronchitis and pneumonia (pneumonia), which account for about a quarter of measles-related deaths in poorer countries.