Credit: Medical News Today
Measles are doing a lot more damage on the inside of a child as opposed to what people see happening on the outside.
Despite seeing a rash and developing a fever, cough, or painful eyes, the immune system is taking a huge hit as a result of the measles.
The immune system learns as much information as it can about the infections that it fights. When the infection returns, the immune system has a better plan of attack to fight the germs that are trying to reoffend. However, when an immune system comes into contact with the measles, the immune system’s memory gets wiped out.
Having a measles shot can have great effects on the immune system. It helps to prevent death from having the measles, but it also acts as a shield from other viruses that may try to attack the immune system.
When someone has contracted measles, it can quickly spread to those who are not immune to the virus. A simple sneeze or cough in the air is all it takes for someone to come into contact with the virus. Measles then attacks the immune system by targeting the facial area of the child. Once inside the cells, the virus makes copies of itself and spreads itself throughout the rest of the body. It mostly sets its target on infecting immune cells.
The measles target immune cells called memory B and T cells. These are the cells that retain the knowledge of prior viruses. Since measles were attacking these cells, it severely damaged their ability to remember previous viruses.
The immune system is resilient and will bounce back to recover its memories. It is not clear how long it will take to recover, but in that time that it is trying to recover, children’s immune system is susceptible to more viruses. The vaccine for measles can prevent any memory loss from every occurring in our immune system.
