Microbiology and parasitology

• Measles (aka Rubeola, 10 day measles or red measles) is an acute highly infectious disease of children, characterized by cough, coryza, fever, and rash
• In 2018, there were more than 140,000 measles deaths globally, mostly among children under the age of five
• Measles vaccination resulted in a 73% drop in measles deaths between 2000 and 2018 worldwide
• About 86% of the world's children received one dose of measles vaccine by their first birthday through routine health services in 2018
• Measles vaccination prevented an estimated 23.2 million deaths during 2000-2018
• Measles is caused by an RNA virus from the Paramyxovirus family, genus Morbillivirus
• Measles is highly infectious during the prodromal period and at the time of eruption
• Measles affects children aged 6 months to 3 years, even up to 10 years
• Measles is equally incident in both sexes
• Measles immunity is lifelong
• Measles is most prominent in winter season and overcrowded areas
• Measles is transmitted through droplet infection
• Measles incubation period is 7 days
• Clinical features of measles include prodromal stage, eruptive stage, and post-measles stage
• Complications of measles include diarrhea, pneumonia, convulsions, otitis media, and SSPE (subacute sclerosing panencephalitis)
• No specific antiviral treatment exists for measles virus
• Measles vaccine is given as part of MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) at 12 months and preschool
• WHO strategy for control and prevention of measles includes catch up, keep up, and follow up
• German Measles (Rubella) is an acute, mild, exanthematous viral infection of children and adults, resembling mild measles, but with the potential to cause fetal infection and birth defects
• Rubella is caused by an RNA virus from the Togavirus family, Genus Rubivirus
• Rubella affects children aged 3-10 years
• Rubella immunity is lifelong
• Rubella is most prominent in winter and spring seasons
• Rubella is transmitted through droplet and vertical transmission
• Rubella incubation period is 2-3 weeks, average 18 days
• Symptoms of rubella include eye pain on lateral and upward eye movement, conjunctivitis, sore throat, headache, general body aches, low-grade fever, chills, anorexia, nausea, and tender lymphadenopathy
• Rubella fever is usually not higher than 38.5°C
• Rubella may cause enlarged posterior auricular and suboccipital lymph nodes
• Rubella can lead to fetal infection with different chances depending on the timing of contraction during pregnancy
• MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles, 78% effective against mumps, and 97% effective against rubella
• Chicken Pox & Shingles are caused by Varicella zoster virus (VZV) and present as two distinct diseases: chickenpox (varicella) and shingles (herpes zoster)
• Treatment for chickenpox and shingles includes aciclovir
• Mumps is an acute generalized viral infection of children and adolescents, causing swelling and tenderness of the salivary glands, and rarely epididymo-orchitis
• Mumps is caused by Myxovirus parotitis, an ssRNA virus
• Mumps affects children aged 5-15 years, with girls being more commonly affected
• Mumps immunity is lifelong
• Mumps is most prominent in winter and spring seasons
• Mumps is transmitted through droplets
• Mumps incubation period is 2 to 3 weeks
• Clinical features of mumps include parotid swelling, ovaritis, pancreatitis, earache, and orchitis