Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
It's Back - the Measles!
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925 It's Back - the Measles!
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr David Niesel.
And I’m Dr. Norbert Herzog.
For over two decades, measles had been eliminated in the US. Now conspiracy theories and misinformation are causing a comeback.
Part of why this is such a big problem is that measles is among the most contagious viruses known. If an infected child walks into a classroom with ten unvaccinated kids, nine of them will get it.
Measles infects the respiratory tract and is spread by coughs, sneezes, and even breathing! It spreads through the body causing fevers, a runny nose, coughs, pink eye, tiny white spots in the mouth and a rash that starts in the face and spreads through the body.
Complications include blindness, encephalitis which is a brain infection that can cause brain damage and death, severe diarrhea, ear infections and deafness, and severe breathing problems.
There’s no cure, but there is a very safe and effective vaccine called the MMR for Measles, Mumps and Rubella and the MMRV vaccine that also protects against chickenpox.
One dose is ninety three percent effective and ninety seven percent after a second dose. The MMR vaccine and other vaccines cannot cause autism.
Before the vaccine, measles outbreaks occurred every two to three years killing over two and a half million people a year. To prevent an epidemic, ninety five percent of the community needs to be vaccinated.
But parts of the US have fallen below that. In twenty-nineteen, nearly thirteen hundred people in thirty-one states were infected. We can choose not to move backwards. Get vaccinated.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
