Ever heard of immune amnesia? Perhaps you haven't, but that's what basically happens when a person develops measles, and unfortunately it can last for around 2 to 3 years.
A group of researchers led by Michael Mina recently revealed in its paper published in Science that not only can measles suppress the immune system but it can also "train" the body to recognize the virus alone within the next few years. This doesn't mean that the body stops producing antibodies but that the white blood cells are meant to fight the measles virus alone. This can be a huge problem since the body won't have enough capacity to fight off other types of threats including those that can cause diarrhea and pneumonia.
To be able to come up with this conclusion, the researchers compared the incidence of measles and the rate of deaths associated with other illnesses. To narrow down the amount of data to work on, they focused on developed countries such as the United States, Denmark, and England where the number of measles cases is very low, thanks to strong campaigns on vaccines and better health care system.
What they found out was what they referred to as the "shadow effect"-that is, there's a direct proportion between the incidence of measles and deaths associated to other diseases. In other words, the more measles cases had been reported, the higher the death rate for non-measles diseases. This trend, moreover, continued for the next 28 months.
Meanwhile, the rate of vaccination is comparable to the low cases and deaths caused by other pathogens that can lead to bronchitis, pneumonia, and even sepsis.
The message of the group is simple but strong: measles is incredibly dangerous, but it can be prevented by getting children vaccinated. According to vaccines.gov, children should have 2 doses of MMR.
