Nigerian Moms, Nkechi Onu And Okon Cecilia Recount How They Nearly Lost Their Kids To Killer Scourge Called Measles

Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), measles ranks top as the world greatest killer scourge of children globally.

Measles affects about 20 million people a year, primarily in the developing areas of Africa and Asia. While often regarded as a childhood illness, it can affect people of any age. It is one of the leading vaccine-preventable disease causes of death.

In 1980, 2.6 million people died of it, and in 1990, 545,000 died; by 2014, global vaccination programs had reduced the number of deaths from measles to 73,000. Despite these trends, rates of disease and deaths increased from 2017 to 2019 due to a decrease in immunization.

The risk of death among those infected is about 0.2% but may be up to 10% in people with malnutrition. Most of those who die from the infection are less than five years old.

Mrs. Nkechi Onu’s 7-year-old son, Samuel Onu was affected with measles recently. Sharing her bitter experience with Daily Sun, Mrs Onu said it all started with high fever.

At first, she thought it was malaria and typhoid, so she gave him malaria and typhoid drugs but it later turned out to be measles.

Onu added that her son was restless at night and won’t be able to sleep because of high temperature and itching. He would cry all through the night. She narrated further:

“When we got to the hospital, the Paediatrician gave him some drugs including analgesic, and told me that the sickness would take its course. I was also bathing him with warm water”.

Mrs. Onu confessed that she did not immunize her son when he was a baby and maybe that was why he got measles. In addition, she disclosed that as a baby, her son was always sick and each time she took him for immunization, they won’t be able to do that because his temperature was always high, and she was told that it could lead to his death if he was immunized while having high fever.

Another Nigerian mom, Mrs. Okon Cecilia almost broke down in tears while narrating how she would have lost her only child to measles. According to her, she started noticing that her 15-old-daughter was having severe fever and headache.

“I did not know what to do so I asked people around and they advised that I took her to the hospital, but I decided to give her analgesic thinking it was ordinary fever.

By the third day, the fever became intense that I had to rush her to the hospital. By the next day I noticed small dots on her hand, which started bringing out water. I continued with the analgesics and Calamine lotion to quench the itching.”

According to Mr Adetunji Adeoye, an official of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, no fewer than 246 children die of measles daily across the world, and Nigeria is alleged to be the fourth position in the ranking of measles infected countries in the world and third in Africa.

Mr Adeoye disclosed this while speaking at a flag off ceremony of Introduction of Second Dose Measles into the Regular Immunisation (RI) in Akure, the Ondo State capital recently. According to him, measles affects ears, brains and eyes of children and eventually kill them.

At that same event, the Ondo state Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro, stated that over 17,000 cases of measles occurred in Nigeria annually despite huge amount of money expended by government.

According to Dr. Nuchi Nnenna of Udi Hospital, Sokoto measles comes during dry season, humid period, and when you have people crowded in a place. He said that the symptoms include fever and catarrh that increases in intensity and can cause convulsion.

“If your child is not eating, talking, sleeping, or not sucking well, this would give you concern, because the immunity of the child will be affected.”

According to Dr. Nuchi, when a child is down with measles, he or she should be given pain reliever, Vitamin A, and anything that would stop the itching because measles comes with itching. With the consumption of Vitamin A, the eye of a child with measles will not be affected. Measles is a viral infection and should be treated properly.

Measles at a glance

Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days.

Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than 40 °C (104 °F), cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes. Small white spots known as Koplik’s spots may form inside the mouth two or three days after the start of symptoms. A red, flat rash which usually starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body typically begins three to five days after the start of symptoms.

Common complications include diarrhea (in 8% of cases), middle ear infection (7%), and pneumonia (6%). These occur in part due to measles-induced immunosuppression.

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Measles is an airborne disease which spreads easily through the coughs and sneezes of infected people. It may also be spread through direct contact with mouth or nasal secretions.

It is extremely contagious–nine out of ten people who are not immune and share living space with an infected person will be infected.

People are infectious to others from four days before to four days after the start of the rash. Most people do not get the disease more than once. Testing for the measles virus in suspected cases is important for public health efforts.

Complications of measles may include:

Ear infection, this is one of the most common complications of measles is a bacterial ear infection. It may cause Bronchitis, laryngitis or croup. Measles may lead to inflammation of your voice box (larynx) or inflammation of the inner walls that line the main air passageways of your lungs (bronchial tubes).

Pneumonia is a common complication of measles. People with compromised immune systems can develop an especially dangerous variety of pneumonia that is sometimes fatal. About 1 in 1,000 people with measles develops a complication called encephalitis. Encephalitis may occur right after measles, or it might not occur until months later.

If you are pregnant, you need to take special care to avoid measles because the disease can cause preterm labor, low birth weight and maternal death.

Treatment

Once a person has become infected, no specific treatment is available, although supportive care may improve outcomes.

Such care may include oral rehydration solution (slightly sweet and salty fluids), healthy food, and medications to control the fever. Antibiotics should be prescribed if secondary bacterial infections such as ear infections or pneumonia occur. Vitamin A supplementation is also recommended for children.