University of Santo Tomas

Faculty of Medicine and Surgery

Group Members:
Santos, Ruthlee
Sim, Michelle
Suderio, Gellina Ann
Tan, Dianne
 It is an infection of the respiratory system
caused by a virus, Morbillivirus from the
family Paramyxovirus.
 Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose,
red eyes and a generalized, maculopapular,
erythematous rash.
 spread through respiration
 highly contagious from four
days before and after onset of
rash
 average incubation period of
14 days
 lasts from 2–9 days
 Gains access to the body via the upper
respiratory tract or the conjunctiva.
 The virus quickly spreads to the immediate
lymph nodes, to the rest of the respiraory
system, to the skin, to the viscera and to the
bladder.
 Measles causes rash, cough, and fever, and
can lead to ear infection, pneumonia,
conjunctivitis, diarrhea, seizures, brain
damage, and death.
 A rash appears approximately
three days after the initial
symptoms of abrupt cough, runny
nose, and inflamed conjunctivae.
 The disease usually runs its course
in about two weeks, assuming
there are no complications.
 The measles virus kills cell by
fusing together the cell
membranes of neighboring cells.
 Surface glycoprotein with hemagglutinin-
neuraminidase activity
 adsorption of virus to host cells
 Main neutralizing antigen
 Fusion glycoprotein
 mediates fusion of lipid membranes required for
penetration of viral nucleocapsid into the host cell
 Mediate fusion of infected cells together to form
syncytium (multinucleated giant cell)
 Membrane-associated or matrix protein
 involved in nucleocapsid alignment in the
assembly of virus prior to budding most abundant
protein in the virion
An electrical micrograph of the measles virus

• Rubrivirus genus
• Togavirus family
– NOT arthropod-borne
• Acquired via respiratory route
• Enveloped, non-
segmented RNA
virus
• replicates in the
cytoplasm
• Nucleocapsid is
icosahedral in
symmetry
 Replication
 attach to the cell surface via specific
receptors
 fusion of the viral envelope with the
endosomal membrane
 capsid reaches the cytosol

 All primary measles virus infections

give rise to the disease, however the
result is lifelong immunity.
 Incubation period: 10-12

 Period of Communicability: four days prior to

the rash and four days after the rash. Patients
with SSPE are not contagious.

 Duration of immunity after an infection:

lifelong
 Specific: none
 Non- specific:
 Supportive measures
 Careful observations so that complications can be
readily detected and immediately treated
 Antibiotics will not prevent bacterial
complications; hence these must be used only
when complications set in.
 Never give corticosteroids unless needed