Health

How Measles Attacks an Unvaccinated Child

Published

11 months ago

April 5, 2025

How Measles Attacks an Unvaccinated Child

For a child who is not vaccinated against measles — one of the world’s most infectious viruses — no classroom, school bus or grocery store is safe. Nine out of 10 unvaccinated people exposed to an infected person will catch it, and once measles takes root, the virus can damage the lungs, kidneys and the brain.

With falling U.S. vaccination rates and outbreaks that have caused more than 580 cases and at least one death, health experts expect measles to infect hundreds or even thousands more across the nation. Here is how measles takes over the body.

Unlike viruses that require person-to-person contact, measles lingers in the air for up to two hours after the person carrying it has left the space.

Droplets are enlarged for illustration purposes.

A child can inhale virus-containing droplets in a room where another child — unknowingly infected with measles — has been studying or playing an hour earlier. The virus can enter her body through the lining of her nose or mouth, or when she’s rubbing her eyes.

During the subsequent 24 hours, the virus takes root by lodging in her nasopharynx cells in the upper part of the throat and starts spreading to her lungs.

Then, the virus takes over, multiplying inside the cells and building up an army for an attack.

Within a few days, the virus begins to spread to infect the nearby lymphoid tissues. About a week after the initial exposure, infected cells begin traveling to other organs throughout the body. (At this time, the immune system of a vaccinated child would recognize the virus and fight it off.)

Typically, during the replication and spread of the virus, the child does not feel sick. The average incubation period is about two weeks — though it can range from one to three. When the viral load has increased significantly, it moves to infect other cells of the lungs and eyes, making the child feel ill.

A couple of weeks after the unvaccinated child inhales the droplets, she starts feeling sick.

Children often first show signs of malaise and a fever, followed later by reddish, irritated eyes, a cough and a stuffy nose as the mucus membranes and nasal passages become inflamed.

Some children at this stage develop millimeter-wide, whitish-gray bumps on the inner lining of the cheeks, as far back as the molars. For some, the spots go undetected, or do not show up at all.

Then comes the characteristic feature: the breakout of a red rash, starting on the face and spreading down the neck, trunk, and extremities.

Many of these symptoms should resolve themselves. The rash can last up to a week, often fading along the same route it appeared. The cough can last for up to two weeks after the illness has resolved. But a fever lasting beyond the third or fourth day of the rash suggests that a complication could be developing — and that is where cases can become dangerous.

Even as the rash fades, the infection can spread to the lungs and other organs.

Children are typically brought to the hospital after having the body rash for several days. Most have low oxygen levels and are laboring to breathe and need support, said Dr. Summer Davies, who sees children at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, and has been treating measles cases there since the outbreak started in late January.

“A lot of families have kind of been surprised, like, ‘Oh, my child was fine, and then all of a sudden, they’re not,’ ” she said.

That mild disease evolves into a fever as high as 104 or 105 degrees for two, three or four days. Poor fluid intake, a sore throat and diarrhea can lead to dehydration, which over time can begin to threaten kidney function.

Young children are more at risk because of their smaller anatomy and their inability to articulate symptoms clearly, explained Dr. Lara Johnson, the chief medical officer of a group of Covenant hospitals in the area.

About one in 20 children with measles will develop pneumonia, an infection in the lungs; and severe cases can be fatal.

Dr. Davies said many children admitted to her hospital recently had cases of pneumonia caused by either the measles virus or by a second pathogen that attacked while their immune systems were weakened.

The 6-year-old girl who recently died of measles in Texas had a case of pneumonia that caused fluid to build up in her left lung, making it difficult for her to breathe, according to a video interview with her parents that was posted online. She was eventually sedated and intubated, but she became too sick to survive.

One of the hallmarks of measles is what researchers call “immune amnesia,” the temporary weakening of the immune system. Measles wipes the protection children have acquired from other infections, which leaves them susceptible to other infections for several months or even years.

Inflammation in the brain

About one in 1,000 children who contract measles will also develop encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain tissue, which can result in permanent damage.

For infants or children who are already immunocompromised, a condition called measles inclusion body encephalitis (or MIBE) occurs when the child cannot clear the infection. It can trigger mental changes and seizures, leading to a coma and death in most patients.

Another type, called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), is a degenerative condition that can occur up to a decade after a measles infection. Children often first show signs of behavior change and academic decline, followed by seizures, motor issues like poor coordination and balance, and eventually death. The mortality rate approaches 95 percent.

Erica Finkelstein-Parker, a mother in Pennsylvania who lost her 8-year-old child Emmalee to the condition, had not known that the girl had had measles before she had been adopted from India as a toddler. But she noticed one day that Emmalee was tripping and falling, slumping over to one side of her chair and struggling to lift her chin off her chest during dinner.

Doctors explained that there was no cure. Emmalee passed away about five months later.

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Health

Heart disease threat projected to climb sharply for key demographic

Published

1 hour ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Heart disease threat projected to climb sharply for key demographic

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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.

The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.

More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.

The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.

As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)

Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.

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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”

“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.

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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)

Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”

The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.

The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.

DOCTOR SHARES 3 SIMPLE CHANGES TO STAY HEALTHY AND INDEPENDENT AS YOU AGE

“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”

Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.

Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)

Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.

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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.

The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.

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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”

“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”

“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)

“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”

The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.

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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.

“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”

Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.

Health

Vanessa Williams, 62, Opens up About Weight Loss and HRT After Menopause

Published

13 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Vanessa Williams, 62, Opens up About Weight Loss and HRT After Menopause

Vanessa Williams Opens up About Weight Loss and HRT | Woman’s World

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Health

Common vision issue linked to type of lighting used in Americans’ homes

Published

13 hours ago

February 26, 2026

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Common vision issue linked to type of lighting used in Americans’ homes

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.

Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.

For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.

Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.

The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)

Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.

COMMON VISION ISSUE COULD LEAD TO MISSED CANCER WARNING, STUDY FINDS

“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.

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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”

High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)

The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.

In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.

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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.

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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.

Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)

“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.

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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”

The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.

Khloe Quill is a lifestyle production assistant with Fox News Digital. She and the lifestyle team cover a range of story topics including food and drink, travel, and health.