Complications resulting from measles are more likely to develop in certain children, for example:
- children with a weakened immune system, such as those with leukaemia or AIDS,
- children with a poor diet, and
- children under the age of five.
Complications are also more likely to develop in adults who are over the age of 20.
Common complications
Some of the common complications of measles are:
- diarrhoea,
- vomiting,
- eye infection (conjunctivitis), and
- inflammation of the voicebox (laryngitis).
Inner ear infection and inflammation (otitis media), which often causes earache, may also be a complication of measles.
Fits that are caused by a fever (febrile convulsions) are also possible complications of measles. However, the fits, although alarming, are not usually dangerous.
Less common complications
Less common complications of measles are:
- meningitis,
- pneumonia (lung infection) - signs are fast, laboured breathing, chest pain and deteriorating condition,
- hepatitis (liver infection),
- encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) - this can be fatal, so watch for drowsiness, headache and vomiting,
- low platelet (white blood cell) count - known medically as thrombocytopenia, which affects the blood's ability to clot,
- bronchitis and croup (infection of the airways) - characterised by a hacking or barking cough, and
- squint, if the virus affects the nerves and muscles of the eye.
Rare complications
Rarely, measles can lead to the following conditions:
- Serious eye disorders, such as an infection of the optic nerve (the nerve that transmits information from the eye to the brain). This is known as optic neuritis and can lead to blindness.
- Heart and nervous system problems.
- A serious brain complication known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), which can sometimes occur several years after getting measles. Although the condition is fatal, it is very rare, occurring in only one in every 100,000 cases of measles.
