Question of the Week

How does one gets to know the symptoms of measles?

The initial symptoms of measles appear around 10 days after you get the measles infection and generally last for up to 14 days. The measles rash usually appears a few days afterwards. The initial symptoms of measles include: cold-like symptoms, such as runny nose, watery eyes, swollen eyelids and sneezing; red eyes and sensitivity to light; a mild to severe temperature which may peak at over 40.6C (105F) for several days, then fall but go up again when the rash appears; tiny greyish-white spots (called Koplik's spots) in the mouth and throat; tiredness, irritability and general lack of energy; aches and pains; poor appetite; dry cough; and red-brown spotty rash.

The measles rash appears two to four days after initial symptoms and lasts for up to eight days. The spots usually start behind the ears, spread around the head and neck, then spread to the legs and the rest of the body. The spots are initially small but quickly get bigger and often join together. Similar-looking rashes may be mistaken for measles, but measles has a range of other symptoms too.