Measles

Last week Tim and I were called to see a Mom and daughter who were admitted with measles.  After having seen a variety of rashes called measles the last year, I was skeptical that we were actually headed to see actual measles.  A younger child at home had a rash a few days earlier then Roseline developed fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes followed by a rash.  Mom developed fever 2 days later and both were very sick with high fevers.  The nurse was right, they had the measles, something I had seen at home only one time in my 30 years of practice.  They do vaccinate children here for measles but the percent of children getting vaccinated here is not high.

Roseline ready for home

 Roseline recovered quickly while here mother was finally free of fever today.  A 8 month old sibling also developed a full blown case of measles.  Since he was already sleeping in mom's bed we treated him as an outpatient and he too was much better today.  I would have preferred to keep Evelyn in the hospital one more day but the family opted to go home today.  Dad promised to pick up the workload and let mom rest until she felt better but I suspect she will take up the household tasks immediately.