Measles (Rubeola) [2025]

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Measles Clinical Diagnosis Fact Sheet
• Corporate Authors:
  National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Division of Viral Diseases ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Description:
  Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that causes febrile rash illness. Measles has been eliminated (no sustained circulation) in the United States for decades. However, there can still be measles cases, as it is easily imported by unvaccinated travelers and can spread in under-immunized communities.
  
  Disease Course: The incubation period is typically 11–12 days from exposure to measles virus until the first symptoms appear (prodromal symptoms). A rash follows the prodromal symptoms 2–4 days later and usually lasts 5–6 days. Measles is infectious 4 days before and 4 days after rash onset.
  
  Symptoms: Prodromal: Fever, cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis. Koplik spots (tiny white spots inside the mouth) may also appear 2–3 days after symptoms first appear. Rash: A maculopapular rash (rash of both flat and raised skin lesions) begins on the head and face and then spreads downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet. The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the body. Fever may spike to more than 104° F when rash appears.
  
  Complications: Most common complications: Diarrhea and otitis media. Most severe complications: Pneumonia, encephalitis, and death. Patients may require hospitalization. Children younger than 5, adults older than 20, pregnant women, and immunocompromised persons are at most risk of serious complications.
  
  
• Content Notes:
  Publication date estimated from document properties or from webpage description.
• Subjects:
  Case Reports Contact Tracing Data Collection Disease Hotspot Disease Outbreaks Information Storage And Retrieval Isolation Laboratories Measles Measles Vaccine Measles Virus Quarantine Signs And Symptoms Vaccination Vaccines

  More +
• Series:
  Be Ready for Measles Toolkit   ; Be Ready for Measles  
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Fact Sheet
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• CIO:
  National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)
• Division:
  DVD - Division of Viral Diseases
• Topic:
  Diseases & Conditions
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1 pdf page
• Collection(s):
  Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e1eedc08c9dd8602d0acc0537783002def8d6ef8a4bd964dd64a843807c184cf35d4fee02f908c1a3a869f3315527a824d441657072c36dabf572213076a4d7e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/257190/cdc_257190_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 455.06 KB ]