5 MYTHS ABOUT MEASLES

Which is more contagious, measles or viral misinformation that infects our understanding of how to stay safe? It's hard to say, but here are facts you can rely on.

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1 MYTH: Measles isn't that serious.

MYTHBUSTER

Not true. “Measles can be very dangerous, even deadly, in healthy individuals,” says Patricia A. Stinchfield, N.P., immediate past president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, MD. About one in five unvaccinated people in the U.S. who gets measles is hospitalized, she adds, and one to three in 1,000 people with measles will die even with the best care. Unvaccinated kids, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems can develop serious complications. “One out of every 1,000 people with measles will develop brain swelling, which could lead to brain damage or other neurological problems like seizures, blindness, and deafness,” Stinchfield says, “and as many as one in 20 children with measles will get pneumonia.” This is why the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is crucial for kids. Talk to your health care provider if you don't know your vaccination status or if you were immunized between 1963 and 1967, when some measles vaccines were less effective.

2 MYTH: Antibiotics can treat measles.

MYTHBUSTER