It is very rare for people who have had measles to get measles again.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Measles can affect anyone, both children and adults. This disease is easily transmitted. But is it possible to get hit measles more than once?
A specialist in pediatrics, sub-specialist in child health, infections and tropical diseases at Pondok Indah-Pondok Indah Hospital, Prof. Dr. dr. Hinky Hindra Irawan Satari said, viruses have an immune effect on a person. If a person is infected with measles, the immunity acquired is generally lifelong.
“So it’s very rare for people who get measles to get measles again. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but it’s very unlikely,” he said recently.
He said that people who have had measles do not need to be vaccinated against measles because immunity is expected for life.
“However, it must be confirmed first that what the child suffers is really measles because the symptoms of measles are similar to those of other viral infections such as rosella, dengue fever and others,” he said.
He said, when it is certain that you have measles, then you can be sure, you don’t need to be vaccinated again. “But if in doubt, you may be given the measles vaccine,” he said
The Covid-19 virus can mutate several times. The question then is whether measles virus also can mutate? Prof Hinky said the measles virus was different.
“Indeed, every living creature is given the instinct to survive, namely by mutation. However, each virus has certain characteristics. Measles is not easy to mutate, it takes longer and is less frequent,” he said.
According to him, there has been no detection of mutations in measles. If there is a mutation in just one place, he continued, it will not change.
“The measles vaccine has a protective power. It’s not overcrowded. This vaccine still has sufficient protective power even though the measles virus does mutate, but it’s very rare, it hasn’t been reported differently from Covid-19,” he said. These mutations do not always cause more severe disease or are more contagious. It could also be a more sluggish mutation of the virus.
