MEASLES. 749 



Although measles is considered somewhat harm- Effect on 



Resistance. 



less on the whole, dangerous complications, such 

 as broncho-pneumonia and otitis media, are suffi- 

 ciently frequent. The development of tuberculosis 

 following measles, an event which is not uncom- 

 mon., shows that measles may greatly decrease gen- 

 eral resistance. 



The prophylaxis of measles is not different from Prophylaxis. 

 that of other exanthemata. The isolation should 

 continue for four weeks after the appearance of the 

 exanthem (Gotschlich). The sickroom should be 

 disinfected eventually. The view not uncommonly 

 encountered that measles is a good thing for a 

 child to have and be over with is in no way justifi- 

 able. The development of serious complications 

 can in no case be foreseen, and fatalities may occur 

 even in mild epidemics. 



Verv voung children, the rachitic and tubercu- suBcepti- 



* J bility and 



lous, and those in a poor state of nutrition should Recurrence. 

 be guarded against exposure, for in them measles 

 is often malignant. Infants are less susceptible 

 than older children. Measles occurs in adults more 

 frequently than scarlet fever. Kecurrences, on the 

 whole, are frequent, as many as four attacks hav- 

 ing been noted in an individual. Hence, the im- 

 munity caused by infection is not uniformly of a 

 permanent character. 



It is very probable that the inhabitants of a Racial 

 country in which measles is endemic gradually tion. 

 become immunized, with the result that the disease 

 prevails in a mild form. On the contrary, regions 

 in which measles has hitherto been unknown, or 

 has been absent for many decades, are susceptible 

 to visitations of great malignancy. Such epi- 



