Measles is even more dangerous than previously known.
The virus doesn’t just cause disease, it seriously damages the immune system so that the body becomes more vulnerable to all kinds of other infections.
This is the conclusion of two groups of researchers at Harvard University in the United States and the Wellcome Sanger Institute in England .
Destroys the memory of the immune system
Blood from 83 children was studied using samples taken before and after a measles outbreak in 2013.
78 of the children had the measles, but only five escaped.
The English scientists looked at the content of white blood cells, so-called B-cells that produce antibodies against viruses and bacteria.
The antibodies enable the immune system to recognize and then kill these microbes.
The results showed a large decrease in the number of B cells after measles infection.
The Harvard researchers went a step further and looked for antibodies in the blood samples.
Scientists: Vaccinate your children
It turned out that the measles had removed a large part of the antibodies against other microbes.
On average, the children lost 20% of the antibodies, and some up to 72%.
The measles virus had thus destroyed a large part of the memory of the immune system. No decrease in antibodies was observed in the children who did not get the measles.
The researchers say the results reinforce the importance of children being vaccinated against measles.
