Measles: A virus that causes immunity
Measles: A virus that causes immunity
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| Samoa and Uplu Island; Image Source: worldatlas.com |
But what is this epidemic? A citizen who returned to New Zealand three months ago entered here with a red blister. At that time there was a measles epidemic in New Zealand. Despite suspecting the same illness of the citizen, the public health officials did not take any further action.
By October 2, seven more people had been caught with measles. Outbreaks appear to be exacerbated during childhood and adolescence. Public gatherings, such as the distribution of prizes, are prohibited. However, this order is observed loosely.
At the beginning of November, the number of patients reached 618. On an island with a population of only 1,96,000, which indicates a disease rate of about 0.4%. This rate is of concern compared to the population for infectious diseases.
Fortunately, the government took electrical measures. The vaccine has been made mandatory. Red flags were hung in the homes of those who had not been vaccinated. Seeing that target, the health officials went from house to house and survived. A lockdown was issued to stop the infection. The people also observed it fairly properly this time. Roads are empty, international flights are canceled for now.
After a month and a half, the government lifted the state of emergency. As can be seen, a total of 5.6 people have been infected with measles. The disease affects only 6 percent of those under 15 years of age. Of these, 71 died.
The question may arise - measles is a preventable disease. Vaccination in childhood reduces the risk of measles. Then why is there an epidemic? This is because at the time, only 30% of the island's population had been vaccinated against measles. Even a year ago that rate was about 80-90 percent.
But why people were not vaccinated? Behind this was the fear of measles vaccine. In 2016, two children died after being vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR vaccine). This is due to the fact that the pre-vaccination procedure is not followed properly. Two nurses are facing trial on charges of manslaughter. The court sentenced them to imprisonment.
But the damage has already been done. People have unreasonable fears about vaccines. In this age of social media, various irrational theories have spread. As a result, the tendency to get measles vaccine in a hurry goes downhill. As a result, the virus imported from New Zealand became a fertile field.
But even after the end of the epidemic, another new threat remains. This is called immune amnesia or forgetfulness of the immune system. So far, it has only been reported in the case of measles virus, measles virus. Immune amnesia can be even more deadly than an epidemic.
Measles virus
The measles virus is the RNA virus responsible for measles. It is the first of its kind in contagious viruses. Measles can spread very quickly from one person to another through the air. It has the ability to float in the air for about two hours.
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| The hand of a child infected with measles; Image Source: choa.org |
Immune amnesia
Immune amnesia was discovered just nine years ago. Scientists have found that measles destroys certain blood cells in our body, known as memory cells. The main function of these blood cells is to detect when a germ enters our body, so that the immune system can be activated as soon as we see them a second time. As a result, they can be dismissed before they get sick.
Simply put, when measles strikes, our immune system forgets all the previous pathogens. A lot of it goes back to childhood. This oblivion lasts. Therefore, all the pathogens have to be identified anew.
The results of the study
Although this ability of measles was proved theoretically, research was needed. When the measles epidemic hit the Netherlands in 2013, scientists got the chance. A research team led by Michael Miner, an assistant professor of pathology at Harvard University, set to work.
The epidemic broke out in the Netherlands among Orthodox Protestants. They did not receive the vaccine from a religious point of view. Measles spread among about 2600 people. Blood was collected from them for treatment.
The Minar team chose three schools. They tested the blood of 6 children of these schools. None of them have been vaccinated against measles. Blood samples were taken before and after measles. Samples were also collected before and after vaccination of 33 vaccinated children for comparison.
After reviewing the data, the scientists found that in children who had not been vaccinated, the amount of various antibodies in their body decreased by about 70% after two months of recovery from measles. These antibodies were protecting them against various pathogens. Those who received the vaccine did not have any such problem. They found similar results in experiments on monkeys.
Another group of researchers conducted different experiments with the samples collected from the Minar team. They get evidence that measles plays a role in wiping out our memory cells. On 31 October 2019, Dudley's research was published in an article in the Journal of Science and Science Immunology. Based on this, Professor Mansoor Harefar of Western University of Canada said that measles puts our immune system in a very default mode. It goes away as if it had never been exposed to any germs.
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| Dr. Mansur Harefar; Image Source: haeryfarlab.com |
Until then, the World Health Organization has also been in turmoil. Because in the first six months of that year, they recorded the highest number of measles patients in the last thirteen years. As a result, there are fears that the measles virus may be re-emerging on a large scale. The Samoan epidemic confirms this fear.
How is this oblivion
As mentioned earlier, measles spreads in the air. The virus enters the human body through the airways. It then invades a type of cell called macrophages in the lungs. These cells carry mass to the lymph glands or lymph tissue. Here they come in contact with two types of blood cells.
Our white blood cells contain two types of cells called BRT lymphocytes (T-cells and B-cells). One type of T-lymphocyte is the memory cell, which basically acts as a data center. When a germ first enters the body, a memory cell is formed, which contains the memory of that germ. Once the same germs are found a second time, they can use the information previously stored to create electrical and more powerful resistance.
Antibody-producing cells are formed from B lymphocytes. These cells are formed when a virus or bacterial infection occurs in the body, whose antibodies work to kill foreign germs. If there is a memory cell against the germ, then these antibodies are produced faster and the quantity is also higher.
When measles attacks TRB cells, they also enter memory cells and antibody-producing cells in the body. As a result, to get rid of the virus from the body, these cells must be killed. Immunity does just that. Measles destroys all the cells in the body.
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| How Immune Amnesia Measles; Image Source: asm.org |
When the disease is cured under normal conditions, new memory cells and other cells are formed. The same thing happens with measles. But the difference is that the memory cell that is formed after recovering from measles contains only the memory of measles, the rest is erased.
This is a strange ability. According to Rick de Swart, an associate professor at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, the virus activates our immune system against itself, but also inactivates it against other pathogens. Scientists have dubbed it the 'Measles Paradox'.
How long does this oblivion last?
Immune amnesia persists. So our body has to start all over again from the beginning. After being born, our immune system matured due to various infections. You have to go through that process again. But how long can it take to create a new disease prevention information center?
Michael Mina has presented a model of statistics with researchers at Emory University in Atlanta. Analyzing data from the United States, the United Kingdom and Denmark, they found that the average duration of amnesia caused by measles is about 28 months. It can take a maximum of five years for immunity to return to normal. Based on this, scientists have expressed the opinion that it takes an average of 2-3 years for a new memory cell to form.
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Michael Mina tests for immune amnesia; Image Source: harvardmagazine.com |
Why important
Measles is one of the most contagious viruses. Despite the availability of vaccines, the number of new patients is increasing. According to the World Health Organization, the number of measles cases in the first four months of 2019 is 300 times higher than the same period last year. Many countries are under threat including Brazil, Philippines, Venezuela, Ukraine, our neighbor India. Some western countries, including France and Greece, have also been infected.
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| Migraine infections are on the rise worldwide; Image Source: statista.com |
It is true that measles has low lethality. However, according to researchers, the main threat to measles is not its pathogenesis, but immune amnesia. As a result, patients recovering from measles may later die of a very common disease. Scientists believe that immunosuppression is one of the leading causes of death in children before the measles vaccine is widely used. Many say it represents 50 percent of all deaths, excluding measles.
At present the world is going through a cowardly supermassive. Studies have shown that covid resistance breaks down when measles infects people who recover from covid and are vaccinated. Kovid's memory cells and antibodies are eliminated from the body. The hard immunity we are talking about will not work at all if there is an epidemic of measles along with covid.
The example of Samoa can be drawn. Kovid could not spread in the form of epidemic there after the government's electrical measures. But if that were the case, researchers estimate that the number of patients would increase by 7% and the number of deaths by 2%.
In today's world, many people are reluctant to get vaccinated due to various rumors against vaccines. The consequences can be devastating if measles is not vaccinated. Even if other vaccines are given, if measles is omitted, the immunity acquired by those vaccines will be lost. So we must be aware.
This is a English language article about immune amnesia, a unique phenomenon caused by measles virus. This article describes the process and impact of immune amnesia. Necessary references are hyperlinked and also mentioned below.
- Morales GB, Muñoz MA. Immune amnesia induced by measles and its effects on concurrent epidemics. J R Soc Interface. 2021 Jun;18(179).
- Guglielmi, G. (2019).Measles erases immune ‘memory’ for other diseases. Nature.
- Craig, A. T., Heywood, A. E., & Worth, H. (2020). Measles epidemic in Samoa and other Pacific Islands. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 20(3), 273–275.
- The race to understand 'immune amnesia'
- Measles and Immune Amnesia:
Feature Image © NIBSC/SCIENCE SOURCE