WEBVTT - Why Does Measles Reset Your Immune System?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vocal bomb here. Anyone around in the nineteen sixties

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<v Speaker 1>and earlier knew not to mess with the measles. Measles

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<v Speaker 1>a k A. Rabela is a dangerous and highly contagious

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<v Speaker 1>infectious disease. It was common knowledge back then that if

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<v Speaker 1>you're lucky, measles merely came with a high fever, cough,

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<v Speaker 1>running nose, red watery eyes, and the infections signature angry

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<v Speaker 1>red rash. But if you're not so lucky, you can

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<v Speaker 1>add to that any number of complications. About ten percent

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<v Speaker 1>of measles patients get severe diarrhea and ear infections. More

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<v Speaker 1>dire complications include pneumonia and encephalitis, which is brain swelling

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<v Speaker 1>that can further cause convulsions, deafness, cognitive impairment, and even death.

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<v Speaker 1>Contracting the disease while pregnant can cause premature birth, a

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<v Speaker 1>low birth weight for the baby, and even miscarriage, and

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<v Speaker 1>some people develop a rare and fatal central nervous system

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<v Speaker 1>disease called subacute sclerosing pen encephalitis about seven to ten

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<v Speaker 1>years after they've had measles. Today, however, many people don't

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<v Speaker 1>know much about this terrible disease, which once struck three

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<v Speaker 1>to four million people annually in the U s Alone

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<v Speaker 1>and killed four hundred to five hundred per year. That's

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<v Speaker 1>because in nineteen sixty three, a highly effective vaccine debut

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<v Speaker 1>and measles infections plummeted. Then in nineteen seventy eight, the

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<v Speaker 1>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began working to totally

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<v Speaker 1>eliminate this infectious disease from the United States through widespread

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<v Speaker 1>use of the measles vaccine. It worked. By the year

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand, measles was declared eliminated from the nation. During

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<v Speaker 1>the decades when measles was steadily on the decline, memories

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<v Speaker 1>of the disease and it's many dangers also disappeared. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>measles began showing its ugly red face again in the

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<v Speaker 1>late two thousands and twenty teens, and as of twenty nineteen,

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<v Speaker 1>it's raging in many parts of the United States, including

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<v Speaker 1>New York State and Washington State. While many of these

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<v Speaker 1>outbreaks occurred because of people with the infection coming into

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<v Speaker 1>the US, one large outbreak in teen that sickened three

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<v Speaker 1>d eighty three people was largely due to an unvaccinated

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<v Speaker 1>group of Amish people. Another outbreak started at Disneyland in

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<v Speaker 1>California in possibly due to someone contracting measles. Overseas, forty

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<v Speaker 1>seven people became sick. The return of measles is concerning enough,

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<v Speaker 1>but in a study showed people who came down with

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<v Speaker 1>measles were at risk for getting a raft of other diseases.

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<v Speaker 1>Their immune systems have developed a sort of amnesia. When

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<v Speaker 1>measles attacks your body, it goes to war with your

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<v Speaker 1>white blood cells. Specifically, it binds to your B and

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<v Speaker 1>T cells then wipes them out. B and T cells

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<v Speaker 1>are highly specialized cells critical to your health. They're the

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<v Speaker 1>ones that recognize infectious germs in your body, then quickly

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<v Speaker 1>multiplied to fight off these unwelcome invaders. A subset of

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<v Speaker 1>your B and T cells also remembers each infection you contract.

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<v Speaker 1>If that kind of bacteria or virus strikes again, they

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<v Speaker 1>recognize it and prompt your immune system to spring into

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<v Speaker 1>action so fast that you probably won't get sick. That's immunity.

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<v Speaker 1>But because measles trashes your white blood cells, it places

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<v Speaker 1>you at high risk of coming to other infections, and

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<v Speaker 1>not just for a few weeks after you get it.

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<v Speaker 1>After mass measles vaccinations of heard in the nineteen sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>childhood deaths from measles plunged, as expected, but so did

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<v Speaker 1>childhood deaths from a host of other infectious diseases. In

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<v Speaker 1>resource poor countries, the drop in childhood death rates post

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<v Speaker 1>measles vaccination was as much as thirty in some of

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<v Speaker 1>the poorest nations. It was a whopping in Researchers began

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<v Speaker 1>to figure out why this is a study with Rees's

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<v Speaker 1>monkeys showed that while the monkeys immune systems began producing

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<v Speaker 1>new B and T cells a month after contracting the measles,

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<v Speaker 1>these new cells only remembered that the monkeys had had

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<v Speaker 1>measles in the past. They didn't recall any of the

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<v Speaker 1>other infections the monkeys it had. Basically, the monkeys immune

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<v Speaker 1>systems had amnesia. This meant the primates would have to

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<v Speaker 1>go through all sorts of illnesses again to regain the

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<v Speaker 1>immunity levels they'd built up since birth, and it appears

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<v Speaker 1>that the same is true for humans. Results of a

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<v Speaker 1>study were published in the journal Science that showed children

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<v Speaker 1>who got the measles and survived were more likely to

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<v Speaker 1>subsequently die from another infectious disease than kids who never

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<v Speaker 1>got the measles. In the four countries studied Denmark, England, Wales,

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<v Speaker 1>and the United States, the children's immune systems all appeared

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<v Speaker 1>to be weakened for two to three years post measles.

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<v Speaker 1>Although the measles vaccine is highly effective, measles remains one

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<v Speaker 1>of the leading causes of death among young children Globally.

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<v Speaker 1>Nearly a hundred and ten thousand people died from measles

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<v Speaker 1>around the world in twenties seventeen, mostly children under the

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<v Speaker 1>age of five. On a more positive note, because increasing

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<v Speaker 1>numbers of kids are receiving the measles vaccination, deaths from

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<v Speaker 1>this infectious disease plunge an incredible eight percent between two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand and twenties seventeen, which quates to the prevention of

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<v Speaker 1>about twenty one point one million deaths. Measles is still

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<v Speaker 1>common in impoverished countries, especially those in African Asia, where

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<v Speaker 1>vaccination levels are lower. Furthermore, outbreaks are specially damaging in

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<v Speaker 1>countries recovering from natural disasters or undergoing violent conflicts. In

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<v Speaker 1>these situations, the administration of vaccines is often interrupted. Some

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<v Speaker 1>more people are at risk of contracting the disease, and

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<v Speaker 1>when many people end up in cramped quarters such as

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<v Speaker 1>refugee camps or emergency shelters, the situation is ripe for

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<v Speaker 1>an outbreak. Since measles spread so easily, transmitted mainly through coughing, sneezing,

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<v Speaker 1>and close personal contact, virus can survive for up to

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<v Speaker 1>two hours in the air and on surfaces. This means

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<v Speaker 1>an infected person can cough in one room then leave,

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<v Speaker 1>and a second person walking into the room two hours

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<v Speaker 1>later can contract measles simply by breathing in the contaminated air.

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<v Speaker 1>With a highly effective and reasonably priced vaccine available, the

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<v Speaker 1>fight continues to eradicate measles from the earth. There's a

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<v Speaker 1>plan in place crafted by the Measles and Rebella Initiative,

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<v Speaker 1>a cooperative effort between the American Red Cross Centers for

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<v Speaker 1>Disease Control and Prevention UNIS of the United Nations Foundation

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<v Speaker 1>and the World Health Organization, but it partially depends on

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<v Speaker 1>populations in affluent countries to do their research and not

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<v Speaker 1>refuse vaccination due to misinformation. The hypothesis of the vaccines

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<v Speaker 1>cause autism has been disproven by study after study. The

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<v Speaker 1>original study that made the claim that they do was

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<v Speaker 1>discredited and eventually retracted. Vaccines are safe except for people

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<v Speaker 1>with specific allergies, or with compromised immune systems, or very

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<v Speaker 1>particular other conditions. That's why everyone who can get vaccinated

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<v Speaker 1>should not only to protect ourselves, but to protect those

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<v Speaker 1>who are unable to receive vaccines and thus are vulnerable

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<v Speaker 1>to infection. If you're not sure whether you've been vaccinated

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<v Speaker 1>against the measles, you can try to find your vaccination

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<v Speaker 1>records among any documents saved from your childhood, or talk

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<v Speaker 1>to your doctor. They can check to see whether you've

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<v Speaker 1>got immunity with a simple blood test, or you can

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<v Speaker 1>simply get the vaccine. You'll be sure you're covered, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's no harm in repeating it in the case that

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<v Speaker 1>you did receive it as a child. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Melanie rad Zekie McManus and produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>public health topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works

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