Measles is a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract that causes a fever, cough, and distinctive rash. There can also be white spots that develop inside an individual’s mouth. It can be deadly, with a mortality rate of about one to three per 1,000, typically from unvaccinated patients developing spinal meningitis or acute post-infectious measles encephalitis from the infection.
If a person receives the two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, they have 97% lifetime protection against measles.
The recommendation is to get the first dose at age one and the second at age four…