LThe measles virus thus seems to erase the immune system’s memory of the infections it has previously fought, interfering with its ability to react quickly if these viruses or bacteria return.
Researchers call this astonishing discovery “immune amnesia”.
Scientists at Harvard University tested blood samples from 77 unvaccinated Dutch children before and after a measles episode. After recovering from measles, children’s acquired immunity to other infections plummeted. The samples contained ample antibodies for measles, but between 20 percent and 70 percent of the antibodies for other infections had been lost.
In the most serious cases, the child becomes as vulnerable as a baby again. However, this “immune amnesia” was not detected in children who had been vaccinated against measles.
Amid an upsurge in measles, said lead author of the study, Dr. Michael Mina of Harvard School of Public Health, “it’s a frightening phenomenon.”
A doctor who treats a child for pneumonia, he added, will not necessarily make the connection to the measles episode of the previous year, but it is questionable whether the child would have had this pneumonia. he hadn’t had measles first.
After analyzing decades of data, Dr Mina previously reported that child deaths from infections jumped after a measles outbreak, a rise that could last for two or three years. No one understood why until now.
The results of the American researchers have been confirmed by British researchers, who come to the conclusion that the measles virus essentially brings the state of the immune system back to that of a baby.
The immune system could then take years to rebuild lost defenses.
Measles is one of the most contagious viruses on the planet, and infection can cause serious damage, such as brain damage or deafness.
The findings of this study were published Thursday by the scientific journals Science and Science Immunology.
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