Measles can “erase” the memory of your immune system. Here’s how – National Aitrend

As measles Cases increase worldwide, experts stimulate alarms on a less known danger: immune amnesia.

The very contagious virus does not only cause a rash and a fever – it can also eliminate the memory of the immune system, leaving survivors vulnerable to the infections they have already fought, such as flu, a cold or even the diseases against which they have been vaccinated.

Health Canada warns That measles can cause serious immune deletion, known as immune amnesia. This may increase the risk of other diseases and even increase the chances of death for months or even years after infection, the Health Agency said on its website.

“Immune amnesia essentially destroys your immune system. And with regard to the measles virus, it can infect cells that treat memories or previous immune or viral infections and other pathogens, it can infect these cells and kill cells, so it erases real physical memory “, Stephen J. Elledge, professor of genetics and medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

“And that exhausts that to the point where you can no longer respond to the appropriate pathogens as well as you could, if you had not had measles.”

Elledge, which has published research on immune amnesia, said that the side effect was particularly worrying while measles epidemics are continuing in Canada and the United States, potentially leaving many people vulnerable to other infections after contracting the virus.

A 2019 study published in ScienceCo-written by ENLADGE, noted that measles can erase up to 73% of the protective immune memory of a person.

Because your immune system is left in a state of quasi-flower, similar to that of a baby, studies show that it can take years to reconstruct and slowly relearn how to defend itself against infections.

Measles, known for its characteristic red eruption, is one of the most contagious viruses on the planet, With a number R of 12 to 18 – which means that an infected person can spread it up to 18 other people in a non -vaccinated population. To put this in perspective, the original strain of Covid-19 had a number R of about two to three, and even highly transmitted variants as Omicron has rarely exceeded 10.

Once declared eradicated in Canada in 1998, measles is now making a return, spread quickly in recent months, especially in places like Ontario, due to the drop in vaccination rates.

The virus can cause serious complications, including a serious illness and even death. And another side effect is immune amnesia.

Our immune system has an integrated memory, thanks to the special cells called B and T lymphocytesSaid Encreedge. These cells help us fight infections, not only in the moment but also in the future.

When we fall sick, our immune system remembers the virus or bacteria, so if we meet it again, it can recognize it and attack it much more quickly.

Many viruses can weaken the immune system – such as flu, which damages the respiratory tract and facilitates pneumonia. But the measles is different. This does not weaken immunity; He actually erases the memory of body disease, destroying immune cells that remember past infections.

“Each virus has a reconnaissance protein that he likes to bind to the entry of cells, and the measles virus binds to a protein called slam, and that the protein is on T cells, B cells and plasma cells,” said Elledge.

Plasmocytes, he said, who pump antibodies to protect you, are a target for the measles virus. He finds them, infects them and eliminates them, essentially destroying the memory of the immune system.

Although immune amnesia can erase your immunity to the diseases you have already fought – such as chickenpox, mumps or meningitis – curiously, it does not forget the measles itself. This is the only infection that your immune system still remembers.

“It is because your immune system must win this battle or you will die. Your immune system wins, but ends up with the carnage of other cells,” said Elledge.

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Almost all those who obtain measles experiences a certain level of immune amnesia, but the extent can vary, said Elledge.

“It is very common; as we have seen in most of the children who have been infected in our study,” he said. “But it is not the same for everyone,” he said, adding that some people can be healthier when they fall sick, or there may be genetic differences that affect the speed with which they can fight the virus.

She explained that immune amnesia is particularly dangerous for babies, as they are only vaccinated about 12 months and are very vulnerable during this period.

The elderly are also at risk because their immune system is naturally weakening with age.

A 2015 study published in Science noted that it takes about two to three years after an infection of measles for the immune system to fully reconstruct its protective memory.

Meanwhile, your immune system can forget about past infections and even the protection against the vaccines you have had.

In more serious cases of measles, Elledge recommends checking with your health care provider to see if you may have to be revaccinated.

“It is not a normal type of virus; it is very serious,” he said.

The best way to prevent immune amnesia is to avoid being measles in the first place – and that means be vaccinatedSaid Encreedge.

The MMR (measles, mump and rubella vaccines) is very effective in protecting against measles and damage to the immune system it can cause. Experts point out that vaccination does not just prevent the short -term symptoms of the virus – it also preserves the immune memory that you have formed in your lifetime.

The shooting is estimated at 85 to 95% effective after a single dose given at 12 or 15 months. With a second dose, efficiency increases to almost 100%, according to the Canada Public Health Agency.