rubeola
Summary
Rubeola is another name for measles, an acute, highly contagious paramyxovirus infection with fever, the three Cs, Koplik spots, and a descending maculopapular rash. It must be distinguished from rubella, which is a separate, far milder togavirus infection.
Detail
The naming is a persistent source of confusion: rubeola means measles, caused by measles morbillivirus, a negative-sense single-stranded RNA paramyxovirus, whereas rubella means German or three-day measles, caused by rubella virus, a positive-sense single-stranded RNA togavirus. Rubeola is severe, with a prodrome of high fever, cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis, then Koplik spots and a confluent rash spreading head to toe, and it carries risks of pneumonia, otitis media, encephalitis, and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. Rubella is mild in children, with a fainter non-confluent rash, low-grade fever, and characteristic tender posterior auricular and suboccipital lymphadenopathy, but is devastating in pregnancy, where first-trimester infection causes congenital rubella syndrome with cataracts, sensorineural deafness, and patent ductus arteriosus. Both are prevented by the live attenuated MMR vaccine.
Sources
- Levinson Medical Microbiology and Immunology
- First Aid for the USMLE Step 1
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