PATRÍCIA PASQUINISÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) - Imagine that the immune system is a library with information about the infections that the human body has faced throughout life. After the measles, pages from some books in this collection were erased.
Understand what measles immunological amnesia is, which can increase the risk of other infections
PATRÍCIA PASQUINISÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) - Imagine that the immune system is a library with information about the infections that the human body has faced throughout life. After the measles, pages from some books in this collection were...
With this analogy, biologist Patrícia Rosa Vanderborght, responsible for the human immunization sector at Richet Medicina e Diagnóstico da Rede D'Or, explains how immunological amnesia can affect the body after measles infection. The disease is respiratory transmitted and caused by a virus.
- The most common symptoms are high fever, red spots on the body (rash), conjunctivitis, runny nose, malaise and dry cough.
- Measles evolves in four periods: 1) incubation, which lasts around ten to 15 days; 2) catarrhal, from two to four days, when high fever, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis and white spots on...
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With this analogy, biologist Patrícia Rosa Vanderborght, responsible for the human immunization sector at Richet Medicina e Diagnóstico da Rede D'Or, explains how immunological amnesia can affect the body after measles infection.
The disease is respiratory transmitted and caused by a virus. The most common symptoms are high fever, red spots on the body (rash), conjunctivitis, runny nose, malaise and dry cough. Measles evolves in four periods: 1) incubation, which lasts around ten to 15 days; 2) catarrhal, from two to four days, when high fever, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis and white spots on the oral mucosa, called Koplik, appear; 3) exanthematic, lasting four to six days, is the phase marked by the appearance of red spots that begin on the face, behind the ear, and spread to the trunk, arms and legs; 4) convalescence, when the patient has desquamation. This last period marks the recovery.
"Immune amnesia is the loss of part of acquired immunity, which can happen after an infection with the measles virus. We keep memories of microorganisms that we have already encountered and are able to produce antibodies again when we are exposed to them. The measles virus can target cells that are important for this memory and reduce part of this repertoire", explains Vanderborght.
A group of Harvard scientists followed unvaccinated children before and after measles. According to the researchers, the infection eliminated between 11% and 73% of the pre-existing antibody repertoire, depending on the patient.
The study was published in the journal Science. Other work, published in Science Immunology, shows lasting changes in the repertoire of memory B cells after infection.
With the memory cells destroyed, the body loses its ability to defend against pathologies against which the child had already acquired protection. On the other hand, immunity to measles becomes robust.
"After the person gets better from measles, the number of defense cells can return to normal relatively quickly, but this does not mean that the library has all the books again", explains Jessica Fernandes Ramos, member of the SBI (Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases) and doctor at the Infectious Diseases Center at Hospital Sírio-Libanês.
"So the organism starts to produce more cells that don't know how to recognize other microorganisms that it has come into contact with very well, but it knows how to recognize measles and the person is protected. This is the paradox of measles and that's why we use this expression", he says.
The SBI specialist states that the phenomenon is not exclusive to children and can also occur in adults, because they also have memory cells susceptible to viruses with the same receptor.
There is still no exact data on the intensity and duration of immunological amnesia in adults, nor do we know how much it differs from that seen in children.
To date, part of what is known about the effects on adults comes from studies carried out with pregnant women who contracted measles and showed loss of antibodies.
According to Ramos, an international research protocol is already underway on the African continent to investigate immune amnesia specifically in adults.
However, due to the recent increase in cases of the disease in the United States, Europe and the state of São Paulo, it is likely that data from local outbreaks will provide answers - including Brazilian statistics - even before the study in Africa is completed.
Until this Wednesday (19), the state of São Paulo had 23 confirmed cases of the disease in 2026 -20 in the capital, two in São Bernardo do Campo, in ABC, and one in Guarulhos, in the metropolitan region. Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself against the disease.*WHO SHOULD GET VACCINATED AGAINST MEASLES- In São Paulo, São Bernardo do Campo and GuarulhosZero dose: children aged 6 months to 11 months and 29 days.Any person aged 6 months to 59 years, regardless of vaccination history (as of August 3).- Routine - other Brazilian municipalitiesThe vaccination schedule recommended by the Ministry of Health provides for two doses: a first at 12 months, with the triple viral vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella), and the second at 15 months, with the tetraviral vaccine (which includes chickenpox). People aged 1 to 29 years old must have two doses of the triple viral vaccine, while adults aged 30 to 59 years old must have at least one. Healthcare professionals need to prove two doses regardless of age.
Read Also: Ministry recommends measles vaccine for anyone visiting São Paulo, São Bernardo and Guarulhos