Researchers recently found that having the measles virus can cause long-term damage to the immune system, making patients more susceptible to other diseases. This research is particularly important in this era, when people who oppose vaccines argue that catching a disease like measles isn’t bad for you and can benefit your immune system.
This research demonstrates why that argument is wrong.
Researchers examined a group of people in the Netherlands before and after a local measles outbreak in 2013. When a patient has measles, their body has fewer white blood cells, which help a person fight off diseases and infections. A few weeks after the patient recovers from the measles, their white blood cell count goes back up, but their ability to fight off subsequent diseases remains compromised.
What’s going on here? Why would the immune system be less effective than before? It has to do with the immune system’s memory. Most Americans will probably remember going to the doctor and getting shots when they were kids, or getting the chicken pox once and then never having to suffer through those red, itchy rashes again. That’s because your immune system contains a record of past diseases that it has fought–a type of blueprint laying out how to combat the virus or bacteria that caused the illness. This is a very important part of how your immune system works. Both bacteria and viruses mutate, so having an illness once does not guarantee that a patient will never have it again. That said, past exposure does usually lessen the severity of future illnesses and makes it easier for your body to fight off the illness.
Back to measles and your immune system. The researchers found that while the number of white blood cells did go up after the person recovered from measles, specific immune memory cells that had been built up against other diseases were gone. These cells were present in the blood before the patient contracted measles. In some patients, the effects were similar to if the person had been taking strong immunosuppression drugs, or drugs that suppress your immune system.
Research like this demonstrates why it’s so important to receive vaccinations against measles and other illnesses. The bottom line is that it’s healthier for you, and better for everyone else, because living in a society where a large percentage of people have received the vaccines helps protect immunocompromised people who can’t.
