Measles doesn’t just make you sick – it can harm your immune system’s memory, leaving you more vulnerable to other infections.
When the measles virus gets into your body, it attaches and infects special immune cells called macrophages. These cells normally help protect you by eating germs like bacteria and viruses (1,2,3).
However, instead of being destroyed, the measles virus hijacks the macrophage and starts making copies of itself. Meanwhile, the infected macrophage travels to the nearest lymph node, which acts as a meeting point for immune cells. From there, the virus starts infecting memory B and T cells – specialized immune cells that remember past infections and help the body fight them off faster (1,4,5,6).
The problem is, to clear the infection, your immune system has to destroy all those infected immune cells – which also means wiping out much of your existing immune memory and leaving you more vulnerable to secondary infections. Afterward, your body will rebuild new memory cells, but most of them will only recognize measles. You’ll be left with a very strong protection against it, but your defenses against everything else will be much weaker (1,3,7,8,9,10,11,12).
Research has shown that before the measles vaccine was introduced, nearly half of all childhood deaths from infectious diseases could be linked to prior measles infections (13). These children didn’t die from measles itself, but from other common childhood infections they couldn’t fight off because measles had weakened their immune system. This “immune amnesia” can leave children vulnerable to other infections for 2 to 3 years after the initial illness (1,13,14).
That’s why measles vaccination is so important for everyone – especially children. It doesn’t just protect against measles and its very serious complications, it also helps preserve immune memory, keeping the body defended against other common infections (14,15,16).
This post was inspired in part by @asmicrobiology’s excellent article on measles and immune amnesia – check it out if you want to learn more!
- Measles and Immune Amnesia | American Society for Microbiology | Updated February 2024
- Early Target Cells of Measles Virus after Aerosol Infection of Non-Human Primates | PLOS Pathogens | January 2011
- The morbillivirus receptor SLAM (CD150) | Microbiology and Immunology | November 2013
- Immune response | MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
- Macrophage | MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
- Measles: The race to understand ‘immune amnesia’ | BBC | February 2024
- Measles Immune Suppression: Lessons from the Macaque Model | PLOS Pathogens | August 2012
- Studies into the mechanism of measles-associated immune suppression during a measles outbreak in the Netherlands | Nature Communications | November 2018
- Measles wipes out immune system’s memory, study finds | Immunology | The Guardian | October 2019
- Measles virus infection diminishes preexisting antibodies that offer protection from other pathogens | Science | November 2019
- Incomplete genetic reconstitution of B cell pools contributes to prolonged immunosuppression after measles | Science Immunology | November 2019
- Measles infection leads to long-term immune suppression, not noted with MMR vaccine | The Journal of Pediatrics | March 2020
- Long-term measles-induced immunomodulation increases overall childhood infectious disease mortality | Science | May 2015
- Non-specific beneficial effect of measles immunisation: analysis of mortality studies from developing countries | The BMJ | August 1995
- Inside Immune Amnesia | Harvard Medical School | October 2019
- Measles Vaccination and Childhood Mortality in Rural Bangladesh | American Journal of Epidemiology | December 1988
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