Thin-section transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a single virus particle, or “virion”, of measles virus
The measles virus is a paramyxovirus, of the genus Morbillivirus. It is 100-200 nm in diameter, with a core of single-stranded RNA, and is closely related to the rinderpest and canine distemper viruses. Two membrane envelope proteins are important in pathogenesis. They are the F (fusion) protein, which is responsible for fusion of virus and host cell membranes, viral penetration, and hemolysis, and the H (hemagglutinin) protein, which is responsible for adsorption of virus to cells. There is only one antigenic type of measles virus. Although studies have documented changes in the H glycoprotein, these changes do not appear to be epidemiologically important. Prior to 1963, almost everyone got measles; it was an expected life event. Each year in the there were approximately 3 to 4 million cases and an average of 450 deaths, with epidemic cycles every 2 to 3 years. More than half the population had measles by the time they were 6 years old, and 90 % had the disease by the time they w
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Photo credit: © Scott Camazine / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: contagion, day, disease, illness, infection, magnification, morbillivirus, paramyxovirus, square, tem
