Skip to main content
N I Direct government services

Main navigation

  • Home
  • News
  • Contacts
  • Help
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • RSS

Translation help

Translate this page

Select a language

  • Afrikaans — Afrikaans
  • Albanian — Shqip
  • Amharic — አማርኛ
  • Arabic — العربية
  • Armenian — Հայերեն
  • Assamese — অসমীয়া
  • Aymara — Aymar aru
  • Azerbaijani — Azərbaycan dili
  • Bambara — Bamanankan
  • Basque — Euskara
  • Belarusian — Беларуская
  • Bengali — বাংলা
  • Bhojpuri — भोजपुरी
  • Bosnian — Bosanski
  • Bulgarian — Български
  • Cantonese — 廣州話
  • Catalan — Català
  • Cebuano — Sinugbuanong Binisayâ
  • Chichewa — Chichewa
  • Chinese (Simplified) — 简体中文
  • Chinese (Traditional) — 繁體中文
  • Corsican — Corsu
  • Croatian — Hrvatski
  • Czech — Čeština
  • Danish — Dansk
  • Dhivehi — ދިވެހި
  • Dogri — डोगरी
  • Dutch — Nederlands
  • English — English
  • Esperanto — Esperanto
  • Estonian — Eesti
  • Ewe — Eʋegbe
  • Filipino — Filipino
  • Finnish — Suomi
  • French — Français
  • Frisian — Frysk
  • Galician — Galego
  • Georgian — ქართული
  • German — Deutsch
  • Greek — Ελληνικά
  • Guarani — Avañe’ẽ
  • Gujarati — ગુજરાતી
  • Haitian Creole — Kreyòl ayisyen
  • Hausa — Hausa
  • Hawaiian — ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
  • Hebrew — עברית
  • Hindi — हिन्दी
  • Hmong — Hmoob
  • Hungarian — Magyar
  • Icelandic — Íslenska
  • Igbo — Asụsụ Igbo
  • Ilocano — Ilokano
  • Indonesian — Bahasa Indonesia
  • Irish — Gaeilge
  • Italian — Italiano
  • Japanese — 日本語
  • Javanese — Basa Jawa
  • Kannada — ಕನ್ನಡ
  • Kazakh — Қазақ тілі
  • Khmer — ភាសាខ្មែរ
  • Kinyarwanda — Ikinyarwanda
  • Konkani — कोंकणी
  • Korean — 한국어
  • Krio — Krio
  • Kurdish (Kurmanji) — Kurdî
  • Kurdish (Sorani) — کوردی
  • Kyrgyz — Кыргызча
  • Lao — ລາວ
  • Latin — Latina
  • Latvian — Latviešu
  • Lingala — Lingála
  • Lithuanian — Lietuvių
  • Luganda — Luganda
  • Luxembourgish — Lëtzebuergesch
  • Macedonian — Македонски
  • Maithili — मैथिली
  • Malagasy — Malagasy
  • Malay — Bahasa Melayu
  • Malayalam — മലയാളം
  • Maltese — Malti
  • Maori — Māori
  • Marathi — मराठी
  • Meiteilon (Manipuri) — ꯃꯤꯇꯩ ꯂꯣꯟ
  • Mizo — Mizo ṭawng
  • Mongolian — Монгол хэл
  • Myanmar (Burmese) — မြန်မာစာ
  • Nepali — नेपाली
  • Norwegian — Norsk
  • Odia (Oriya) — ଓଡ଼ିଆ
  • Oromo — Afaan Oromoo
  • Pashto — پښتو
  • Persian — فارسی
  • Polish — Polski
  • Portuguese — Português
  • Punjabi — ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
  • Quechua — Runa Simi
  • Romanian — Română
  • Russian — Русский
  • Samoan — Gagana Samoa
  • Sanskrit — संस्कृतम्
  • Scots Gaelic — Gàidhlig
  • Sepedi — Sepedi
  • Serbian — Српски
  • Sesotho — Sesotho
  • Shona — Shona
  • Sindhi — سنڌي
  • Sinhala — සිංහල
  • Slovak — Slovenčina
  • Slovenian — Slovenščina
  • Somali — Soomaali
  • Spanish — Español
  • Sundanese — Basa Sunda
  • Swahili — Kiswahili
  • Swedish — Svenska
  • Tajik — Тоҷикӣ
  • Tamil — தமிழ்
  • Tatar — Татар теле
  • Telugu — తెలుగు
  • Thai — ไทย
  • Tigrinya — ትግርኛ
  • Tsonga — Xitsonga
  • Turkish — Türkçe
  • Turkmen — Türkmençe
  • Twi — Twi
  • Ukrainian — Українська
  • Urdu — اردو
  • Uyghur — ئۇيغۇرچە
  • Uzbek — Oʻzbekcha
  • Vietnamese — Tiếng Việt
  • Welsh — Cymraeg
  • Xhosa — IsiXhosa
  • Yiddish — ייִדיש
  • Yoruba — Yorùbá
  • Zulu — IsiZulu
  • Breadcrumb

    1. Home
    2. Health and wellbeing
    3. Illnesses and conditions
    4. A to Z

    Measles

    Measles is a highly infectious viral illness. It can be unpleasant and sometimes leads to serious complications. It's now uncommon because of the effectiveness of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination programme. Anyone can get measles if they haven't been vaccinated or they haven't had it before.

    Symptoms of measles 

    Measles begins with cold-like symptoms that develop about 10 days after becoming infected. This is followed a few days later by the measles rash.

    For most people, the illness lasts around seven to 10 days in total.

    Initial symptoms 

    The earliest signs of measles infection include:

    • high fever
    • runny nose
    • cough or cold-like symptoms
    • red, sore, watery eyes
    • Koplik spots (small red spots with bluish-white centres) inside the mouth

    After several days, a rash appears, usually on the face and upper neck.

    The rash spreads, eventually reaching the hands and feet and lasts five to six days before fading.

    Measles is commonly confused with other infections that can lead to a rash.

    Spots in the mouth 

    A day or two before the rash appears, many people with measles develop small greyish-white spots in their mouth (Koplik spots).

    Picture showing small greyish-white spots (Koplik spots) in the mouth caused by measles
    Small greyish-white spots (Koplik spots) appearing on the inside of the cheek

    Not everyone with measles has these spots, but if someone has them as well as the other symptoms listed above or a rash, it's highly likely they have the condition.

    The spots will usually last for a few days.

    The measles rash 

     

    Picture of a child with measles
    A child with measles

    The measles rash appears around two to four days after the initial symptoms and normally fades after about a week.

    Picture of the face of a woman with measles
    An adult with measles rash

    You or your child will usually feel the worst on the first or second day after the rash develops.

    You can use 'skin rashes in children' to compare measles with some similar childhood rashes.

    When to see your GP 

    You should contact your GP as soon as possible if you think you or your child may have measles. It's best to phone, because of the risk of spreading the infection to others.

    If you or your child has measles, you should keep an eye out for any signs of the serious complications that can sometimes develop.

    Seek urgent medical advice if you/your child:

    • have shortness of breath
    • a pleuritic chest pain (a sharp chest pain that feels worse with breathing)
    • start to cough up blood (haemoptysis)
    • have febrile convulsions (fits) or altered consciousness (for example lethargy or confusion)

    Treating measles 

    Measles can be unpleasant but it will usually pass in about seven to 10 days.

    It is likely to cause unpleasant symptoms including rash, fever, malaise (feeling unwell), cough, and conjunctivitis (see symptoms section).

    There are several things you can do to help relieve your symptoms and reduce the risk of spreading the infection. These include:

    • taking paracetamol or ibuprofen to relieve fever, aches and pains – aspirin should not be given to children under 16 years old
    • drinking plenty of water to avoid dehydration
    • closing the curtains to help reduce light sensitivity
    • using damp cotton wool to clean the eyes
    • staying off school or work for at least four days from when the rash first appears and avoid contact with susceptible people (that is, people who are not fully immunised through vaccination or natural exposure, infants, pregnant women, or immunosuppressed people)

    In severe cases, especially if there are complications, you or your child may need to be admitted to hospital for treatment.

    How serious is measles 

    Measles can be unpleasant but will usually pass in about seven to 10 days without causing any further problems.

    Once you've had measles, your body builds up resistance (immunity) to the virus. It is highly unlikely you'll get it again.

    Measles can lead to serious and potentially life-threatening complications in some people (see when to seek urgent medical advice above). These include infections of the lungs (pneumonia) and brain (encephalitis).

    How measles is spread 

    The measles virus is contained in the millions of tiny droplets that come out of the nose and mouth when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

    You can easily catch measles:

    • by breathing in these droplets
    • if the droplets have settled on a surface, by touching the surface and then placing your hands near your nose or mouth

    The virus can survive on surfaces for a few hours.

    People with measles are infectious from when the symptoms develop until about four days after the rash first appears.

    How measles can be prevented 

    Measles can be prevented by having the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

    The MMR vaccine is part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule.  Adults and older children can be vaccinated at any age if they haven't been fully vaccinated before.  Ask your GP about having the vaccination.

    If the MMR vaccine isn't suitable for you, a treatment called human normal immunoglobulin (HNIG) can be used if you're at immediate risk of catching measles.

    • Childhood immunisation programme

     

     

    More useful links

    • Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)
    • Immunisation for preschool children
    • Measles
    • How to use your health service

    The information on this page has been adapted from original content from the NHS website.

    For further information see terms and conditions.

    Health conditions A to Z

    Or find conditions beginning with A to Z…

    Skip A to Z menu
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G
    • H
    • I
    • J
    • K
    • L
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • P
    • Q
    • R
    • S
    • T
    • U
    • V
    • W
    • X
    • Y
    • Z

    Help improve this page - send your feedback

    What do you want to do?
    Report a problem
    Which problem did you find on this page? (Tick all that apply)

    Messages

    You will not receive a reply. We will consider your feedback to help improve the site.

    Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

    What is your question about?

    What to do next

    Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk 

    If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit.  Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

    Carer's Allowance

    Call 0800 587 0912
    Email 
    dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

    Discretionary support / Short-term benefit advance

    Call 0800 587 2750 
    Email 
    customerservice.unit@communities-ni.gov.uk

    Disability Living Allowance

    Call 0800 587 0912 
    Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

    Employment and Support Allowance

    Call 0800 587 1377

    Jobseeker’s Allowance

    Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

    Personal Independence Payment

    Call 0800 587 0932

    If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

    For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

    For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

    For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

    If you can’t find the information you’re looking for in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) section, then for queries about:

    • Restrictions or regulations — contact the Department of Health
    • Travel advice (including self-isolation) — contact the Department of Health
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations — contact the Department of Health or Public Health Agency

    If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk and for queries about your certificate, email covidcertni@hscni.net.

    For queries or advice about criminal record checks, email ani@accessni.gov.uk

    Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

    For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

    For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

    For queries about your GRONI account, email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk.

    For queries about the High Street Spend Local Scheme,  email HSSS.mail@economy-ni.gov.uk.

    For queries about:

    • Car tax, vehicle registration and SORN
      contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Swansea
       
    • Driver licensing and tests, MOT and vehicle testing
      contact the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA), Northern Ireland

    If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk.

     

    For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

    For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

    For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

    If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

    If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

    For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

    For queries or advice about rates, email LPSCustomerTeam@lpsni.gov.uk

    For queries or advice about  60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.

    If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly.  We don't have access to information about you.

    Related sites

    • gov.uk
    • nibusinessinfo.co.uk

    Links to supporting information

    • Accessibility statement
    • Crown copyright
    • Terms and conditions
    • Privacy
    • Cookies
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • RSS