The Meaning of Childhood Diseases

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The Meaning of Childhood Diseases

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excerpt

The Meaning of Childhood Diseases

What role the so-called childhood diseases play in the development of

children has been the subject of many discussions. Reports of

developmental leaps are frequent, yet usually very subjective. There

are, however, some observations that childhood diseases do not just

harbor risks but can be quite useful.

In ls of Tropical Paediatrics, [53] the following case is reported:

1984 a 5 year-old girl presented with a bad case of psoriasis. She

showed large affected areas on her body and extremities, also

involving to a significant degree her scalp. During the following

year she was treated by Pediatricians and Dermatologists with coal

tar preparations, local steroids, UV light, and dithranol wraps.

Despite these therapies and two hospitalizations, the psoriasis was

refractory and remained essentially unchanged until she came down

with measles. As the measles rash began to spread over her skin, the

psoriasis disappeared. Since then she has been free of psoriasis.

Another startling effect is described in Am. J. Med. Hyg.: " The

prevalence of parasites and average density of malaria parasites is

significantly lower in children who have had measles or influenza

before the age of 9 than in the asymptomatic control group. " [54]

An article taken from the Lancet, 1985 [55], may be of decisive importance:

Persons who have never had any visible indication of measles, i.e.,

never developed the skin rash of measles, suffer more frequently from

non measles associated diseases. " " The data show a highly significant

correlation between lack of measles exanthema and auto-immune

diseases, seborrhoeic skin diseases, degenerative diseases of the

bones and certain tumors . . . We think that the rash is caused by a

cell mitigated immune reaction, which destroys the cells infected

with the measles virus. If this is correct, the missing exanthema may

indicate that intracellular virus components have escaped

neutralization during the acute infection. This may later lead to the

aforementioned diseases... The presence of specific antibodies at the

time of infection interferes with the normal immune response against

the measles virus, in particular with the development of the specific

cell mitigated immunity (and/or cyto-toxic reactions). The

intracellular measles virus can then survive the acute infection and

cause diseases manifesting in the adult age.

If the infection with measles happens at a time when there are

already antibodies against the measles virus present, i.e., within

the first few months after birth, or after administration of measles

immune serum because of contact with measles, or after antibody

production following vaccination, the immune system cannot react

fully to the infection, leaving the virus the chance to become persistent.

If vaccinated children contract measles from the wild strain, the

possibility exists that the infection will be overlooked in them,

since they do not exhibit the typical signs of measles anymore. It is

impossible to say how common these latent measles infections are;

finding the connection between latent measles and a disease at adult

age is impossible. If this suspicion proves to be true, the merit of

the measles vaccination has to be re-evaluated carefully.