Over the past few years, my focus has been on COVID-19, particularly from an autoimmune perspective. The pandemic has provided an intense learning curve in virology, immunology, and infectious disease dynamics. This evolving understanding has now led me to take a closer look at measles, especially in light of the recent outbreaks across the United States.
Initially, when I saw the surge in measles cases, my first reaction was: What is going on? The simple explanation is that unvaccinated children are passing it to each other. While that is certainly happening, my bigger concern is whether this is part of a much larger subclinical outbreak linked to COVID-induced immune suppression.
A New Look at Measles Transmission
Measles has long been understood as a highly contagious respiratory virus, but we must recognize its unique infection pattern:
What’s crucial here is that once the virus exits through the lung epithelium, it cannot reinfect those cells. The infection process must begin again through immune cells, not through epithelial reinfection. This is a game-changer when considering how measles causes lung complications like pneumonitis.
I’ll be presenting on this topic in my upcoming talk. If you’re interested in the science behind these concerns, the epidemiological patterns emerging, and potential ways forward, register now through the link in the description. Let’s discuss the unseen risks and what we can do to stay ahead of them.
The Unseen Threat: Is Measles About to Intensify Amid COVID?
Thursday 27th March @ 7PM UK time
Is Measles Pneumonitis Actually Autoimmune?
Measles has long been associated with severe pneumonia, sometimes leading to death. However, given the virus’s exit strategy, I believe that measles pneumonitis is not a direct result of viral replication in the lungs.
Why is this important now? Because COVID-19 has been shown to cause profound immune suppression, particularly affecting T cells, NK cells, and regulatory immune balance. This raises two critical concerns:
Subclinical Measles Circulation – If measles is circulating silently in vaccinated populations due to weak mucosal immunity, we may be vastly underestimating its spread.
Synergistic Immune Suppression – Both COVID and measles cause immune dysregulation. Having two widespread viruses suppressing immunity simultaneously could leave populations vulnerable to multiple infections and increased mortality.
What Happens Next?
The risk is not just about measles outbreaks but about how a combination of immune-disrupting viruses could reshape population health. If COVID-19 has created a broadly immunosuppressed population, we could see more severe measles outcomes, increased susceptibility to bacterial infections, and prolonged immune dysfunction.
This is why I believe now is the time to reassess measles immunity, not just from the perspective of vaccination rates but in terms of immune system resilience post-COVID. If measles-induced immune amnesia and COVID-induced T-cell depletion continue unchecked, we may be on the verge of a more dangerous infectious disease landscape than we realize.
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