Koplik's spots

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Koplik's spots in the mouth a child with measles, appearing as "grains of salt on a reddish background." Koplik spots, measles 6111 lores.jpg
Koplik's spots in the mouth a child with measles, appearing as "grains of salt on a reddish background."

Koplik's spots (also Koplik's sign) are a prodromic viral enanthem of measles manifesting two to three days before the measles rash itself. They are characterized as clustered, white lesions on the buccal mucosa (opposite the lower 1st & 2nd molars) and are pathognomonic for measles. [2] The textbook description of Koplik spots is ulcerated mucosal lesions marked by necrosis, neutrophilic exudate, and neovascularization. [3] They are described as appearing like "grains of salt on a reddish background", [1] and often fade as the maculopapular rash develops. As well as their diagnostic significance they are important in the control of outbreaks. Their appearance, in context of a diagnosed case, before they reach maximum infectivity, permits isolation of the contacts and greatly aids control of this highly infectious disease. [4]

Contents

Nobel laureate John F. Enders and Thomas Peebles, who first isolated the measles virus, were careful to collect their samples from patients showing Koplik's spots. [5]

History

Koplik's spots are named after Henry Koplik (1858-1927), an American pediatrician who published a short description of them in 1896, emphasising their appearance before the skin rash and their value in the differential diagnosis of diseases with which measles might be mistaken. [4] [6] He published two further papers on the spots, including one with a colour illustration. [7] An anonymous reviewer of Koplik's The Diseases of Infancy and Childhood refers to the illustration as "the now famous coloured plate". [8]

Some authors ascribe the first written description of these spots to Reubold, Würzburg 1854, and others to Johann Andreas Murray (1740-1791). Before Koplik, the German internist Carl Jakob Adolf Christian Gerhardt (1833-1902) in 1874, the Danish physician N. Flindt in 1879, and the Russian Nil Filatov (1847-1902) in 1895, had observed equivalent phenomena. [9] Koplik was aware of Filatov's work, [10] thought his evidence insufficient and rejected his claim for priority. [7]

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Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than 40 °C (104 °F), cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes. Small white spots known as Koplik's spots may form inside the mouth two or three days after the start of symptoms. A red, flat rash which usually starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body typically begins three to five days after the start of symptoms. Common complications include diarrhea, middle ear infection (7%), and pneumonia (6%). These occur in part due to measles-induced immunosuppression. Less commonly seizures, blindness, or inflammation of the brain may occur. Other names include morbilli, rubeola, red measles, and English measles. Both rubella, also known as German measles, and roseola are different diseases caused by unrelated viruses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarlet fever</span> Infectious disease caused by Streptococcus pyogenes

Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection. It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore throat, fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and a characteristic rash. The face is flushed and the rash is red and blanching. It typically feels like sandpaper and the tongue may be red and bumpy. The rash occurs as a result of capillary damage by exotoxins produced by S.pyogenes. On darker-pigmented skin the rash may be hard to discern.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exanthem</span> Widespread rash occurring on the body

An exanthem is a widespread rash occurring on the outside of the body and usually occurring in children. An exanthem can be caused by toxins, drugs, or microorganisms, or can result from autoimmune disease.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Koplik</span>

Henry Koplik was an American physician. He was educated at the College of the City of New York and at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and earned his medical degree in 1881. He took a postgraduate course at the universities of Leipzig, Prague, and Vienna, and upon his return to America, established himself as a physician in New York in 1883. There, he became connected with Bellevue Hospital, the Good Samaritan Dispensary, and other medical institutions. In 1899, he was appointed as an assistant professor of pediatrics at Bellevue Medical College.

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References

  1. 1 2 Steichen O, Dautheville S (2009). "Koplik spots in early measles". CMAJ. 180 (5): 583. doi:10.1503/cmaj.080724. ISSN   0820-3946. PMC   2645467 . PMID   19255085.
  2. Tierney LM, Wang KC (February 2006). "Images in clinical medicine. Koplik's spots". N. Engl. J. Med. 354 (7): 740. doi:10.1056/NEJMicm050576. PMID   16481641.
  3. Robbins and Cotran. "Infectious Diseases." Pathologic Basis of Disease. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
  4. 1 2 Baxby, Derrick (July 1997). "Classic Paper: The diagnosis of the invasion of measles from a study of the exanthema as it appears on the buccal mucous membrane". Reviews in Medical Virology. 7 (2): 71–74. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1654(199707)7:2<71::AID-RMV185>3.0.CO;2-S. PMID   10398471. S2CID   42670134.
  5. Enders, J.F.; Peebles, T.C. (1954). "Propagation in tissue culture of cytopathogenic agents from patients with measles". Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 86 (2): 277–86. doi:10.3181/00379727-86-21073. PMID   13177653. S2CID   4010044.
  6. Koplik, H (1896). "The diagnosis of the invasion of measles from a study of the exanthema as it appears on the buccal mucous membrane". Arch Pediatr. 13: 918–22.
  7. 1 2 Koplik, Henry (1899). "the new diagnostic spots of measles on the buccal and labial mucous membranes". Med. News, (NY). 74: 673–6.
  8. Anon (1903). "Review; The Diseases of Infancy and Childhood, by Henry Koplik". Lancet. 162 (4171): 389–390. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(00)67711-5.
  9. "Koplik's spots". www.whonamedit.com. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  10. Falkener, L (1901). "Fitalow's spots in morbilli". Lancet. 157 (4040): 315–7. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(01)71368-2. Archived from the original on 2020-01-11. Retrieved 2019-09-09.

Further reading