Download Measles Outbreak and Epidemiological Determinants and more Thesis Financial Accounting in PDF only on Docsity!
Running Head: MEASLES OUTBREAK C Community Health C228 Task 2 Western Governor’s University MEASLES Rubeola, better known as the measles, is one of the most contagious and infectious diseases that mostly affect young children due to being unimmunized either by choice or possibly by income constraints. Prior to the vaccination in 1963, there were about 500 deaths related to measles and about 500,000 cases were reported every year (Zucker, Rosen et al, 2020, p. 1010). Which brings me to the outbreak I will be focusing on that was noted to be the “largest [outbreak] reported in the United States since 1992” that occurred in New York City in September 2018 (Zucker, Rosen et al, 2020, p. 1014). This specific outbreak started with a family traveling back from Israel. An unvaccinated child returned to New York City and developed symptoms, specifically a rash shortly thereafter. The New York Health Department was immediately notified. Subsequently a total of 649 cases were confirmed “with onsets of rash occurring between September 30, 2018 and July 15, 2019” with the majority of the patients residing in or near Williamsburg, New York (Zucker, Rosen et al, 2020, p. 1011). At the time the child was in Israel, there was an active outbreak of measles. Israel’s outbreak was traced back to Ukraine in March 2018 to May 2019. The genotype associated with this outbreak was one of the most common circulating the world: genotype D8 (Zucker, Rosen et al, 2020, p. 1013). EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS
Although measles was thought to be eradicated in 2000 due to no active cases within a twelve-month period, outbreaks are presenting themselves in highly populated and highly international travel cities (Zucker, Rosen et al, 2020, p. 1009). Of the 649 cases, approximately 476 were unvaccinated which resulted in a higher occurrence of transmitting measles (Zucker, Rosen et al, 2020, p. 1012). The result of this outbreak was due to unvaccinated tourists traveling overseas to a destination rampant with measles and were inadvertently exposed and then traveled back to the United States not knowing they were infected. Had these travelers been vaccinated, it would have increased their immunity which would consequently increase the prevention of the infection and help control possible contamination. TRANSMISSION ROUTE Coughing and sneezing is how measles spreads and infects people. It is highly contagious and is specifically found in the nose and throat. Those that are infected are contagious approximately four days prior to seeing the rash. Those that have not been vaccinated for measles have a 90% chance of becoming infected (“Measles”, 2018). This virus “can live for up to two hours in an airspace where the infected person coughed or sneezed [and] if other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface […] they can become infected (“Measles”, 2018). IMPACTION ON MY COMMUNITY If there was a measles outbreak in my community, the schools would insist on a district wide shut down in order to prevent the spread of transmission because this virus targets populations that are unvaccinated. This virus could also possibly shutdown numerous businesses to reduce the spread of infection, if they didn’t it could lead to an unsafe environment and a potential shortage of employees due to likely contamination and contraction of the measles virus.
References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, August 19). Measles (Rubeola). Retrieved October 25, 2020 from (https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html Utah Department of Health. (2018, November). Infectious Disease Emergency Response Plan. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from http://health.utah.gov/epi/IDER_2018.pdf Zucker, J., Rosen, J., Iwamoto, M., Aricuolo, R., Langdon-Embry, M., Vora, N., Rakeman, J., Isaac, B., Jean, A., Asfaw, M., Hawkins, S., Merrill, J.D., Kennelly, M., Morgenthau, B., Daskalakis, D., and Barbot, O. (2020, March 12). Consequences of Under vaccination - Measles Outbreak, New York City, 2018–2019: NEJM. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa
