A1. Outbreak
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. Persons infected with measles can spread the disease to others from 4 days before up to 4 days after rash onset. Maculopapular rash appearing all over the body is a classic symptom of measles. Other symptoms include high fever, runny nose, sore throat and hacking cough. There is no specific cure for measles however, medications can be taken to alleviate symptoms caused by the virus. People generally recover from the virus within 2 weeks. In some rare instances severe problems can occur which include, pneumonia, encephalitis, seizures or meningitis.
In 2008 140 measles cases were reported in the United States. Travelers to Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, India, Israel,
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5. A graphic representation of the measles outbreak
A6. Effect on Community
According to an article published in the Union Bulletin in September 2012, “Harvey Crowder, administrator for Walla Walla County Public Health Department stated about five percent of kids entering kindergarten in area schools are not immunized for a variety of reasons …” (Hagar, 2011) Those parents/person’s choosing an exemption from immunization laws have a greater risk of contracting communicable diseases and spreading to rest of the community. It is possible for an unimmunized person to acquire community immunity to certain diseases, however more than 94% of a community needs to be immune to measles in order for the unimmunized person to be immune to the disease. (Community Immunity, 2006)
B1. Protocol
Health care providers in Washington State have an obligation to contact local health authorities to report cases of persons infected with communicable diseases such as SARS. Washington State Department of Health have established timelines for reporting communicable diseases. According to the document found at http://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1200/phsd-LHJ.pdf, certain diseases/conditions need to be reported either immediately, within 24 hours, 3 business days or monthly. Persons infected with SARS need to be reported immediately to the local health
As of January 2015, it was reported that at least two dozen people were infected with Measles between
Audience hook: In 2014, the U.S experienced a record number of cases of measles, mostly from the Philippines. Most were unvaccinated and most were from international travel.
According to the Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine Preventable Diseases textbook aka “The Pink Book” (2015) which was produced jointly by the Communication and Education Branch, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Measles is a paramyxovirus with the primary site of infection in the nasopharynx. It has an incubation period of 10-12 days. The first symptoms to occur are fevers (increasing stepwise 103-105 degrees), cough, runny nose and conjunctivitis approximately 2-3 days after exposure and last 2-4 days. The second part of the infection occurs approximately 14 days after exposure; which is evidence by Koplik spots on the oral mucosa. Then, 1-2 days later, a maculopapular rash develops along the hair line, face,
(Center For Disease Control).Those at greatest risk for contracting the disease are individuals who do not vaccinate or children to young to receive the vaccine. Signs and symptoms of measles include high fevers up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, rash, cough, conjunctivitis and runny nose. Many other complications may evolve once a person is infected with measles some being otitis media and pneumonia. The infected person is contagious roughly about 4 days prior to the rash forming and for about 4-5 days after the rash disappears. Most people that have died from the disease did not die from measles but the complications of measles and secondary illnesses. (The History Of Vaccines).
Facts and figures available to study the epidemiological data for the outbreak of measles include gathering suspected and confirmed cases of this disease from the World Health Organization. This is done by gathering serum samples from all suspected cases to determine if a measles specific immunoglobulin antibody is detected. This particular disease lives in the nose and throat of the infected individual and is considered contagious for a period of four days before the rash appears and for a further four days after the sighting of the rash.
In early April 2013 a measles outbreak was discovered in North Carolina. By mid-May the outbreak had been identified in Stokes and Orange Counties via 23 active cases. Every case was linked back to a family that had spent 3 months in India and had not been vaccinated. By the 16th of April the state laboratory of Public Health was able to confirm the diagnosis, with the last known case being confirmed on May 7th. The investigation of this outbreak revealed 4 patients with a confirmed diagnosis that had received one of vaccination of the two part series. The other 19 cases had not ever been vaccinated.
Measles is a very contagious disease that is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family (World Health Organization, 2016). Measles, a virus only found in humans, can be passed through the air or by direct contact. It can be spread by sneezing, coughing, close personal contact or direct contact with infected nasal or throat secretions. The virus enters the body via mucous membranes and then it is carried throughout the body. Usually when someone has been exposed to measles, the first sign will be a high fever beginning about a week and a half after the exposure and
At the first possible outbreak of SARS, the nurse will need to follow protocol. The initiation of the protocol begins with an assessment of the patient. A doctor will determine if the patient is possibly infected with SARS by following the physical and epidemiologic criteria. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention mandates reporting to the all cases where the patient has pneumonia of an unknown origin, and could have recently been exposed of the SARS virus [ (Center of Disease Control, 2005) ]. Once the report has been made the community health nurse should have all hospitalized patients with respiratory symptoms questioned on their recent history and possibilities of contact with the virus. Next, the community health nurse needs to educate staff and the community about possible ways to contract SARS, and encourage behaviors such as, frequent hand washing, covering their nose and mouth while coughing or sneezing, and using and properly disposing of tissues for respiratory secretions. [ (Center of Disease Control, 2005) ] Once health care members and the public are educated on the route of transmission they can prevent being exposed. Confirmed infected patients would be transferred to Seattle, where they can be in isolation rooms, patients can be more critically monitored, and research centers can be of benefit to
Vaccinations are safe and they work. There are many parents who choose for their own reasons to ignore Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations to vaccinate and exercise their right to not do so. They run the risk of having their child suffer or even possibly die when they opt-out to having their child vaccinated. Today in the United States, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease are often traced to susceptible children whose parents have claimed an exemption from school or child care immunization regulations (CDC, 2014).
The recommended vaccinations for children entering kindergarten are 4 doses of diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, and acellular pertussis (DTaP), 2 doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and 2 doses of the varicella vaccine. The national Healthy People 2020 goal for kindergarten vaccination rates is 95%. Although the majority of states report vaccination rates at or near the goal, clusters of non-vaccinated groups can develop in some communities (Seither, 2014, p.1). Anthropological studies showed that the higher rates of non-vaccination correlated with outbreaks of diseases for which children typically receive vaccines. In reaction to numerous outbreaks related to higher rates of non-vaccinated children, California and other states introduced legislation to make it more
The American Health Association has also been working hard to remind Americans that without vaccinations throughout our population, preventable – and serious – diseases could once again rise in our schools and homes. Indeed a recent outbreak of measles in Minnesota is but one of recent outbreaks in developed countries.
Measles is an airborne disease that is spread through respiration (contact with fluids from an infected person's nose and mouth, either directly or through aerosol transmission (coughing or sneezing)), and is highly contagious—90% of people without immunity sharing living space with an infected person will catch it.[4] An asymptomatic incubation period occurs nine to twelve days from initial exposure. The period of infectivity has not been definitively established, some saying it lasts from two to four days prior, until two to five days following the onset of the rash (i.e., four to nine days infectivity in total), whereas others say it lasts from two to four days prior until the complete disappearance of the rash. The rash usually appears
Patients that are contracted by this disease don’t actually become ill until about 7-18 day after they are infected by the virus(Carson-DeWitt). The most contagious time period is the three to five days before symptoms begin through about four days after the characteristic measles rash has begun to appear(Carson-DeWitt). A few days after the first few symptoms, a rash appears in the mouth, mainly on the mucous membrane that lines the cheeks(Carson-DeWitt). The rash is made of tiny white dots on
A research conducted at the University's Center for Chemical Genomics points to a chemical that can reverse cataracts, one of the leading causes of blindness in the world. The molecule (compound 29) belongs to the chemical family of sterols and the research was published in the November 5 edition of Science. It is to be noted that cataracts are one of the leading cause of blindness in the world, affecting several thousands of people.
Cataract surgery has become a widespread phenomenon across the world in recent years. Technologies rapid advance has led to new and better techniques to do surgery. Laser assisted cataract surgery is better than the conventional cataract surgery since there is less surgical time, it is more precise, and there are less complications.