Rubella also commonly referred to as “German Measles” was previously believed to be a variation of measles until 1814 when it was first correctly indicated as a separate disease in German medical literature. Although the the rubella rash presents similar to the rash associated with measles, rubella is less severe and infectious. Rubella is distinguished by a red rash that first presents on the face and spreads to the trunk, arms, and legs and disappears in the same progression. The rash looks similar to many other viral rashes and must be confirmed by blood tests for the presence of rubella antibodies.
The rash itself presents with mild discomfort with accompanying symptoms being similar to that of the common cold. Symptoms may include low grade fever (<102 degrees Fahrenheit), sore throat, headache, and reddened eyes. Adults, particularly females may also experience sore joints and swelling of lymph nodes. Approximately fifty percent of those infected with rubella will not exhibit any symptoms. Symptoms will typically last between two and three days and present two to three weeks after exposure to the virus. Although rubella is generally a mild disease, rare cases may result in Encephalitis (a brain infection) occurring in approximately one in six thousand cases or temporary blood problems; both of which rarely result in long term consequences. The most devastating symptom of rubella is the development of Congenital Rubella Syndrome when a pregnant woman passes the virus on to her unborn fetus. Infected pregnant woman have a 90% chance of passing the virus on to the fetus which can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, and severe birth defects. These defects include: glaucoma, cataracts, bone disease, growth retardation, abnormal mus...
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...vaccine is administered and some have mistakenly taken this as cause and effect. Celebrities and other individuals telling others not to vaccinate their children because it is unsafe could potentially open up a large portion of the population that is not protected and therefore potentially susceptible to contracting rubella.
Although there is no cultural group that is particularly susceptible to rubella, a study conducted by a vaccinologist with the Mayo Clinic that was published February 26, 2014 in the journal Vaccine indicates Black Americans respond better to the rubella vaccine than those with european or hispanic ancestry. The researchers discovered Somali Americans developed twice as many antibodies to rubella after receiving the current approved rubella vaccination than did White Americans. Hispanics appeared to have the lowest immune response to the vaccine.
second event was the epidemic of rubella measles that occurred in the United States. This
Shingles is a rash on the skin that is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is the same virus that causes chicken pox. The rash is extremely painful and is accompanied with many additional symptoms. The first symptoms are located on one side of the body and include tingling, pain, or burning sensations around these areas. The second symptom of Shingles is a red rash that develops in patches on the skin. Finally the rash then develops into small blisters that end up bursting, drying out, and then flaking off. Other common symptoms include abdominal pain, general ill feeling, headaches, and joint pain (Sampathkumar, P., et al, 2009).
The Latin name for measles is rubeola. The pathogen which causes the disease is a paramyxovirus, which is one of a group of RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses. Measles is a respiratory disease caused by a virus, and also comes out in a rash. The virus enters the body via the respiratory system, and grows in the cells at the back of the throat and in the cells that line the lungs, from there it then enters the blood stream and circulates the body.
The Measles starts with a fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, and sore throat. It is then followed by a rash that spreads over the body, starting first on the face along the hairline. The infectious period of measles is 4 days before rash onset through 4 days after rash onset. The measles are a highly contagious virus that lives in the nose and throat mucus and spreads through the air through coughing and sneezing. (WHO, 2016). The measles virus can remain airborne for up to an hour after the infected person has left the area. The measles are so contagious that if one person has it, 90% of the unvaccinated people close to them will become infected. Rarely can the virus be deadly. The incubation period for
Mumps is primarily a childhood disease, occurring most frequently between the ages of 5 to 9, although it was also known as a problem for soldiers during war because of the sanitary conditions and close proximity. For instance, in World War I only influenza and gonorrhea were more prevalent among the armies. It replicates inside the nose, throat, and regional lymph nodes. The virus incubates for about 14-18 days, and then a viremia occurs for about 3-5 days. During the viremia it can spread to the meninges, salivary glands, testes, ovaries and pancreas. Out of the infected population, 30 to 40% get swollen parotid salivary glands, with most of the rest being asymptomatic or having only respiratory problems. Around 60% of patients have asymptomatic meningitis, with up to 15% progressing to symptomatic. Encephalitis is also possible, occurring in around 5/100,000 cases. The encephalitis almost always results in some permanent hearing loss, and was historically the leading cause of hearing loss in children. Orchitis (testicular swelling) happens in up to 50% of post-pubertal males, with oophritis (ovarian swelling) happening in only 5% of women. Orchitis often results in testicular atrophy but very rarely in sterility.
In the Frontline episode The Vaccine War, a progressively distressful debate ensues among many scientists and doctors within the public health system and an unnerving alliance of parents, politicians, and celebrities. The topic of debate is the overwhelming pressure parents feel to vaccinate their children and their right to decline such vaccinations. In several American neighborhoods, groups of parents have been exercising their right to refuse vaccinations, which has elevated anxiety on the return of vaccine-preventable diseases such as pertussis and measles. The reason such parents are denying their children various vaccines such as the MMR “triple shot” for measles, mumps, and rubella is because they are convinced that it is linked to autism, a link that has yet to be proven. Many of these parents are focused solely on their children, not taking into account that their decision may put the American populace at risk for disease. Such parents are not thinking about other members of society that vaccines don’t work for, and in certain adolescents the effects deteriorate, thus only when every person is immunized the “heard immunity” is successful.
This can be seen in the article Vaccine Controversies by Jane Lemons. “Public health officials say refusing to follow vaccine protocols allows diseases to spread rapidly as happened in December 2014 when a measles outbreak began at Disney Land and spread to seven states.” The measles outbreak from 2014 could have easily been avoided if all children who entered the park were indeed vaccinated. If the majority of children were vaccinated there would have been no possible way for the disease to spread. While it can't be denied, A lot of families do choose to vaccinate their children, there are still some who don't, this is seen in the article Vaccine Controversies by Jane Lemons. Although the vast majority of Americans continue to vaccinate their children, studies have found that as many as 1 in 10 parents are delaying or forgoing some or a; recommended vaccines for their children. Because some parents are delaying or forgoing all vaccinations more children are at risk of going under the influence of a fatal disease that could cut their lives too short. Fatal diseases have the ability to spread at unthinkable rates and vaccinations are used to combat these deadly diseases but if families refuse to vaccinate their children once fatal diseases could return at epidemic
...’t aware of an issue of unvaccinated children into the mix, leading to people believing that vaccines may cause autism. Recalling a few years ago, this was on news stations reporting on Jenny and her son’s autism, if that could change my mind on vaccines, its possible that other peoples have opinions has wavered, also.
Vaccines are an integral part of modern preventive medicine. Without vaccines, not only would most malignant epidemics still be around, and the world would also be in a much more polluted era. The streets would be littered with diseased, there would have to be mass graves for the dead, and the healthy would have to be quarantined inside a sterile environment.
The death rate from Measles, Chicken Pox and Pertussis was much higher prior to 1930,
When looking back on history, it is evident to see that humans by nature are warriors. Humans often find themselves fighting mysterious battles against disguised enemies. Throughout history the earth has been afflicted with mysterious diseases, which tend to invisibly cause the preponderance of civilizations to perish. The evolution of infectious diseases has and always will provide challenges for humankind (Hoff, Smith, and Calisher 6-7). Over the course of time, humans gradually developed a preference to live in large urban settings. Urbanization and the cross-cultural interaction of civilizations have both strongly provoked widespread illness, which is known as an epidemic or pandemic based upon size. An epidemic is when a common disease affects a large number of people within a particular region (Lamb). A pandemic is similar to an epidemic but is even more widespread than an epidemic, and spreads throughout entire continents or even the world. Despite the slight variation in meaning, most pandemics are interchangeably denoted as epidemics (Friendlander 13-14). Epidemics and pandemics have formed the course of human history by inflicting lifestyle alterations and abruptly killing large masses of people. When one thinks of widespread disease it is easy to think that pandemics and epidemics are things of the past. Unfortunately, epidemics are commonly found today in poorer countries and major pandemics are still on the rise, such as the modern disease AIDS (Lampton 12-15). Nonetheless, epidemics and pandemics affect large portions of the world’s population; thus, these ongoing diseases will always influence the history of mankind because they force transformation amongst even the strongest civilizations.
According to the CDC, Center for Disease Control, during the first 48 hours symptoms like fever, headache, drowsiness, and could be apparent before the rash. The red, burning, itchy dots could appear all of the body including the arms, legs, head, chest, belly, and inside genitals. Blisters that are filled with clear fluid and ulcers can develop from the sores. The sores and blisters will eventually dry up and turn into scabs. The amount of spots on a person can differ per case; some have extreme amounts of blisters all of their bodies, while others barely have blisters. Warm conditions tend to irritate the rash more. The disease is easy to recognize because its main sign is rash. It is rare to get a lab for diagnosis for chicken pox although the varciella zoster virus can be diagnosed by a blood test that detects the antibodies for the
When children are born and for the first two years of their lives, they receive multiple shots and drops of vaccines. These vaccines protect them from getting diseases that were deadly and common in children many decades ago. Vaccine is one of the greatest achievement in medicine history. There were thousands of lives lost in the battle with some of the terrifying diseases like smallpox and polio. Now, after years of vaccine invention, vaccination spread in many countries which helped in eradicate several illnesses. In the United States, each family is required to show their children's immunization chart in order to get accepted in many educational institutes. Parents usually face the decision whether to vaccinate their children or not when their children are first born. Knowing how vaccines are made and their mechanism to prevent diseases as well as, the process they go through to be approved for public use, can help parents in making the choice for vaccinating their children.
Each day researchers are finding out about vaccines and are realizing that there are a lot more risks than benefits. Dr Phillip F. Incao explains: “Today, far more children suffer from allergies and other chronic immune system disorders than from life-threatening infectious disease. It is neither reasonable nor prudent to persist in presuming that the benefits of any vaccination outweigh its risk” (qtd in Spaker). While infectious diseases are becoming uncommon there is no need for any person to get vaccinated. There have been many issues surrounding vaccinations all around the world.