Measles Case Analysis

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Epidemiological Determinants

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 …show more content…

Among the 34 secondary cases, 26 were household or close contacts, and eight were exposed in a community setting. Five of the California patients reported being in one or both of the two Disney theme parks during their exposure period outside of December 17–20, but their source of infection is unknown. In addition, 15 cases linked to the two Disney theme parks have been reported in seven other states: Arizona (seven), Colorado (one), Nebraska (one), Oregon (one), Utah (three), and Washington (two), as well as linked cases reported in two neighboring countries, Mexico (one) and Canada (10).” (Measles Outbreak, 2016). In California, 45% of the patients were unvaccinated, while 5% had one dose of the measles-containing vaccine, 6% had two doses, one had three doses, 43% had unknown or undocumented vaccination status. (Who Outbreak, 2016). Pointing out that almost half of the cases are in unvaccinated patients making it important that all received the measles vaccinations. Specimens from 30 California patients were genotyped; all were measles genotype B3, which has caused a large outbreak recently in the Philippines, but has also been detected in at least …show more content…

At this point the Fort Wayne Health Department would be contacted and updated as a potential measles outbreak. The directions are on the Indiana Health Department website, immediately report them to your local health department or the ISDH Vaccine-Preventable Epidemiologist, Mugdha Golwalkar, at mgolwalkar@isdh.in.gov or at 317-233-7112. For after-hours calls, please contact the ISDH Duty Officer at 317-233-1325. (Measles 2/10/15). For example, Fort Wayne having a large Burmese population there could be a potential for a measles outbreak. Since measles are spread through close contact with an infected individual and the Burmese are a close tight knit community. Therefore, the foreign born unvaccinated population would be at higher risk of contacting the measles. With a reluctance to seek medical health this virus would spread quickly with a 90% infection rate of unvaccinated individuals. In addition, the initial onset of the illness can be mistaken for another illness infecting more individuals before one receives treatment. Furthermore, the incubation period is 4 days before the rash and 4 days after the rash it allows the virus to be highly contagious. Consequently, schools, public transportation, and common public places like the library would be

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