Epidemiology
Outbreak Characteristics (Who, When, & Where)
Chapter 2 states that the characteristics of person who might be at risk of being a disease carrier depends on the factors like the age, sex, and even the person’s race (Gordis, 2008). As for the recent measles outbreak in Texas, it was identified that the outbreak started when one of the residents went back from a trip where measles is a common disease. This correlates to Gordis’ claim regarding human factors being the risk of acquiring the disease (state.tx.us). People who are sickened, range between the age of 4 months and 44 years old (Szabo, 2013).
Regarding with the characteristic of when the outbreak occurred, Gordis asserts that a certain disease occur in a certain periodicity. There may have a seasonal pattern, however, that a certain disease occurs. Questioning when disease outbreaks can be answered by analyzing the disease trends in the long run, which compares the number of affected people for each year (Gordis, 2008). As for the Texas’ measles case, it showed that the measles was at its peak for the last ten years before the vaccine was introduced. However, cases were reported when some Americans visited European countries where measles is endemic.
Diseases are not being randomly spread in place or time as what Gordis argued. It was stated that disease may occur in a place where ideal human host and causative factors are both present (Gordis, 2008). So as for the measles outbreak in Texas, both human hosts and outbreak causes are present in which one resident was identified to be a positive carrier from overseas, which was then initially spread among people in church as the first human host is a frequently goes to church.
Preventing Future Outbreaks
Gordis (2008) claims that preventing future possible outbreaks is by modifying the disease’s natural history so as to delay if not to prevent the disability and death. This practice will also improve patient’s health and the population in general. However, there may be a challenge of choosing the best available preventive measures to achieve this goal. Having these challenges, we may still accomplish our purpose of preventing future disease outbreaks through carrying out researches that determine the essence of these measures. Gordis also claims that randomized trials can be considered an ideal design for the evaluation of both the side effects and the effectiveness of new forms of intervening possible outbreaks.
References
Gordis, L. (2008). Epidemiology (4th ed.). Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier, Saunders.
Szabo, L. (2013, August 25). Texas measles outbreak linked to church. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/23/texas-measles-outbreak/2693945/
Texas Department of State Health Services (2013, August 26). Measles Update. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/disease/measles/
