In the recent years, various communities in the United States have witnessed an increase the prevalence of communicable diseases whereby most of these illnesses were considered to have been eliminated or controlled (Clemmons et al., 2015). In the light of this, some of these diseases have escalated to epidemic levels causing serious problems to the healthcare workers and the community in its entirety. This increase can largely be attributed to changes witnessed in vaccination practices in regard to these diseases as well as increased mobility among the community members. As such, healthcare workers should understand the epidemiological patterns of these diseases and develop suitable interventions to control their spread and subsequently contain the outbreaks.
Measles outbreak is one of the major epidemic witnessed in the United States over the last few years. Measles is one of the most highly contagious illness that mainly spreads from the susceptible host to other individuals through sneezing as well as coughing. In addition, the illness spreads if an individual comes into contact with an infected surface or breathes air that is contaminated with the virus. Previously, incidences of measles had been minimized in the United States through MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccinations (Clemmons et al., 2015). However, changes recently witnessed among the community members in relation to these vaccinations as well as increased mobility have led to the occurrence of measles outbreaks in the country. For instance, a significant number of the community members decline vaccinations based on religious grounds or philosophical ideologies.
According to CDC, about 667 cases of the disease were reported in twenty seven states in the U.S in 2014 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Additionally, about 189 individuals were found to have the illness in twenty four states in 2015. Most of these cases were as a result of direct importation of the disease from other countries that had experienced the outbreak. In regard to this, the illness was mainly transmitted by unvaccinated individuals who had travelled to measles prone countries and upon their return retransmitted the disease to unvaccinated citizens. For instance, in 2014 a significant number of infected individuals was found to have a strain similar to the one that had caused a measles epidemic in the Philippines. Moreover, the illness was found to have been transmitted by unvaccinated individuals who had visited other countries that had experienced the outbreak such as France, Germany as well as the Spain.
According to WHO, Philippines had experienced a massive outbreak of the disease in 2014 whereby most of the infected individuals in the country were unvaccinated. Additionally, Germany had witnessed an outbreak of the disease in 2015 where about 1700 people were diagnosed with the illness. Similarly, France and Spain experienced such outbreaks in 2011 and 2014 respectively where about 7,288 people in France were hospitalized from the disease (Clemmons et al., 2015.
There are various epidemiological determinants that are associated with measles outbreak that increase the prevalence of the disease. In the light of this, vaccination status is the key determinant associated with the spread of the illness whereby the illness mainly affects unvaccinated individuals. Furthermore, malnutrition is another determinant of the illness. Essentially, malnutrition lowers the immunity level of an individual making them highly susceptible to the disease. In addition, the level of income as well as the education level of an individual is another determinant that increases ones susceptibility to the illness. Typically, measles is an airborne disease that is mainly affects individuals from low income areas due to overcrowding. On the other hand, individuals with low levels of education are usually unaware of the importance of vaccinations making then the most vulnerable group (Clemmons et al., 2015).
Essentially, the disease is transmitted from the susceptible host to other individuals through sneezing as well as coughing. Additionally, the illness can transmitted if an unvaccinated individual comes into contact with infected surface or breathes air that is contaminated with the virus. Thus, the illness most transmissions occur in overcrowded areas such as densely populated areas and institutions.
Thus, it is crucial to understand the risk factors associated with measles in order to efficiently prevent or minimize its spread. Firstly, being unvaccinated is the key risk factor associated with measles and thus individuals who have not received measles vaccinations are highly susceptible to the illness. Secondly, travelling internationally is another risk factor whereby individuals who travel especially to measles prone countries have a high likelihood of contracting the illness. Thirdly, deficiency of vitamin A is another risk factor for measles and thus individuals who are vitamin A deficient have higher chances of contracting the illness as well as developing symptoms that are more-severe.
The emergence of measles outbreaks affects the efficient functioning of various systems in the community and thus it is important to take proactive action to prevent the occurrence of such outbreaks. For instance, outbreaks affect the efficient functioning of school systems since school foster transmissions due to overcrowding. Hence, the outbreaks mostly affects students whereby this limits their class attendance leading to poor performance. Moreover, outbreaks affect the delivery of health services in the hospitals since an outbreak increases the demand for health services among patients suffering from the disease whereby this limits the provision of services to other patients (Abubakar et al., 2012). More importantly, outbreaks increase the amount of health spending among the community members as well as the local government whereby this affects the efficient functioning of businesses. For instance, outbreaks increase the amount of expenditure incurred by the local governments in containing the epidemic whereby this limits the delivery of other crucial services.
Therefore, it is important to develop a comprehensive reporting protocol in order to prevent such outbreaks in future. In relation to this, healthcare professionals should report incidences of suspected cases promptly to the relevant departments in order to rapidly control the disease and prevent the escalation of the spread to epidemic levels.
Overall, is order to prevent the emergence outbreaks healthcare workers should create the relevant intervention strategies through continued research and the adoption of evidence-based practices. In this regard, healthcare professionals should educate the community members on the importance of MMR vaccination and their effectiveness in preventing the disease (Abubakar et al., 2012). More importantly, healthcare workers should encourage community members to be vaccinated and foster the enactment of policies that promote MMR vaccinations.
References
Abubakar, I., Gautret, P., Brunette, G. W., Blumberg, L., Johnson, D., Poumerol, G., & Khan, A. S. (2012). Global perspectives for prevention of infectious diseases associated with mass gatherings. The Lancet infectious diseases, 12(1), 66-74.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Measles | Cases and Outbreaks | CDC. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html
Clemmons, N. S., Gastanaduy, P. A., Fiebelkorn, A. P., Redd, S. B., & Wallace, G. S. (2015). Measles—United States, January 4–April 2, 2015.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 64(14), 373-376.
