The California Measles Outbreak

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.

Imagine traveling to the “Happiest Place on Earth”, Disneyland, with your family. While you are there a person that has not been vaccinated is walking around with the measles virus in their system. While that person shows no signs or symptoms of the measles, they are infecting others that haven’t been vaccinated, due to young age or other purposes. Now what turned out to be many people’s family vacations is now a life-threatening situation for some. This type of outbreak actually occurred during December of 2014, where 40 Californians were exposed to the measles at Disneyland and 91 additional cases of the outbreak strain also occurred from the people exposed affecting others (Blumberg et al, 2015). Outbreaks likes this can potentially be

Thirty-nine (35%) of the California patients visited one or both of the two Disney theme parks during December 17–20, where they are thought to have been exposed to measles, 37 have an unknown exposure source (34%), and 34 (31%) are secondary cases. Among the 34 secondary cases, 26 were household or close contacts, and eight were exposed in a community setting. 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).”(CDC, February 11, 2015)

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.

In December of 2014 a measles outbreak started in California at Disneyland. Though the source of the virus has not been identified, the strain of the virus (B3) is the same strain of virus that caused a measles outbreak in the Philippines. This is one possibility of the mode of transportation, coming internationally from the Philippines. One hundred seventy-three people were infected with the virus in 21 states. Of those, 39 were directly linked to the park while the rest were primary and secondary exposures. California, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, and Washington were some of the states with measles associated with the Disneyland outbreak. By January 2015, Mexico had an outbreak from a 22-month-old baby that had connection to Disneyland Park and 53 people there were infected. The measles virus continued to spread throughout the States until February

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

In December of 2014, an outbreak of measles, which started in Disneyland, resulted in nearly two hundred people being sickened across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The highly contagious respiratory disease spread for three months. Among those who contracted the illness, one developed severe pneumonia and multiple organ injury, while another suffered acute respiratory distress syndrome. So, why did an illness, which was purportedly eliminated sixteen years ago, experience a surge so dramatic that it caused more cases in 2014 than in the five preceding years combined? According to the CDC, the outbreak could be boiled down to one simple reason: “The majority of people were unvaccinated.” So while the California measles outbreak is a thing of the past, the fight to increase compliance with vaccinations continues. Although the benefits and safety of vaccinations are undisputed by the medical and scientific community, there are still sizeable groups of “anti-vaxxers” who refuse to vaccinate their children. These groups spread misconceptions, sometimes unknowingly, and become even more influential when coupled with the power of the internet and social media. Therefore, in order to increase compliance with routine vaccinations, the misconceptions of parents should be targeted, and legislation should be changed in order to prevent leniency and loopholes regarding vaccine exemptions.

reporting only one case of measles in 2000 - 2009 and no cases in 2011 - 2015.

The current measles epidemic began in early 2015, and has gone through the end of the year. By late December, the number of new cases was declining and the situation seems to be improving. The government does not appear to have done much to solve the issue, but there are several organizations in the area that are involved in the crisis. They have been working to vaccinate children and treat those who have been infected. Many people and institutions around the world have also donated money in response to the situation.

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

With the effective work carried out by all agencies involved in the measles epidemic, the outbreak was declared over on July 2rd 2013 this is thought to have been a short time frame and could of lasted a lot longer if it wasn’t for the commitment and combined efforts provided by all agencies including primary care, local authorities, health boards and public health wales (BBC, 2013).

3 Suspected Measles cases reported from two facilities after the on job training (the facility staffs didn’t know Suspected Measles case is reportable)

Usually a person doesn’t start to get symptoms of measles until they have been infected with the virus for 7-11 days. The symptoms are: