Infectious diseases are typically caused by microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. Infectious diseases can spread from one person to another person, either direct or indirect. Measles is a virus-borne disease that is highly contagious. Coughing, sneezing and breathing spread the disease through the air. Morbillivirus is the virus that causes measles. The illness has been there for over 1,000 years. Measles is a mild illness that can cause complications such as pneumonia. Encephalitis is another measles-related complication.
In every 1,000 reported cases of measles, one case of encephalitis and 3-4 deaths may occur. Coughs, watery eyes, rash, and running nose are also possible symptoms (Bachtiar et al., 2020). Individuals infected with measles may develop ear infections and diarrhoea. Even though severe cases are rare, measles can cause brain swelling, leading to death. Babies and people with malnourished or weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
The average incubation period for measles is 11 to 12 days. Commencement of rash after measles exposure takes approximately 14 days. A Person infected with measles is regarded as infectious four days prior and four days after the rash appears. Getting a measles vaccine may be the first step in treating the disease. There is no specific antiviral treatment available to combat measles virus.
The serious complications are prevented by providing supportive care that ensures better nutrition, adequate fluid consumption, and the use of the WHO-recommended oral rehydration mixtures. The solution will replenish the fluids lost due to diarrhea or vomiting. Antibiotics should be prescribed to treat both ear and eye infections. Infants aged 6 to 11 months should be immunized before travelling globally. Adolescents and adults who did not receive the vaccine as kids should be vaccinated.
Other preventative measures involve trying to cover one’s mouth when sneezing frequently and avoiding direct contact with infected individuals. Before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, there were massive outbreaks of epidemics every 2-3 years. The disease was estimated to cause 2.6 million deaths per year. In 2017, approximately 110,000 people died as a result of measles. Even though there is an availability of vaccines, most of the victims were children under the age of five (Coulibaly et al., 2018). The vaccination activities led to a decline in measles-related deaths.
Measles vaccinations saved nearly 21.1 million lives between 2000 and 2017.Globally, reported deaths decreased by 80% to 111,000 in 2018 from 545,000 in 2017. Compared to the global incidence, the United States has a low annual incidence of measles. The decrease in incidence due to the high number of non-vaccinated cases and a decline in the number of immunized patients indicates vaccination failure, which may be the main factor that transmits measles and highlights the role of maintaining high vaccine coverage.
Reportable diseases are illnesses that are a significant public health concern. Diseases such as measles should be reported to local, state, and federal authorities. The healthcare provider sends the reported diseases to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The time to report should be when practitioners and laboratories diagnose them. The time to report should be when doctors and laboratories diagnose them. Reporting is essential because it allows for the accessible collection of statistics indicating the regularity of disease occurrence. Statistics collection will assist researchers in identifying disease trends and tracking outbreaks. Furthermore, the information gathered about measles would aid in the control of any future outbreaks.
Determinants of health
Several factors interact to influence people’s health. The circumstances and environment are essential. For example, where one resides, the state of the surroundings, one’s relationships with others, income, and level of education have a significant impact on human health. In contrast, common factors such as accessibility have a less massive effect. The socioeconomic surroundings, physical environment, person’s behaviours, and decision-making are all determinants. Social forces can be health determinants.
The social determinants are social factors and environmental conditions that affect where people live, age and work. The social determinants of health have an impact on a variety of aspects of healthcare and life outcomes. The resource availability influences how diseases affect people. For example, a lack of resources to support a healthy lifestyle would increase the disease’s prevalence. Social support is critical in limiting disease spread. It would aid in the reduction of stigmas. Exposure to technology and mass media, such as the internet, also contributes to the spread of measles.
One who has access to data at the click of a button has an advantage over one who does not. Compromised health services and infrastructure may make routine immunization difficult.Infection is also a risk in overcrowded residential camps. Developing countries might indeed struggle to address the issue. Some Asian and African countries, for example, have a high rate of measles-related deaths. The deaths occur in countries with low per capita incomes. One’s health would suffer due to the absence of and restricted access to health services. For example, if a person does not have access to vaccination, they are more likely to contract measles (Thar et al., 2020).
Medical treatments may be postponed due to a lack of access to health care. Since vaccinations are critical in reducing measles, being unable to obtain preventive services may increase the risk of becoming infected with measles and possibly spreading it further. Individual behaviours are also health determinants. It has an impact on health outcomes. For example, if a person covers their mouth while sneezing or coughing, the probability of spreading the disease is reduced. Numerous public health interventions emphasize changing individual behaviours, such as diet. Positive behavioural changes reduce measles rates in the country.
A person’s behaviour determinants influencing measles development include washing hands, preventing close contact, and avoiding touching one’s mouth and eyes. Another important factor influencing health in measles development is age. Children are more likely to contract the disease. Children who have not been immunized are at a higher risk of contracting measles. Unvaccinated children may face complications, including death. Unvaccinated expectant women are also at increased risk of getting measles. Non-immune persons may also become infected, including those who never developed immunity.
Triangle of Epidemiology
The epidemiologic triangle is a model describing the pathogens that cause infections and the conditions that allow them to reproduce and spread (Oliveire et al., 2018). The triangle aids in the investigation of health issues. This model helps to clarify infectious diseases. The triangle’s three corners represent the agent, environment and host factors. When handling contagious diseases, the agent in the triad is the microbes that cause the disease.
In this case, the agent is a virus. Its presence is required for the infection to occur. Its mere existence is not always enough to cause disease. The chemical and physical components of the agent host are also included. Improving hygiene levels would be one of the factors to consider here. Everyone should remember to conceal their mouths using a tissue or towel when sneezing or coughing. The host is the triad’s second component. The host is the pathogen that can be exposed to the virus by the agent. In this scenario, a human is a host that the measles virus can infect.
Some intrinsic features can influence one’s vulnerability to the agent. Here, the element includes behavioural patterns, socioeconomic status and lifestyle. Exposure, age, and response to immunity are some of the others. Individuals infected with measles may be treated, vaccinated, and given a supportive care package that includes adequate fluid intake and a good diet. Antibiotics may help treat ear and eye infections. The public could also be educated on the prevalence and transmission of measles.
The environment is the third component of the triad. The environment includes everything that exists outside of the host. In addition, the environment encompasses favorable conditions outside of the host and allows the disease to spread. Environmental factors include extrinsic factors, socioeconomic, physical and biological factors are among those considered. One example of a socioeconomic factor is sanitation. A consideration is informing people about the importance of cleanliness.
The Role of Nurses in Community Health
Nurses now work in a variety of healthcare settings. Community health has become an essential component of care delivery. Community health nursing contains evidence-based research and other scientific advances. It also includes new strategies for enhancing health. The goal of community health nursing is to keep the public health. One of the responsibilities of healthcare practitioners is to conduct research. Community health nurses collect and analyze evidence to aid in implementing positive changes aimed at improving health (Magwood et al., 2020). The study also contributes to the verification of funding for healthcare programs, the reduction of inequalities, and the expansion of access to healthcare services.
The community health practitioner is also involved in the reporting of contagious diseases. The public health nurse reveals disease identification to the appropriate body. In addition, nurses work to eliminate or control infectious diseases. They conduct follow-ups to determine whether or not the condition is under control. Furthermore, community nurses provide essential educational services to families and patients. The nurses offer information on a variety of health topics.
Organization
The World Health Organization is indeed one of the organizations handling measles. The World Health Organization’s Meeting in 2010 established three milestones to remove measles in the coming years. The measles target is set to be met by 2015. The first goal of the organization is to increase routine coverage of the measles-containing injection dose by more than 90% countrywide and by 80% in each region. The second objective is to lower and sustain the incidence rate of measles cases to less than 5 per million people.
The third objective is to reduce measles mortality by more than 95 per cent compared to the 2000 estimate. The Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) was approved by the organization’s Health Assembly in 2012, intending to reduce measles in four WHO-designated regions by 2015 and six others by 2020. In 2017, the global push to improve vaccine coverage resulted in an 80 per cent decline in mortalities. From 2000 to 2017, the organization’s efforts led to the mitigation of 21 million deaths, with the help of other initiatives such as the Vaccine Alliance. Most of the deaths avoided occurred in regions such as Africa, with nations backed by one of the projects, the GAVI Alliance.
The organization recognizes the trends embraced in the measles immunization drive, and it’s stated through its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) that the eradication of measles faces major threats since the disease re-emerged in several nations that were on the verge of elimination. The organization continues to strengthen worldwide laboratory networks to ensure timely disease diagnosis and track the international spread of the measles virus, allowing for a more coordinated countrywide approach to targeting vaccination efforts and minimizing mortalities.
Global Influence
Despite improvements in the world economic effort to eliminate measles, 134,200 deaths occurred in 2015. Deaths were reported in several African and European countries during the same year. Several deaths were also reported in the Eastern Mediterranean areas. In 1994, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) directed health ministries across the Americas to launch an aggressive measles eradication campaign. Evidence showed that the transmission of the measles virus in that continent was halted for more than a year between 2002.
Conversely, more cases of virus importation from other countries, including Canada and United States, continue to occur. The attempts were successful, and the nation became the first in the globe to record and confirm the abolition of the disease in 2016. According to the CDC, 36 cases of measles result in death for every one million people each year. Two or one child in every 1,000 die. Furthermore, up to 20 children infected with measles develop pneumonia, the leading cause of death in young children.
Encephalitis, which might result to deafness and convulsions in children, affects one-third of every 1,000 people infected with measles. Critical measures are in place to decrease and eventually eliminate measles in other regions. Six nations in the WHO counties have embraced measles eradication goals. Four WHO-endorsed initiatives to eradicate measles in 2015 failed to meet the elimination targets. In 2010, the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) aimed to eliminate the disease in five WHO regions.
References
Bachtiar, A., & Putri, I. The Correlation between Social Determinants and Environmental Condition with Measles Cases among Infants in Padang, West Sumatera. In 7th International Conference on Public Health 2020 (pp. 106-113). Sebelas Maret University.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC. (2019). CDC Yellow Book 2020: health information for international travel. Oxford University Press.
Coulibaly, F., Coulibaly, F., Adjogoua, E. V., Adjogoua, E. V., Ouattara, A., Kadjo, H., … & Guidy, F. (2018). INTRATYPIC DIFFERENTIATION OF POLIOVIRUSES IN THE INTER-POLIO LABORATORY OF THE INSTITUT PASTEUR OF COTE D’IVOIRE IN 2002–2017: WHAT EVOLUTION?. Russian Journal of Infection and Immunity, 8(4), 523.
Magwood, G. S., Nichols, M., Jenkins, C., Logan, A., Qunango, S., Zigbuo-Wenzler, E., & Ellis Jr, C. (2020). Community-based interventions for stroke provided by nurses and community health workers: A Review of the Literature. The Journal of neuroscience nursing: journal of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses, 52(4), 152.
Thar, A. M. C., Wai, K. T., Harries, A. D., Show, K. L., Mon, L. L., & Lin, H. H. (2020). Reported measles cases, measles-related deaths and measles vaccination coverage in Myanmar from 2014 to 2018. Tropical Medicine and Health, 48(1), 1-11.
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