The Efficiency Of Measles Awareness Programs And Methods Of Disease Prevention

According to the CDC, there are 29 states here in the U.S. that have reported confirmed cases of measles as of the 3rd of July this year so far, and growing. (CDC, 2019) We are going to look at some programs and preventative measures that are available to address the issue of this potentially deadly disease that comes from a virus.

The increase in reported cases is due to international travelers that brought it here to the U.S. It did not help that there are still so many people unvaccinated. There are many population groups at high risk of contracting measles, and the fact that it is transmittable through the air from a simple cough or sneeze of an infected person makes it even more serious.

This disease has no known cure or treatment, but it is preventable. Measles can be prevented with measles-containing vaccine, which is predominantly administered as the combination measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. I have not uncovered any policies on measles, however, the CDC’s addressing the current outbreak in numerous methods.

They have executed an incident management structure inside the national center for immunization and respiratory diseases to answer to the measles outbreak. They are emphasizing to health care workers the guiding principle for recognizing and preventing measles. Since propaganda about vaccines is flowing in communities, the CDC has established a toolkit with resources that doctors can use with parents and other patients to emphasize what we know about measles and vaccines. CDC is also functioning to address vaccine reluctance.

Counting generating new resources and updating current resources to counter misinformation. CDC continues outreach to the medical entities to assist spreading clear, reliable, incredible vaccine info through reliable sources. (Messonnier, 2019) We will have to see if it will be effective or not.

Alert Systems

Other programs to help with prevention and fight the outbreak are alert systems here in the U.S. that have been built into the electronic medical records systems to alert physicians and nurses that dwell in an area with an outbreak, based on their zip code. According to chief epidemiologist Dr. Phillips from NYU Langone Health, it lets them know if they have a patient coming into the facility that could have been exposed and need to be addressed. The system will also provide them with the information on those who are un-vaccinated. There have been hospitals that has sent out letters to parents to urge them to have their children vaccinated if they have not already done so. (As an important reminder), in efforts to also help stop the spread. (Steenhuysen, 2019)

Conclusion

In conclusion of this report, because these programs are still new, there is no data yet on if or how effective these programs are. They sound to me like they will be, and I really hope so, because I still believe that not enough people are taking this health problem and issue seriously, and until they do and ensure that them themselves and their children are vaccinated, the rise and climb towards another epidemic is surely underway.