Health Behavior, Communication and Advocacy Health, Medicine Essay

Customer service
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Measles
Problem statement
Every parent in the community needs to be aware of the cause and existence of measles disease. Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by the rubeola virus. It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It normally starts as a fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and sore throat and soon after, a rash of tiny, red spots breaks out (Office, 2019). Measles can cause serious complications, including encephalitis, severe diarrhea and dehydration, pneumonia, ear infections, permanent vision loss, and can even lead to death. The disease mostly affects children under the age of five years. However, the disease is preventable by vaccination. It's the responsibility of the local government to provide immunization. In 2007, the world vaccination of measles reached 82%, and the number of related deaths drastically dropped. The disease is still a problem in most countries because of reduced vaccination. Resurgence cases are also high in those countries that have reduced child immunization. It is encouraged that countries that want to eliminate measles should have achieved above 90% vaccination at the national level (Philippe et al., 2009).
In a community, it's important to vaccinate all children below the age of five to prevent them from a possible measles disease. Vaccination is key to the prevention of disease resurgence in the communities. A vaccination campaign is necessary because the exercise is mostly conducted in phases. In compliance with the COVID-19 protective measures, personals conducting vaccinations should be trained on infection, prevention, control measures and equipped with personal protective equipment. The local authorities should also identify and set up temporary vaccination sites in open spaces. The sites should be disinfected to make the immunization safe from contamination.
Factors contributing to contracting measles
A highly contagious virus called the paramyxovirus causes measles. The virus replicates in an individual's nose and throat and spreads by respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or even talks. It invades the respiratory system, thereby causing symptoms of fever and flu-like before spreading to the whole body. The virus can stay in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours. An infected person remains contagious for eight days and can infect up to 90 percent of the people exposed. Vaccination helps protect one from getting measles and also curbs the spread to other people (Vincent, 2019).
Outbreaks of measles occur when it attacks a wide geographical area. Unvaccinated individuals majorly cause widespread measles. A case study of a 7-year-old in California, who was not vaccinated due to parental reasons traveled to Switzerland. He got sick and returned home, after which he developed a fever and a rash. He interacted with the family members and the pediatrician before getting hospitalized. It was then discovered that he had measles. Eleven children got affected; five from school, four got it from the pediatrician's office, and two were his siblings (Vincent, 2019). The situation provides a perfect scenario of how measles outbreaks in a community and thus shows the importance of vaccination.
Health behaviors to minimize chances of contracting measles
Controlling and management of measles is challenging being a communicable disease. People with measles are infected from four days before rashes appear up to four days after they have disappeared (PHE, 2017). Therefore, people should be careful when around individuals were showing signs to minimize their chances of contracting the disease. Maintaining good personal hygiene such as the washing of hands, disposing of used tissues, and avoiding coughing in public can reduce chances of contracting measles. An individual should get vaccinated whenever they have any related symp...