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Disneyland Measles Outbreak

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Disneyland Measles Outbreak

Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing
C228
Andrea Paige Pounds
September 18, 2015

Disneyland Measles Outbreak
One of the most popular places to visit in the United States today is Disneyland in California. Thousands of people including children can be found all together at one time in the Disneyland Theme Park having the time of their life with rides, shows, and dining at park restaurants. Disneyland can be a fun-filled dream for many families but can also be a family’s worst nightmare if a visitor happens to have a communicable disease, which is exactly what happened in December 2014.
As of January 2015, it was reported that at least two dozen people were infected with Measles between the dates of December 15 and December 20 at Disneyland. Measles is an extremely highly contagious disease. In fact, it is one of the most highly contagious diseases in existence. Among everyone that is without immunity to Measles, it is estimated that 90% of those exposed will become infected, and it is not surprising to find that several people that visit Disneyland are not immune because a child may be too young to be vaccinated, a parent may have chosen not to have their child vaccinated because of certain beliefs, or someone may have an illness that causes them to have a weak immune system. These are known as epidemiological determinants of the disease, the factors that widens the spread of the disease (Haelle, 2015). It is believed that Measles came to Disneyland by either an international traveler visiting the amusement park or by someone who traveled outside of the United States and contracted the disease bringing it back to Disneyland (Regan, 2015). By the beginning of February 2015, the Measles outbreak that started at Disneyland had spread to 14 states (Ross, 2015). Measles thrive in the mucus of an infected person’s

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