Measles: Your Next Amusement Park Attraction

By Ammara Virk

Measles is a well-known, but perhaps not thought-of-often disease. Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. It can spread via air. Symptoms include fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, and sore throat. This is followed by a rash that spreads all over the body. It remains “one of the leading killers of children in the world” (Park, CNN)

Measles has, typically, been relatively well contained within the U.S—in fact, the US had eliminated the disease 15 years ago. However, measles has resurged, and “it’s not alone” (Park, CNN). Not only has measles re-emerged in northeast Nigeria, but it has also made an appearance in Disneyland in California.

I feel that this resurgence may have partially to do with immunization—how people perceive immunization has a great effect on whether or not they are willing for themselves and their loved ones to receive it. Particularly in the US, it may be that since the disease was supposedly eliminated a while ago, people may have been lax, and easily spread the disease. For example, in Canada last year, a group that didn’t take the vaccines carried its infection back to Canada after visiting the Netherlands. 


Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/06/health/measles-worldwide/index.html
               http://www.cdc.gov/measles/index.html