![]() ![]() ![]() Misdiagnosis, delayed reporting, and delayed contact precautions can all interfere with infection control measures and lead to a more widespread outbreak. According to the CDC, providers must implement isolation precautions immediately to limit the spread of the disease. Both the CDC and state and local health departments track its incidence and engage in contact tracing whenever appropriate. The first is that measles is a reportable disease. Two immediate considerations exist when measles is diagnosed or strongly suspected. “The ability of nurses to quickly assess and diagnose patients for infectious diseases saves lives by reducing the potential spread of this highly communicable disease,” reports Pate. Nurses are trained to perform a focused health assessment so when a patient presents with a fever, rash, and cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis-the "three C’s"-they should immediately consider the possibility of measles. More importantly, they should search for evidence from credible sources, assess their environment, and seek the counsel of advanced practice nurses such as IPCs to identify the indicators for a potential outbreak. Pate believes that all direct care nurses on the front lines of health care must understand the signs, symptoms, and disease progression of measles. This leaves babies under the age of one especially vulnerable because they are too young to receive the vaccine and have no natural immunity. And 90 percent of those exposed will catch the disease if exposed to the virus and are not immune to it, either through vaccination or natural immunity from surviving the disease.ĭespite this, immunization rates have dropped precariously in some communities, due to unfounded fears about vaccine side effects. Those infected can shed the virus silently before they develop symptoms and know they are ill. Measles, also known as rubeola, spreads quickly because it’s a true airborne virus, capable of floating in the air for many hours after being expelled by the cough or sneeze of a sick person. In this case, the single most important task that an IPC performs is to educate individuals, organizations, and communities on appropriate and timely prevention strategies and control measures to prevent the spread of this disease. On some days, when an infectious disease such as measles re-emerges, they must also don their control hats. Pate points out that IPCs wear their prevention hat every hour of every day. So it is important that we think globally and act locally when faced with the globalization of infectious diseases.” “Infectious diseases can occur anywhere in the world and spread quickly to other regions through trade and travel. “The potential for infectious disease outbreaks is something at the forefront of every IPC specialist’s thoughts and actions,” says Barbara Pate, PhD, MPH, RN, nursing faculty at American Sentinel University. ![]()
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