Apparently the Olympics are not all fun and games...
This article titled "London Olympics 2012 may spark measles outbreak, US warns" was written by Rosa Prince of New York, on March 20, 2012 and published online to a site called The Telegraph.
This article talks about how America is at risk of a measles outbreak, caused by all the tourists that will be returning home from the summer games in London this year. Measles is common in Europe and can spread quite easily because "diseases know no borders", according to the CDC.
Just last year "there were eight deaths and 26,000 cases of measles across Europe." Meanwhile, America only experiences around 50 cases a year. The reason these numbers are so much higher in Europe is due to the fact that in 1998 there was a British autism scare, in which parents became skeptical of vaccinating their children from diseases such as measles and mumps. (But that was later proven false.) However, as a result, the measles epidemic is more prevalent in Europe.
The CDC is "concerned about Americans coming back from the Olympics this summer and unknowingly infecting others." This is because the measles epidemic has an incubation period of around 8-12 days, so tourists that look healthy when returning may actually be infected by the potentially deadly virus already.
Measles is a disease similar to a few others we have learned about this year in the sense that it has a fairly long incubation period. Smallpox and typhoid are a few examples. This is dangerous because infected people can easily spread the disease in this time without even knowing.
On another note, this article shows how important is it to get vaccinated from a disease. Although there may be some side effects, the pros far outweigh the cons of getting vaccinated. If Europeans choose not to, that is there loss, but Americans should be smart enough to make sure they have their measles vaccine before heading over to London.
It is important to do a little research before leaving the country because as we know traveling often leads to the spread of disease.
This article really struck my attention because it has to do with international affairs and the Olympics, both of which interest me. I thought it was particularly interesting that the rates of people who get measles in America is so much lower than those in Europe. It is also kind of frightening because any instance, such as Olympic athletes returning with the virus, could start an epidemic in the US. This really does connect with our class because, as Jill said, many of the different epidemic diseases we have studied have a rather long incubation period, which means it could be spread without anyone even knowing. If the Olympic athletes came back with the virus, they could easily give it to their families and other people congratulating them on their accomplishments. This article made me think of our current unit on Polio because as we have said in class many times, it does not discriminate with any one group of people, but can affect any race, age, and gender type. Just like this article says, "diseases know no borders" which is an important quote to remember because anyone can be affected and everyone should take the proper precautions at all times to make sure they stay healthy and are not affected by the virus.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Jill and CJ that this disease is very concerning for Americans especially. As wonderful as the Olympic Games are, these statistics make me nervous for this summer. It’s interesting how I never even considered disease spread during the topic of the Olympics, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Like Jill mentioned, there are tourists from all over the world congregating in one big city. Each tourist is carrying with them diseases primitive to their home land. It is a perfect recipe for a disease outbreak. U.S. citizens should be wary of Measles among other diseases upon the return of tourists and athletes from this summer’s 2012 Olympic Games.
ReplyDeleteThis article also caught my attention because I enjoy watching the Olympics, and have never thought of the possibility of diseases spreading there before. Like Kate said, there are people from all over the world meeting together in one city and sports arenas. With everyone in close contact, and the long incubation period of measles, it would be very easy for the measle virus to spread to people. Then, if someone is infected but is not showing symptoms, they could easily fly back to America and unknowingly spread the virus around. This article relates to our class because we have learned how important it is for people to get a vaccine when it is available to them. For instance, it was a very important task for the GPEI to make sure every child under the age of five in India received the Polio vaccine, in order to eradicate the disease.
ReplyDeleteIts so true that all these different diseases are coming together in one city where people are around who sometimes are not always vaccinated against them. There are multiple diseases that can be spread by sweat and at the olympics many people are compeating and training in the same area. I think that every person on an Olympic team should be vaccinated against many of the diseases they would not typically see in their home country, to prevent them bring a virus back to their country.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that there were about 26,000 in Europe and only 50 in the US was shocking to me. But what was most shocking was that out of all the cases, their were only eight deaths. I bbelieve that everyathlete, and US citizen just going to view the games should be vaccinated. It is kind of like the scare during the Super Bowl. I agreewith Jill's point that it is important to do your research before leaving the country, or to just check in with a doctor. There are a lot of diseases that we don't know a lot about since we don't deal with them on the basis other countries do, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be aware to them. I think we don't know enough about diseases since here we are fortunate enough to not come in contact with them. Our class gives us insight to the struggles of other countries and I strongly believe that all students should be educated on this because it is important and shows how fortunate we are, and how dangerous these diseases we don't hear about that much can be.
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