Application of Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing
VWT Task 2
Lisa Elie
Western Governors University
A. Meningococcal Disease
1. Meningococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis. About 10% of people are considered carriers of this disease because they have the bacteria in their nose and throat but exhibit no signs or symptoms. On the rare occasion that this bacteria invades the body and signs and symptoms become present it is then considered meningococcal disease. The symptoms that will present include: a stiff neck, high fever, sensitivity to light, confusion, headaches and vomiting, lethargy, and/or a rash. If immediate medical treatment is not given, the infection can progress quickly and cause death. Even with early diagnosis of the disease and proper treatment, 5% to 10% of infected patients die. In these cases death usually occurs within 24 to 48 hours after symptoms present. (CDC, 2014b).
Outbreaks of meningococcal disease have been reported in several countries over the years. Some of the most prevalent outbreaks occurred in the United States (1992-93), Spain (1995-97), Mongolia (1994-95), Uruguay (2001), New Zealand (1991-2000) and Saudi Arabia (2000-2002). The most prevalent outbreak of meningococcal disease occurred in Africa between 1988 and 1997. During this timeframe there were 704,000 reported cases and more than 100,000 deaths. Again, between 1998 and 2002 more than 224,000 new cases of meningococcal disease were reported in Africa(Jafri & Ali, 2013).
2. Meningococcal is a contagious disease that is transmitted from one person to another through saliva during close or lengthy contact. Meningococcal disease cannot be transmitted by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where an infected person has been. People in the same household, roommates, inmates, school aged children, or anyone with direct contact with a patient's oral secretions would be considered at increased risk of getting the infection. Risk factors include:
• Age –more common among infants, adolescents, and young adults. * Community setting—more prevalent in large group settings (i.e.: schools, prisons, and homeless shelters). * Medical conditions—having no spleen or having complement component deficiencies. * Travel—outside the country especially to Africa in the dry season (CDC, 2014b).
3. An outbreak of meningococcal disease in my community could greatly impact the community. This community already has overcrowded hospitals, so having to treat infected patients would put additional strain on the hospital’s overcrowding and lack of staffing. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities would also be expected to administer antibiotics and vaccines to prevent to disease from spreading further which would also put additional strain on these facilities because it would require additional space and staff.
An outbreak at an institution such as school or prison could greatly disrupt normal business practice and cause anxiety among the community. Screening and prophylaxis treatment would need to be done for all persons involved.
The local health department would need to be involved to make sure all reporting is done as well as screening and notifications of others that could be at risk (CDC, 2014b). 4. Any case of meningococcal disease is required to be immediately reported to local or state health department. The case should then be reported to the CDC through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS), through the National Electronic Telecommunications System for Surveillance (NETSS), or the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) within 14 days of the initial report to the state or local health department (CDC, 2014b).
5. There are vaccines available to prevent meningococcal disease. Although these vaccines are not 100% guaranteed to prevent the disease they quite beneficial in disease prevention. The community needs to be educated on the importance of receiving these vaccines. Education should come from multiple sources and methods in order to be effective. These sources and methods could include healthcare facilities providing educational pamphlets, using television, radio, newspaper, billboards giving information and education to high risk areas (i.e.: prisons, schools) on importance of vaccines.
Also, because the vaccine is not 100% guaranteed to prevent disease and not everyone is 100% compliant in receiving the vaccine, education should occur in recognizing the symptoms of the disease and what to do if the disease is suspected. This education should occur at high risk places such as prisons, schools, homeless shelters, and college dorms. All persons involved at these facilities should be educated in recognizing the symptoms and what to do if they should be present.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/surv-manual/chpt08-mening.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Meningococcal Disease. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/index.html
Jafri, R & Ali, A. (2013) Global Epidemiology of Invasive Meningococcal Disease Population Health Metrics, volume 11, p17. Doi: 10.1186/1478-7954-11-17
