Outbreak

Measles Outbreaks The Measles outbreak of is perhaps one of the largest, after recent record highs in Then the cases went down, 54 in 2012 and 189 in 2013. Reports show that measles cases are on the rise in other countries, too, especially in Turkey, Philippines, Vietnam and Germany. So far, there are about 160 confirmed cases in the United States in 2014. This figure is expected to continue rising due to unconfirmed cases. Recent measles exposures include 59 cases in Ohio, 38 in Knox County, 6 in Holmes, 1 in Wayne and 1 in Richland. This is a record high, beating the recorded 58 cases in 2013, in New York City (Turncock, 2012).
The US has sufficient health structures in place and measles vaccine are usually given to people, so there have been lower measles cases as compared to cases in the rest of the world. From 1997, measles cases have ranged from 37 to 220. The cases have been reduced due to routine measles vaccine started in 1963 and MMR vaccine (1971). Before these intervention, measles cases were as high as 500, 000 with 500 deaths every year.
Public health workers need to be competent enough to deal with measles cases. They need to be competent in measles vaccination. Public health workers should be well trained to be able to deal with emergencies and endemic diseases. They should be able to act with speed and professionalism in maintaining the situation, but most importantly, they should emphasize on preventive measures such as vaccination (Turncock, 2012).
Competency frameworks are important because they offer guidelines on health training, especially as concerns dealing with communicable and chronic diseases. They provide standards for health practitioners to follow so that they are able to respond to health issues such as disease breakdowns and dealing with preventive and curative measures.
Reference
Turncock, B. J. (2012). Essentials of Public Health (2nd Ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Barlette Learning.