Case Study Project: Measles Infection in an Unvaccinated Child

This case study presents a scenario of a 6-year-old boy, Jonathon, who contracted measles after a trip to South Asia with his parents. Jonathon was not vaccinated, a decision made by his parents. The case details Jonathon's symptoms, including fever, cough, runny nose, rash, diarrhea, and vomiting. The doctor diagnosed measles and hypothesized infection during the trip. The study then delves into how measles works and spreads, explaining its highly infectious nature and transmission through airborne droplets. It describes the initial symptoms, the virus's progression through the body, and the potential complications. The study also references the World Health Organization's role in vaccination and surveillance, and it includes references for further reading on the topic.

Running head: CASE STUDY PROJECT
CASE STUDY PROJECT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

1CASE STUDY PROJECT
Jonathon is 6 years old boy who lives with his parents in the city of Dryden, Ontario,
Canada. The name of the Jonathon’s parents is Rose and Jack. Jonathon’s father, Jack, is a sales
representative in a pharmaceutical company based in Ontario, Canada. Jonathon’s mother, Rose,
is a housewife and she take care of her child, Jonathon, full time. Jonathon is the only child of his
parents and they live together in their own house. Presently, Jonathon is studying in the
elementary school in the local community school in Dryden, Ontario, Canada. However,
Jonathon was not immunized against the known viruses whose vaccination is available in the
modern medical industry. The decision to not vaccinate Jonathon was taken by both their parents
and it was omitted voluntarily and by choice. Recently, Jonathon had a trip to South Asia with
his parents as tourists. It was a combined trip and they travelled to various countries like
Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Their whole trip lasted 2 weeks and they visited Thailand
last. One week after the trip, Jonathon has developed fever. Along with the fever, he had
symptoms like Cough, Runny nose, Rash all over the body. Additionally, he was also suffering
from Diarrhea and Vomiting. The rash was initially observed in his face and then it spread out
throughout his body. Jonathon’s parents, Jack and Rose, thought their child has been infected
with Chicken Pox and booked an appointment with the doctor. The doctor diagnosed that their
child has been infected with measles. The doctor collected Jonathon’s medical history and found
out he is not vaccinated against measles and after hearing about their trip to the South- Asian
country, the doctor hypothesizes that their child might have been infected with measles during
his trip to the South Asian country as this country has a very high incidence rate of measles and
herd immunity in this country is also very low. Jonathon’s delayed incidence might be due to the
fact that measles virus takes at least 10 - 14 days to be activated after its exposure.

2CASE STUDY PROJECT
From the above data presentation in the above paragraph, it can be seen that there is a
high chance that Jonathon was infected by the measles virus during his travel. This raises the
questions why Jonathon was not affected while staying in his native country and why does he
infected by measles virus during his travels. Therefore, in the following section, the questions,
‘How measles work and spread?’ will be discussed and elaborated.
Measles is a viral illness which is extremely infectious. Notwithstanding the accessibility
of a safe and efficient vaccine, it remains a huge cause of death between many young kids
around the world. Measles are passed through droplets from the mouth, nose, or throat
of affected individuals. There are many initial symptoms of measles and primary of them would
be heavy fever, runny nose, bloodshot eyes, and white, tiny spots inside the mouth which usually
occur ten to twelve days following the initial exposure. After few days, a rash begins to spread
gradually downwards from starting on the face and also the upper neck. WHO or World Health
Organization is the primary organization accountable for management of vaccination and
surveillance actions related to immunization supporting countries from all over the world
(Ludlow et al., 2015).
Extreme measles is greater among young kids with poor nutrition, particularly with low-
vitamin A or alongside HIV / AIDS or other diseases due to weaker immune systems. Blindness,
encephalitis (a type of infection where brain swells), dehydration from extreme diarrhea, and
extreme respiratory infection like pneumonia are some of the serious complications of this
disease (Kumar & Sabella, 2016).
The Measles virus is distributed by inhaled aerosol droplets from individual to individual
as an airborne pathogen. This virus generally first gets into contact with the lung tissue of the

3CASE STUDY PROJECT
host which then infects the immune cells known as dendritic cells and macrophages that serve as
an initial warning and defense mechanism. After that, the infected cells travel to the lymph nodes
wherein the viral pathogen transmitted in to T cells and B cells. The virus's entry point is a
surface protein on the white blood cells, which is known as CD 150 (Bentley, Rouse & Pinfield,
2014). Later, infected T cells and B cells shift into the blood and travel throughout the body and
release viral DNAs. The virus will eventually be destined for the organ such as liver, spleen,
thymus, lymph nodes, lungs, and skin. In exceptional cases (approximately 1 in 1000 scenarios)
the virus can break through the blood brain barrier, causing hazardous brain swelling. On the
other hand, lung cell infection engenders cough which circulates the virus within the population
(Versini et al., 2015).

4CASE STUDY PROJECT
References:
Bentley, J., Rouse, J., & Pinfield, J. (2014). Measles: pathology, management and public health
issues. Nursing Standard, 28(38).
Kumar, D., & Sabella, C. (2016). Measles: back again. Cleve Clin J Med, 83(5), 340-4.
Ludlow, M., McQuaid, S., Milner, D., de Swart, R. L., & Duprex, W. P. (2015). Pathological
consequences of systemic measles virus infection. The Journal of pathology, 235(2), 253-
265.
Versini, M., Jeandel, P. Y., Bashi, T., Bizzaro, G., Blank, M., & Shoenfeld, Y. (2015).
Unraveling the hygiene hypothesis of helminthes and autoimmunity: origins,
pathophysiology, and clinical applications. BMC medicine, 13(1), 81.