MeaslesBy

Emma Butler, Nadia Douglas, Brian Fay, Sive Finlay, Sara Kinsman, Chris Mulvey,

Sarah McGrath, Siobhán Regan

What is Measles?• An infection of the

respiratory system• Caused by the

Morbillivirus• Transmitted through

respiration • Symptoms: fever, cough,

rash koplik’s spots

Diagnosis & treatmentClinical diagnosis requires a

history of fever of 3 days, with at least 1 of: cough, cold, conjunctivitis

Koplik’s spots are diagnostic, but not always seen

No specific treatment

Evolution of measlesEvolved from the

rinderpest virus in the 11th and 12th centuries

Thought to have evolved in an environment where cattle and humans lived in close proximity

1st scientific description by Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi

Historical treatmentsAncient Egypt

MythologyHerbal treatments

Ancient RomeMythologyHerbal treatments

American Indians Disharmony Medicine men

The Dark Ages & Medieval Era Proper obedience to God and

the will of the ChurchDirty water : to keep a baby

from growing up sicklyRabbits foot: to prevent

diseaseLeechesBleeding : “draining out” the

illnessRoasted mice

Homeopathy & MeaslesIn Eastern medical

philosophy, poisons are believed to accumulate in the baby's body during life in the womb.

Changes in your child's behaviour.

Measles strengthens the immune system.

Virgin population that has never experienced the disease.

Fiji 1875• Measles epidemic killed over 40,000 people• Increased visiting vessels and shorter travelling times –

from Australia rather than England• No natural immunity – used as evidence for natives

being less evolved• Extrinsic factors increased the severity

• vitamin A deficiency• coinfection with pneumonia and diarrheal disease• starvation – hurricane and unable to gather food due

to the epidemic• refusal to accept the risk – similar to HIV in the

1980s

Native American IndiansMeasles introduced to the

Americas by Old World settlers beginning with the Voyages of Columbus in AD 1492

Separate evolutionary histories for host-pathogen relationships prior to Age of Exploration

Lack of immunological memory increased risk of infection, morbidity and mortality

“Virgin-soil” epidemics

Native American IndiansOld World diseases

preceded contact by actual explorers

Populations already decimated by the time Europeans settlers attempted to colonise

Intensified reactions to measles vaccine observed in unexposed populations of American Indians to this day

Intrinsic & Extrinsic Drivers• The intrinsic and extrinsic driving factors

of measles are well characterised.• Earn et el (2000) used a seasonally forced

SEIR model to demonstrate how changes in complex dynamics could be predicted, with just knowledge of population size and vaccination rates.

Intrinsic & Extrinsic DriversFrom studies similar to that of Earn et al

(2000)- intrinsic and extrinsic factors of measles are not mutually exclusive of each other

Interactions between1. Intrinsic, nonlinear dynamics and2. Extrinsic, seasonal cyclesDrive the disease and influences the epidemics

Cyclical Nature of Epidemics

Any Questions?