Caroline Hulbert 11.17.20
AP Bio C Even Current Event 7
Cunningham, Aimee. “Measles Has Come Back with a Vengeance in the Last Several Years.” Science News, 14 Nov. 2020, www.sciencenews.org/article/measles-cases-deaths-numbers-increase-2019-outbreaks-covid.
For this current event, I decided to review the article “Measles Has Come Back with a Vengeance in the Last Several Years,” by Aimee Cunningham. The author begins the article with statistics about the measles, stating that from 2000 to 2016, the number of reported measles cases worldwide dropped from 853,479 to 132,490, however cases began to rise again after that. In 2019, 869,770 people had the measles, and around 207,500 people died from it. Cunningham cites an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who states that we have had a safe and effective vaccine for the measles since the early 1960s, making this setback highly upsetting. She also says that in order to prevent outbreaks 95% of a community must be vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine. However, only around 84% of people globally have received the first dose. There are nine countries--Central African Republic, Congo, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, North Macedonia, Samoa, Tonga and Ukraine--where outbreaks of measles have been especially prevalent, making up 73% of the reported cases in 2019. This is due to low vaccination coverage, as well as a lack of confidence in the vaccines, leading to lower vaccination rates. Cunningham also states that the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has had a negative impact on infection rates of measles. The economic hardship brought on by the pandemic has increased malnutrition, which increases the severity of the disease. Cunningham concludes the article by describing a new method of vaccination that is in the works. Single-dose adhesive-backed patches could release an array of needles coated with the vaccine to dissolve in the skin. Because these patches would not require the same cold temperature needed for the current measles vaccine, vaccinations would be more accessible and easier to administer. It will take a few years, but these patches would increase vaccine coverage and reduce outbreaks.
This article is very relevant to society today as measles outbreaks increase, either by lack of vaccine coverage or by distrust of the vaccine. Especially with the current coronavirus outbreak, it is now more important than ever to prevent other deadly disease outbreaks, which would be worsened by both the physiological and economic impacts of COVID-19. It is also important for the effectiveness of the vaccine to be expressed toward people in other countries, as well as parts of the US, who do not believe in vaccinations. Their unbacked distrust for the vaccine has deadly consequences for communities.
This article was very well-written and informative about current issues. The author included insights from numerous medical experts in different fields and locations about the rise in measles cases around the world. She also includes a new type of vaccination that may become available in a few years. It would have been helpful for the author to include information about why measles cases are rising. She stated the factors that would lead to an increase in cases, but did not describe why case numbers went down significantly before their sharp increase in 2016. Cunningham began the article with statistics about incidences of the measles. I think that if she had opened her article with something more personal to readers, like a specific story or information about measles cases in the US, it would have made it more personal to readers and helped them fully understand the severity of the situation.
Victoria Ruffo
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP BIO
11/17/20
Cunningham, Aimee. “Measles Has Come Back with a Vengeance in the Last Several Years.” Science News, 14 Nov. 2020, www.sciencenews.org/article/measles-cases-deaths-numbers-increase-2019-outbreaks-covid.
www.sciencenews.org/article/measles-cases-deaths-numbers-increase-2019-outbreaks-covid.
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/
For this week’s current event, I analyzed Caroline’s review. In her review, Caroline exhibits three strengths. First Caroline’s review has a very nice flow to it. In her first paragraph she writes, “The author begins the article with statistics about the measles, stating that from 2000 to 2016, the number of reported measles cases,” (review). By summarizing the article in the correct order, the reader has a better understanding of the material being discussed. Secondly, Caroline does a great job pulling evidence from the article. Her quotes include statistics and data that help support her review. She explains, “She also says that in order to prevent outbreaks 95% of a community must be vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine. However, only around 84% of people globally have received the first dose,” (review). By including this data, Caroline proves to her audience that she is a credible source while also revealing important facts about her topic. The last strength in Caroline’s review is her connection between measles and corona. I thought this was a very insightful viewpoint and it benefited her review. She specifically says, “Especially with the current coronavirus outbreak, it is now more important than ever to prevent other deadly disease outbreaks, which would be worsened by both the physiological and economic impacts of COVID-19,” (review). This explanation gives the reader a full understanding as to why the article is so critical to today’s society
One weakness in Caroline’s review is her lack of description in her strengths paragraph. She simply states, “The author included insights from numerous medical experts in different fields and locations about the rise in measles cases around the world,” (review). Here would be a good place to insert some evidence from the article and elaborate on why she felt this benefitted her learning. It would help to enhance her review by making it more detailed and informative. Another weakness in Caroline’s review is the back end of her relevance paragraph. When she writes, “It is also important for the effectiveness of the vaccine to be expressed toward people in other countries, as well as parts of the US, who do not believe in vaccinations,” I wish she would have elaborated more on why people don’t believe in vaccinations and what are the implications of not being vaccinated. This information would have benefitted Caroline greatly by adding another element to her review.
One point in the review that interested me was the fact that, “There are nine countries--Central African Republic, Congo, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, North Macedonia, Samoa, Tonga and Ukraine--where outbreaks of measles have been especially prevalent, making up 73% of the reported cases in 2019,” (review). It is crazy how just nine countries can make up such a large percentage of reported cases. This proves that the healthcare systems in these countries need to make improvements so that they can better aid their populations. These countries should encourage their residents to take the vaccine so that they can protect themselves and hopefully kill the virus once and for all. I thought this article was super interesting and I understand why Caroline chose to review it. There are many parallels to be drawn between the measles outbreak and the coronavirus. I would love to see more information and data on this in the future.
Nate Kim
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito, AP Bio
12/9/20
Cunningham, Aimee. “Measles Has Come Back with a Vengeance in the Last Several Years.” Science News, 14 Nov. 2020, www.sciencenews.org/article/measles-cases-deaths-numbers-increase-2019-outbreaks-covid.
www.sciencenews.org/article/measles-cases-deaths-numbers-increase-2019-outbreaks-covid.
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/
Caroline’s deep dive into "Measles Has Come Back with a Vengeance in the Last Several Years" is a brilliant display of analytical genius that is able to properly inform her audience on the topic of measles and its apparent resurgence after a period of inactivity. Caroline does a great job of weaving in her own personal commentary in the intro paragraph where she gives a summary of the article. As a result, there is great flow between ideas and the summary becomes more cohesive as a result. I loved the way Caroline gave clear reasons as to why she chose this article. It really gives us great insight into her thoughts and creates a connection with the audience that makes her seem more trustworthy and reliable. Lastly, I liked her connections and extrapolation of ideas. Caroline does not just regurgitate the ideas from the article. She adds to them with original and unique thoughts of her own. Specifically, as she explained the apparent correlation between COVID-19 and measles cases, she notes that we must still trust vaccines to do their jobs. Distrust in vaccines will only create more problems.
Although I really enjoyed reading Caroline’s analysis, I believe that there are places that could be improved. Caroline uses sophisticated vocabulary that could make her writing a little hard to understand for readers that are not well-versed in the field of biology or science in general. This is easily remedied by just defining more terms or using simpler language. For example, in the intro/ summary paragraph, Caroline uses the term “epidemiologist .” If this term is not known by a reader, the rest of the paragraph will be confusing. Caroline describes the word to an extent, but her explanation could have been better. If Caroline had explained that an epidemiologist is someone who studies diseases within populations of people, the rest of the review would be easier to understand for readers not versed in Biology terms.
From this article, I have learned a lot about measles, vaccines, and the effect COVID has had on measles. I chose this article to comment on because of my perception of vaccines and my opinions on ANTI-VAXers. I have to agree with Caroline that a portion of the population not getting the vaccine is very, very dangerous. Now, more than ever, we need to trust our vaccines to keep us safe from deadly viruses. This article has definitely changed my perception of measles. I have never met anyone who has had measles so it didn’t seem like that big of an issue because there was a vaccine. It shocked me that over 200,000 people died in 2019 from measles. This article has definitely changed my perception of viruses in our world.
For my current event, I read a review by Caroline on an article originally published in Science News, titled “Measles Has Come Back with a Vengeance in the Last Several Years.” First, Caroline did an excellent job when writing her introduction because it immediately interests readers by discussing the statistics of measles cases. “from 2000 to 2016, the number of reported measles cases worldwide dropped from 853,479 to 132,490, however cases began to rise again after that. In 2019, 869,770 people had the measles, and around 207,500 people died from it. ” This caught my attention and made me want to continue reading. Caroline also did a good job explaining the importance of this study and its implications to us today. For example, “This article is very relevant to society today as measles outbreaks increase, either by lack of vaccine coverage or by distrust of the vaccine. Especially with the current coronavirus outbreak, it is now more important than ever to prevent other deadly disease outbreaks, which would be worsened by both the physiological and economic impacts of COVID-19. ” This quote is a key point in the article. Lastly, I appreciate how Caroline was able to make a connection between the topic and the reader by comparing the two outbreaks.
ReplyDeleteAlthough her review was very well written, there are certain areas in which she could have improved. For example, she could have defined more of the scientific terms in the article to allow her article to be more clear. Secondly, Caroline should have explained more about how the measles statistics compare to the coronavirus statistics.
Caroline’s current event was very well written and informative. Her current event has made me want to learn more about the science of vaccines.