In 1976, due to an outbreak of influenza at Fort Dix, New Jersey, the United States set a precedent in immunology by attempting to vaccinate the entire population of the country against the possibility of a swine-type Influenza A epidemic. While a great many people were successfully immunized in a very short period of time, the National Influenza Immunization Program (NIIP) quickly became recognized as a failure, one reason being that the feared epidemic never surfaced at all. But this massive undertaking deserves more analysis than just a simple repudiation. For example, all evidence linked to the pathology, microbiology, and historical cycle of influenza and the outbreak at Fort Dix suggests that the reactions of the scientists and other personnel involved in the NIIP were correct. However, one must also acknowledge the many complications and misjudgments that plagued the program after its initiation, from biological difficulties, logistical problems, to tensions with the media. The swine flu is a historical event that needs to be evaluated, regarding both its successes and its failures, so that lessons can be learned for future immunization programs.
While influenza, or the "flu", is not commonly recognized as an extremely lethal disease, the pathology of influenza, and especially of the kind found at Fort Dix, does suggest that an immunization program was a reasonable course to take in 1976. In the public's mind, influenza is often not seen as a specific disease, using interchangeable names for it like "flu", "gripe", and "virus". (Silverstein: 1) However, influenza is very different from an everyday low fever or "stomach flu". It is a respiratory infection, connected with a fever, coughing, and muscle aches, which often la...
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...d be held responsible for not creating a more adaptable program that could deal with these occurrences. The NIIP must be evaluated for its drawbacks and its successes, so that people will not just see this as an unfortunate historical event, but can use it to help further immunization and disease-fighting programs in the future.
Works Cited
The "Flu". Online. 17 Feb. 1999. Available: www.ultranet.com/~jkimball/BiologyPages/I/Influenza.html
Laitlin, Elissa A. and Elise M. Pelletier. "The Influenza A/New Jersey(Swine Flu) Vaccine and Guillain-Barréacute; Syndrome: The Arguments for Causal Association." Drugs and Devices Line, 1997. Online. 15 Feb. 1999. Available: www.hsph.harvard.edu/Organizations/ddil/swieflu.html
Silverstein, Arthur M. Pure Politics and Impure Science: The Swine Flu Affair. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, 1981.
The woman says she is suspicious of the vaccines safety. Guillain-Barré Syndrome is very rare and only happens in one in a million cases. It can also happen if you contract the stomach flu. This disease isn’t deadly and a few months slightly paralyzed over death sounds fair, but people still decided it was better to catch the flu and take a chance on death, that’s what the mother in the comic did. I’m guessing the child was fairly young about one to nine years of age because the swine flu 2009 strain was very severe for this age group. Adults have a stronger immune system and have been exposed to more sicknesses than young children, so for adults the flu wasn’t too bad for them and probably thought that it wouldn’t be as severe for their child, but a young child’s immune system would be overwhelmed by the disease and cause a more severe
2Jill C. Wheeler, Selena, The Queen of Tejano (Minneapolis, MN: Abdo & Daughters, 1996) page 9 paragraph 3.
Hollywood has not always been accepting of Latinas. Current stars Salma Hayek, Eva Mendes, and Penélope Cruz follow in the footsteps of pioneering Dolores Del Rio. Lauded as “The Princess of Mexico", Del Rio was a star whose allure captivated legendary figures Orson Wells, Marlon Brando, Elvis Presley, and Frida Kahlo. Fast friend Marlene Dietrich labeled Dolores, "The most beautiful woman in Hollywood. She has better legs than Dietrich and better cheekbones than Garbo". A beauty that lead to wild rumors of an orchid petal diet, or that Del Rio slept 16 hours a day to maintain her loveliness. Sadly, in a fundamental way, Del Rio’s talent became a prisoner of her splendor.
The authors used a historical timeline to introduce a need. Stressing the number of lives lost allows the authors show the importance of vaccines. The repeated emphasis on those lives being the lives of children played on the emotions of readers. Once the need is established Lee and Carson-Dewitt clarify the use of “a dead or mild form of a virus” to create a vaccine (Lee, Carson-Dewitt, 2016, p.2). The distinction of the types of
--------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Essen, G. A., "The Socio-Economic Impact of Influenza". http://www.eswi.org/Bulletin_October_1997.cfm [2] Frayha, Husn. " Influenza Vaccination: A Call for Action" http://www.kfshrc.edu.sa/annals/176/97-248R.html [3] "Influenza". http://www.caw.ca/whatwedo/health&safety/factsheet/hsfssubstanceno37.asp
During the year of 1976, originating at Fort Dix in New Jersey, a swine flu outbreak occurred that swept across the United States. As thousands stormed into clinics, vaccinations reached its peak. Though the success of the vaccines was better than anticipated, several unfortunates began to develop symptoms of an unidentified syndrome. Approximately five hundred of the thousands of people who received a vaccination for the swine flu began to experience prickling in the fingers and tingling in the toes. They also experienced weakness in the legs that seemed to exacerbate into other symptoms that moved towards the upper body, usually to the arms. Twenty five of the five hundred diagnosed with this disorder passed away due to the complications. The government was forced to take blame of the deaths because they agreed to take liability of the vaccinations and their side-effects.
Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects about 1 in 100 people at different stages in their lives and is very difficult to diagnose. It has many symptoms that typically begin to appear around age 18-30 (2). Signs of Schizophrenia can be misread and sometimes overlooked due to the amount of other disorders that share many of the symptoms. Autism is one example. Symptoms can be classified into "negative" and "positive." Negative symptoms could be seen as those that are absent but should be present. Examples of negative symptoms include lack of motivation or apathy, blunted feelings, depression, and social withdrawal (1). Positive symptoms are those that should be present but are absent. Some examples of positive symptoms are hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder, and an altered sense of self (1). It is thought that hallucinations are the...
The history of vaccinations does not begin with the first vaccination itself but rather an infectious disease that had greatly affected the human population. In 1796 Edward Jenner created a successful composition using cowpox material that created immunity to the ongoing growth of the small pox disease. Jenner’s method underwent 200 years of medical and technological changes until it had finally resulted in complete elimination of the smallpox disease. Vaccinations have been a controversial medical topic for many years and although it is proven to be an effective means of preventing serious effects, including fatalities from childhood illnesses the controversy remains that the side effects from the immunizations outweigh the risk of contracting the disease. According to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia they state that “innovative techniques now drive vaccine research, with recombinant DNA technology and new delivery techniques leading scientist in new directions. Disease targets have expanded, and some vaccine research is beginning to focus on non-infectious conditions, such as addictions and allergies” (“The History of Vaccines” College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Web. 10 January. 2014). While public health officials insist that vaccines are the best way to protect public health. Over the past thirty years the vaccination schedule has tripled and since then there has been an alarming rise in the infant mortality rate in America. The problem is not the vaccination itself, but the quality of the vaccination.
Kent, Susan Kingsley. The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
From the Chelsea Naval Hospital, overlooking the Boston Bay, I sip on a cup of Joe and browse over the Sports Section of the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this month, three Bostonians dropped dead from influenza. In examining the extent of the epidemic, Surgeon-General Blue commented to the Times , "People are stricken on the streets, while at work in factories, shipyards, offices or elsewhere. First there is a chill, then fever with temperature from 101 to 103, headache, backache, reddening and running of the eyes, pains and aches all over the body, and general prostration." I gaze out my window, the sun seems brighter than usual and the town more radiant. It must be the victory, for the threat of death due to influenza is pervasive. Outside, children jump rope. With every skip of the jump rope they chant. "I had a little bird." Skip. "Its name was Enza." Skip. "I opened up the window." Skip. "And in-flu-enza."
It is hard to say whether this plan, had it been successful, would have been for the public good. Before this vaccination period, smallpox had been declared eradicated, and only the United States and Russia were allowed to remain in possession of strains of the disease for research. Fearing an attack, President Bush chose to target those who would be the first-responders in the face of a national medical emergency. However, the CDC has emphasized that there is no imminent threat of an outbreak, which leads one to wonder if this vaccine is really necessary or useful to the public, or if it only hinders our workforce and wastes the tax-payer’s money (5).
Vaccines save us from being infected with viruses. They save approximately 2.5 million people from death every year. However, while they help save lives, vaccines still have both minor and severe side effects. This can result in nausea, severe sickness, and in rare cases, death. Every year, 3,000 to 4,500 people in the United States are hospitalized due to vaccine side effects. It is extremely important for all communities to be informed about the side effects of vaccines and what causes them. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the influenza vaccine is only 48% effective, due to constant mutation of the virus (Scutti, 2017). This means, the influenza vaccine does not work on all
The symptoms of schizophrenia range in severity and consistency. The most common symptom that people with schizophrenia experience is the inability to distinguish between real events from hallucinations and dreams. Some other usual signs and symptoms occur are anger, tendency to argue, intensity when interacting with others and violent behavior. They may appear very suddenly, or they may gradually come over an extended period (Saha, et al., 2008). Symptoms vary between individuals, and for periods of time a person with schizophrenia may experience no symptoms before experiencing a psychotic epis...
Potter, C.W. (2008). A History of Influenza. Journal of applied Microbiology, 91 (4), PP 572-579.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder ("NIMH"). Signs and symptoms of this disorder fall into three general categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms ("NIMH"). Hallucinations, delusions, thought disorders, and movement disorders are considered to be positive symptoms whereas negative symptoms are associated with disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors (“NIMH”). Negative symptoms include a lack of emotional expression, lack of interest or enthusiasm, and speech difficulties and abnormalities (“NIMH”). Cognitive symptoms include trouble focusing or paying attention, and impairments with memory and executive functioning (“NIMH”). At least one of two symptoms must include delusions, hallucinations, or disorganization, and the symptoms must cause functional impairment and persist for six months either in their “active phase” or in a more residual manner to be determined as schizophrenia (Elis, Caponigro & Kring, 2013).