Should the Flu Shot Be Mandatory?
Vaccines have been proclaimed by many people as one of the miracles of
modern medicine. Vaccines are credited with saving thousands of lives
and wiping out many contagious diseases. Recently, there has been a
tremendous debate whether annual influenza vaccines should be
mandatory. Influenza vaccines should be voluntary because people have
the right to examine data on vaccinations and make their own informed
decisions. Although people should have the freedom to choose to be
vaccinated, the public needs to be educated about the personal,
economical, and social benefits of receiving the influenza vaccine. In
addition, people who are at a high risk of contracting influenza as
well as health care providers should be encouraged to receive an
influenza vaccine in order to decrease the major health burden
associated with the disease.
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is a viral infection of the
respiratory system and it is characterized by abrupt onset of fever,
sore throat, and nonproductive cough. Influenza is spread from person
to person by inhalation of the droplets produced when a person
infected with influenza coughs or sneezes. In addition, it can also be
spread by contact with infected objects such as utensils. Current
influenza vaccines are about 70% to 90% effective in preventing
influenza in healthy adults. Since the vaccines are made of dead
fragments of influenza viruses, they cannot cause influenza. The
strains of influenza that circulate change every year and therefore,
it is necessary to make a new influenza vaccine annually. After
vaccination, the body's immune system produces antib...
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not be mandatory and should remain the choice of each individual.
However, people at a high risk of influenza as well as health-care
providers should consider receiving the vaccine. In addition, programs
educating people about the benefits of influenza vaccination should
become a priority among health officials. Ultimately, people should
trust their own judgment when deciding whether influenza vaccines are
right for them.
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[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
This generation is debating if flu vaccinations are good or bad. There is a ton of mixed emotions for this topic. Starting with how vaccines can affect you positively, and negatively, and lastly, the important ones you should take.
To get the flu vaccine or not to get the flu vaccine? This is a huge controversial question millions of Americans today ask themselves every year. There are many myths that come along with the topic of the flu vaccine that lead to people questioning the effectiveness of the medication. Safety for our families and loved ones is what we aim to achieve, but what are the pros and cons of this vaccine? What are the consequences and what are myths, but most importantly: what are the reasons we should get it in the first place? In this paper you will learn the many reasons for the flu vaccination and how it affects different populations beginning with children all the way to the elderly population. First of all, what is the flu vaccine and its purpose? According to Wikipedia, The influenza vaccination is an annual vaccination using a vaccine specific for a given year to protect against the highly variable influenza virus. Each influenza vaccine contains antigens representing three (trivalent vaccine) or four (quadrivalent vaccine) influenza virus strains: one influenza type A subtype H1N1 virus strain, one influenza type A subtype H3N2 virus strain, and either one or two influenza type B virus strains. Influenza vaccines may be given as an intramuscular injection, also known as a flu shot, or as a nasal spray.
Holding children’s hands while crossing the road, buckling them up in the car, and teaching them to stay away from strangers, are all important when it comes to child safety. But what about vaccinations? It is necessary that each child be properly vaccinated for many reasons, but most importantly for their health and well-being. With the help of vaccinations, many diseases have been eradicated and many lives have been saved. If parents do not properly vaccinate their children, health issues and other complications will arise for everyone, leading to a higher disease and death rate worldwide.
Schools, offices, and any workforce should require students and employees before entering to protect those who surround them from getting sick. Students, in fact, before they enroll to school, they are required to get their yearly flu and other required vaccinations. Hence, this should continue so none of the students and staff would get infected. Despite that many people still do not believe in vaccinations, there is more proof shown that vaccinations had been a great help to many. It decreases the number of people getting sick and getting infected with serious diseases. Furthermore, it lessens the pain of a person who is ill because he or she is protected due to the vaccinations that was given to him or her. However, people should not take for granted of getting vaccinated, especially for the parents. Immunizations will protect their children and themselves from getting sick. Vaccinations are surely safe and they, indeed, prevent illnesses such as measles, chickenpox, shingles, polio, etc. that anyone may encounter. Hopefully, more vaccinations would develop and continue to be given for different types of diseases that may develop in the future. People need to keep in mind that the more people will vaccinate, the more healthier and safer the surroundings will become. All the more people will be encouraged and they will believe that
Influenza is a major public health problem which outbreaks all over the world. Resulting in considerable sickness and death rates. Furthermore, it is a highly infectious airborne disease and is caused by the influenza virus. Influenza is transmitted easily from one person to another person which has a great impact on society. When a member of society becomes sick, it is more prone to spread to other people. In the United States, every year between 5 to 20 percent of the population is affected by influenza. As a result of this, between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths have occurred per year (Biggerstaff et al., 2014). Therefore, the influenza vaccine is the most effective strategy to prevent influenza. This essay will examine two significant reasons for influenza vaccination which are the loss of workforce and economic burden as well as one effect regarding herd immunity.
Influenza is very contagious and spreads rapidly from person to person. Influenza causes worldwide yearly epidemics. According to World Health organization Influenza affects 5-15% world’s population and resulting in 500,000 deaths yearly. Ottenberg stated that, in United States, an average of 200,000 were hospitalized and 36,000 died each year from influenza complications. Influenza is the sixth leading cause of death among US adults and is related to 1 in 20 death in persons older than 65 years. Disease control and prevention estimates indicate that infections like H1N1 which is one of the types of influenza, have resulted in an estimated 42 to 86 million cases and 8520 to 17620 deaths. As I mentioned earlier that infections like influenza are very contagious, they can spread easily from hcw to Patient and back to hcw. The most efficient and effective method of preventing influenza infection is vaccination(The best way to prevent influenza is with annual vaccination).(Sullivan,2010) (Gregory,Tosh &Jacobson, 2005). Motivated by a desire to actively avoid illness Influenza may increase the risk for death in people with existing heart, lung, or circulation disorders. In fact, the higher than average number of winter deaths in people with heart disease may be due only to the occurrence of influenza during those months.Vaccination provides immunity to fight against infection.To increase resistance to harm by modifying the environment to minimize preventable illness (NEED TO CHANGE WORDING)
“Vaccines are the most effective tool we have to prevent infectious diseases… Most childhood vaccines produce immunity about 90-100% of the time” (Vaccines). If it weren’t for vaccines we would be having bad epidemics like we did in the earlier 1900’s. Vaccinations have been proven useful and highly popular among societies. Immunity is much higher when majority of the community is vaccinated. We started to have vaccines around 1885 with the rabies vaccine. Throughout the 1930’s antitoxins and vaccines were made for diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, cholera, plague, typhoid and tuberculosis (Vaccines). The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) estimated that 732,000 American children were saved from death and 322 million
The ethics of federal mandatory vaccination in the United States can be determined through the following case-study.
Vaccines are one of the many great advancements that modern medicine has made over the years. The ongoing debate on whether or not to vaccinate children has been argued for countless decades. The majority of parents base their decision to immunize their child or not merely on their opinion of what is best for their child. What some parents might not realize is that vaccinations are ultimately the best way to defend and protect the precious lives of their children. Prior to the period of vaccinations, parents would have never imagined we would be able to successfully protect future generations from deadly diseases. According to an article titled, “History of Immunizations”, written by the American Academy of Pediatrics, in the 1920’s, diphtheria
Mandatory flu vaccination for health care providers (HCP) and students has been a controversial issue that create a needed discussion about the rights and boundaries of individuals who choose careers in these fields. It is argued that nurses have a duty to protect their patients and throughout nursing history nurses have championed for the prevention of communicable diseases through the use of vaccinations to their patients and communities. Admittedly it is true that nurses are in environments with vulnerable individuals who are at a higher risk of developing flu related complications and therefore risk of transferring these organisms to their patients. Nevertheless I disagree with the implementation of mandatory vaccination of nurses and
Currently, one cannot explore the news without coming across the topic of the swine flu, scientifically known as H1N1. Swine flu is a respiratory infection derived from the influenza virus. The virus contains genetic materials from human, swine, and avian flu viruses. It was first identified in spring 2009, and since then has spread rapidly across the globe. The infection’s spread has been verified as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. As soon as the swine flu virus was isolated, scientists quickly developed a swine flu vaccine. Four vaccines have been approved by the FDA for the prevention of the swine flu. The vaccines will be ready for distribution in October 2009. Now the question is: To vaccinate, or not to vaccinate? Millions of people are now preparing to answer this question.
Every year around the month of October the community, employers and health care workers are asked to take the Influenza Vaccine. The vast majority of the time people wonder, what happens if a healthcare worker doesn’t get vaccinated, are there really any harm being done? Pl’s (2010) article, “Influenza vaccination in healthcare worker: should it be mandatory? “goes in depth about n the article what exactly is the influenza vaccine, elimination of barriers of vaccination and is it even worth it for health care workers.
That’s the reasons why everyone should get vaccinated yearly. Or when then can according to their age. The flu shot is good for some people not all but people who can get it should. Plus getting vaccinated properly can help you from getting sick. Vaccines can keep you healthy, the reasons they keep you healthy are they can keep you from getting infections and
“Standard immunization currently averts an estimated two to three million deaths every year in all age groups” (“General Information”). Children along with adults should be vaccinated because these Inoculations prevent diseases, even deaths, from going around, along with keeping the environment a safer place. As people know, kids get vaccinated from the time born to about the time the child reaches teen years, although getting immunized does not precisely stop at any age. In fact, required vaccinations continue throughout the years. Of course these medical treatments must be tested in order to be given to anyone. In spite of the fact many people themselves argue that inoculations are not safe for children, others are thoroughly certain in the benefits vaccinations will bring them, such as keeping a person safe from an illness and healthy. A vaccine is actually put into the body acting as a disease so that when an actual illness try’s to enter the body the body will already be prepared for an “invader” thus, reacting better and quicker. Essentially a vaccine is put into the body to prevent a disease. Most children are very healthy and continue to receive flu shots throughout the years. In many countries getting immunized is already mandatory. Hearing all the benefits and well-designed information of course sounds great but many continue to argue that inoculations are not safe and that studies have shown that vaccinations could cause autism, and a few other couple diseases that a kid may develop after receiving a medical treatment. If that were efficiently accurate a higher range of children would have autism, which at this point’s percentage is very little. Worldwide vaccinations throughout the world should be mandatory in order to...
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