The vaccine that was chosen for this report is the influenza vaccine. Influenza, also called the flu, is an acute viral infection of the upper or lower respiratory tract. (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica) This specific topic was chosen due to the fact that the influenza virus, or the flu virus, is such a well known and common illness. The flu affects people all across the world on a daily basis because it is very hard to fight. The illness has many different forms which causes problems for doctors and people every year. The most effective way to fight back against this illness is the influenza vaccine. The vaccine itself, the symptoms, the target population, and treatment plan to fighting the virus will all be included along with much more.
The influenza vaccine is given annually in order to fight against the influenza virus. The flu is an illness that resides in the respiratory tract. The flu, as you may know, is most commonly associated with the winter and spring seasons. It is generally a mild illness that results in cold-like symptoms on a larger scale. These symptoms include mild headaches, dry cough, a sore throat, a runny nose, extreme fatigue, and muscle weakness. However, the flu cannot be diagnosed on the symptoms themselves. The proper procedure to diagnosis varies on the patient’s preference. If the patient seeks a quick result, a rapid influenza diagnostic test will be performed on the patient. Because the test is a rapid one, the accuracy of the test is affected. There is the chance that a negative test will occur when the patient actually is sick with the flu. That is why there is another test. Although these diagnostic tests are much slower and can take up to a couple days, the accuracy is greatly imp...
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...s been stated the flu vaccine does decrease the probability of getting the flu but it is not error free. The flu comes in many different forms and strains which makes it very tough on the scientists because it is their job to predict which strain of the flu will most likely rear its ugly head. This is the clear downside to the flu vaccine because there is no guarantee that the vaccine will work against the certain year’s strain of the virus. As studies have shown, the flu vaccine can work very efficiently against one strain of the virus but the very next year there is a huge outbreak of a different strain. There is research going on now that has a goal of discovering a universal vaccine which would effectively fight against any strain of influenza. Until this research is completed, scientists will continue playing the guessing game of what vaccine to give each year.
The Influenza virus is a unique respiratory viral disease that can have serious economic and social disruption to society. The virus is airborne transmitted through droplets release by coughing or sneezing from an infected person or by touching infected surfaces. Symptoms range from mild to severe and may even result in death. People with the virus usually experience fever, headache, shivering, muscle pain and cough, which can lead to more severe respiratory illness such as pneumonia. People most susceptible to the flu virus are elderly individuals and young children as well as anyone whose health or immune system has been compromise. The most effective way to counteract the influenza virus is to get the flu vaccine which is available by shots or nasal spray before the flu season as well as practicing safe hygiene. (CDC, 2013)
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...
During the frigid winter months, the flu takes ahold of the entire country, constraining it in a cough-ridden, congested grasp until taking its leave in the warm months of spring. Several strains of the influenza virus compose collectively of the flu, and these strains mutate — or alter their genetic composition — as the virus creeps into and out of the people and animals it infects. Throughout the year, researchers and doctors scramble to find the most effective prevention for the evasive flu so that one may not feel its wrath. Their main weapon, the vaccination, comes with an apprehensiveness that extends beyond a dread of needles. For the vaccine’s dependence on a prediction, many blast the injection as ineffective and temporary: the flu virus’ mutations necessitate the development of a new shot every year. (Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine, CDC.gov) Others contend that the shot can harm as much as the virus itself, pointing to the potential for allergic reactions and sometimes severe side effects as evidence. With the risk of side effects and unclear effectiveness in mind, many will elect to either not vaccinate or seek treatment after the flu hits; a common treatment for the flu, the antiviral, disintegrates the virus after it strikes, yet its effectiveness has increasingly declined. While the flu vaccination does not provide comprehensive protection against the influenza virus, the vaccine, in conjunction with other precautionary — not reactionary — measures, provides the needed defense against contraction. Additionally, while a potential recipient should weigh the risk of side-effects and allergic reactions, a doctor can predict allergic reactions by the patient’s medical history and by running tests; other side-effect...
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.
Getting you flu shot make you immune system stronger for fighting bacteria and viruses that around you and that you can catch, and especially for the kids because they go to school and communicate
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)
At no time was a search for the cure for influenza more frantic than after the devastating effects of the pandemic of 1918. The pandemic killed somewhere between twenty and a hundred million people, making it twenty five times more deadly than the ordinary cough and sneeze flu. The symptoms of this flu were like something straight out of a horror movie: the victim’s facial complexion changed to a dark, brownish purple, the feet turned black, and they began to cough up blood. Eventually, death was caused, literally by drowning, when the victim’s lungs filled with their own blood. The first scientist to claim to solve the enigma of influenza was Dr. Friedrich Johann Pfeiffer. He isolated a bacterium he named Hemophilus influenzae from the respiratory tract of those who had the flu in the pandemic of 1890. He was believed to be correct in his discovery until the pandemic of 1918, when scientists searched the respiratory tracts of influenza victims and only sometimes found his bacterium. Robert E. Shope and his mentor Paul Lewis were the next to attempt to crack the code of influenza. They chose to study the disease in pigs, a controversial choice because many people believed that the swine influenza pigs were contracting was not the same as the human flu. The first experiment they ran was ba...
Gardam and Lemieux (2013) state that the effectiveness of the current influenza vaccine has been exaggerated in the medical literature and media. The seasonal flu shot protects against the three or four influenza viruses that researchers indicate will be most common during the upcoming season (CDC, p.1, 2015). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 2013’s vaccine was “only 55% effective against laboratory-confirmed influenza A and 70% effective against influenza B” (Gardam & Lemieux, 2013). Health care providers receiving the flu vaccination does not guarantee that patients may not be affected by different strains. Additionally HCP are not the only individuals who may expose patients to these pathogens, visiting family, and community members can also play a
Influenza is an acute respiratory illness caused by infection of influenza A and B viruses. The disease can affect both the upper and lower respiratory tract and is often followed by systemic signs and symptoms, such as: sudden onset of fever, chills, non-productive cough, myalgias (muscle pain), headache, nasal congestion, sore throat, and fatigue. (Cox et al.1998). Influenza viruses evolve continuously, challenging mammalian and avian hosts with new variants and causing complex epidemic patterns with regard to age, place, and time. Human influenza viruses cause disease through a variety of direct and indirect pathological effects. The direct effects include destruction of infected cells, damage to respiratory epithelium, and immunological responses that cause general malaise and pneumonia. Indirect effects of infection include secondary bacterial infections due to the tissue damage and other disease such as cardiovascular disease, renal disease, diabetes or chronic pulmonary disease (Schoenbaum S.1996). In the USA, clinical illness affects 5–20% of the population and asymptomatically infects a larger number (Noble G.1982). Infants, who are exposed to influenza epidemics as a novel antigenic challenge after maternal antibodies decline, may have attack rates as high as 30–50% in their first year of life, depending on the frequency of contacts with older siblings (Glezen et al.1997). For reasons, influenza viruses cause epidemics in the northern and southern hemisphere during their respective winters. In the tropics, the timing of activity is less defined, with sometimes year-round circulation or bi-seasonal peaks during the year (Viboud et al.2006).
...e flu are very similar to those of the regular flu. However concern arises, because the possibility of the virus creating greater complications is likely. To prevent one from contracting the swine flu, he or she should get vaccinated. The main difference between the regular flu vaccine and the H1N1 flu vaccine is the components of which these vaccines are composed of. One should make the decision to get the swine flu vaccine based on one’s age and current medical condition. It is highly recommended that children and people to the age of twenty-four years-old receive the swine flu vaccine, because they have weaker immunity levels. It is best to ask a doctor which decision is preferred. The goal of health professionals is to eliminate the H1N1 virus as a global health threat, and to allow it to become a mere virus that can be prevented by proper vaccinations.
Therefore, people likely to die due to declining health, may choose not to get the flu shot. This could skew the statistics of elderly people dying of the flu each year. Melissa Moyer writes in Scientific American, “…influenza only causes about 5 percent of all excess winter deaths among the elderly” (Moyer, 2012). This is a significantly lower percentage than the ninety percent of elderly people who die each year as noted previously. She continues with, “...vaccinated seniors were 44 percent less likely to die during flu season than unvaccinated seniors were, the vaccinated ones were also 61 percent less likely to die before flu season even started” (Moyer, 2012). Essentially, those of the people vaccinated had higher survivability during the flu season, but also had better chances of surviving before the flu season
Influenza is a viral disease that’s communicable and affects an estimated 5-15% of the world's population during the cold seasons and results in 500,000 deaths annually (PL, 2010). Common symptoms that may be experienced
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
November begins the flu season in the Northern Hemisphere, so people have to be vaccinated. Flu shots must be taken every year unlike other vaccines that people only need to take once. But recently researchers have discovered a vaccine that protects against many other types, or strains, of the flu virus, and this might be able to lead to life lasting protection from the flu. Flu shots teach the immune system how to identify the flu virus, and that can help the body reject an infection. The flu virus evolves rapidly, and if your body does not recognize the newest version, it could infect you, so people have to get the newest flu shot every year. But researches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have discovered a new vaccine that might last