Influenza remains as a significant global threat to public health. In United States alone, a typical influenza epidemic results in over 25 million infections, 300,000 hospitalizations and 13,000 deaths every year (1). The virus evolves antigenically from one year to the next, requiring annual reformulation of the vaccine and leading to variable vaccine efficacy. Exacerbating this natural antigenic evolution, adaptation to the chicken eggs may occur during the manufacture of virus used to produce the inactivated vaccine (2). This year such adaptation has reduced the vaccine efficacy against H3N2 strain (3). Low vaccine efficacy is expected to generate higher attack rates, as has already occured in Australia (3, 4). Compounding the effects of low vaccine efficacy, public perception following the widespread media attention may depress vaccine uptake for a given year. The combination of low vaccine efficacy and low coverage has the potential to reduce herd immunity, putting the population at risk of elevated infection incidence and ultimately high rates of infections and mortality. Consequently, optimizing epidemiological effectiveness of vaccination given vaccine efficacy is imperative to minimize the annual mortality and morbidity of influenza. …show more content…
Vaccination coverage in the US has however substantially differed among different age-groups, and has been suboptimal for young- and middle-aged adults (6). Decisions on vaccination distribution policy, like any other public health decision, is often made using imperfect data from limited randomized, controlled trial studies (7). Mathematical models can provide essential evaluations of optimal vaccination policy, which is difficult to achieve through field
Seasonal influenza is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the industrialized world. The United States alone averages more than 23,000 influenza-associated deaths annually (Cortes-Penfield, 2014). Everyone is given the option to receive the flu vaccination each year. The vaccine is offered in health care facilities, clinics, and pharmacies around
While I was debating whether to get the flu shot now or wait a few more weeks, I came across this very interesting article. This morning, CNN published an article that discusses the “best” time to get the flu shot.
I believe you should get a flu shot because it prevents you from getting the flu most of the time. sometimes you can get the flu from the flu shot if you are sick when u get it.
In one of my night classes, our teacher brought up the facts of how many students miss school in the state of Kentucky along with how many days the school has had to shut down because of the flu. My teacher also talked about how the flu is the reason school is missed the most, therefore this leads me to think “why isn’t the flu shot mandatory in schools?” According to the “Kentucky Department of Education”, the article states “that in the state of Kentucky, they require every student have an up-to-date Commonwealth of Kentucky Immunization Certificate to be able to attend school.”
Also, there is no violation of the right to make contracts between employer and employee by making influenza vaccinations mandatory for healthcare workers. The article “Vaccinating the Health-Care Workforce” states, “Courts have ruled that states may also limit and regulate contracts in the interest of the public’s welfare, and essentially to place protection of the public against individual economic interest” (Stewart). Healthcare facilities do not violate their worker’s rights by making influenza immunizations mandatory as long as it benefits the public health.
Health care governments have endorsed an assortment of vaccination policies and mediations to safeguard against the known dangers of influenza communication, with longer patient stays, absenteeism, intermissions in health care, and death. Studies assessing the consequence of health care workers vaccination found that health care workers influenza vaccination was linked with a decrease in patient death (Murana, 2014). Assessing the results of health care worker influenza vaccination on patient results anticipated that if all health care workers were vaccinated, patient influenza infections could be stopped.
Many infectious diseases that once quickly spread and easily killed have been controlled or eradicated due to vaccinations. The efficacy of vaccines in reducing morbidity and mortality, particularly in children, is undeniable. Per the World Health Organization, childhood vaccinations prevent approximately 2-3 million deaths per year worldwide (WHO, 2016). In the United States, the value of immunizations is clearly displayed by comparing pre-vaccine era morbidity/mortality rates to post-vaccine era in regards to vaccine-preventable diseases. For example, prior to the diphtheria vaccine in the 1920’s, 206,000 people annually contracted the disease resulting in 15,520 deaths (History of Vaccines, 2009). However, between 2004 and 2014, only
Avian influenza is a disease that has been wreaking havoc on human populations since the 16th century. With the recent outbreak in 1997 of a new H5N1 avian flu subtype, the world has begun preparing for a pandemic by looking upon its past affects. In the 20th Century, the world witnessed three pandemics in the years of 1918, 1957, and 1968. In 1918 no vaccine, antibiotic, or clear recognition of the disease was known. Killing over 40 million in less than a year, the H1N1 strain ingrained a deep and lasting fear of the virus throughout the world. Though 1957 and 1968 brought on milder pandemics, they still killed an estimated 3 million people and presented a new
Inside the syringe that contains the flu vaccine, there are dead or weakened flu pathogens. If ten days after receiving a flu vaccination you come down with the flu the most likely explanation is that you were exposed or contracted a different mutation of the flu pathogen. During this time the primary will kick in to create new antibodies in response to the new mutation and the secondary will kick in because of the antibodies your body formed against the flu pathogens you were injected
“There’ll be plenty of time for accusations, later,” Taty said. “We’ll run sequences just as soon as we get your blood samples. I only hope we are not looking at a variant flu with an expanded host range.”
Influenza is a viral infection. Virus infects human respiratory system cause fever and muscle ache. Influenza infection kills hundreds of thousand of people around the world each year. There are three major types of influenza viruses--A, B, and C. Type A virus causes the most sickness among humans. Influenza Pandemics is a spread of Influenza A virus on a worldwide scale. Pandemics occur when a new subtype of influenza A, which has never infected humans before, generates.
Children and people with weakened immune systems may be contagious for a slightly longer time.
It takes about eight months for the vaccines to be developed using chicken eggs. If another pandemic were to arise, we would not have access to the vaccines for at least eight months. Moreover, once the vaccines are made, they must be used. Vaccines that are not used cannot be stored and must be destroyed because the vaccines break down. The vaccines do include the three influenza viruses; two against different strains of type A, and one against the type B virus. (Tenpenny, 2008, Davidson, 2007-2009, Offit, 2008).
Flu season is once again upon us, and the CDC recommends that everyone six months or older receive a flu vaccine, with it being even more important for those who have a high risk for complications, like the elderly, children under five, and pregnant women.
What is the flu? The flu is short for influenza, which is a common viral infection in the respiratory passages where in some occasions can be deadly, especially in people at high risk. There are more than three million United States cases reported per year. Unfortunately, it spreads easily but on the bright side, it can be preventable by vaccine. It is a short term infection that lasts around a few days to possibly a few weeks. It can usually be self-diagnosable and self-treatable as well.