2012-13 Influenza Vaccines

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

Have you ever been in pain to where you feel like your whole body is aching along with a headache? Then, oddly your body temperature changes. One minute your hot then the next you're cold. Some people even have scratchy throats and a mild cough. Well all of these are signs that you might be coming down with the flu. This harsh and dreadful symptoms can be prevented by simply getting an influenza vaccination. To promote people getting the vaccine the government makes several ads a year to raise awareness to encourage people to make the responsible decision by getting the vaccination.

With influenza vaccination rates remaining low in the HCP population, there has recently been an increased emphasis on improving vaccination rates among HCPs. Low influenza vaccination rates have caused many healthcare facilities to initiate and mandate employees to receive the influenza vaccine. Research has proven to reduce morbidity and mortality among patients in healthcare facilities as well as decrease illness and absenteeism among HCPs (Sickbert & Weber, 2013). For these reasons multiple professional organizations are recommending an annual influenza vaccine for all HCPs, if medically suitable for this vaccination. Requiring a physician waiver for non-suitable HCP, all non-suitable HCP are expected or required to wear a mask in direct patient care areas.

For the past ten years, we at Virginia Mason Medical Center have been implementing mandatory influenza vaccination. This is due to the flu vaccination being able to reduce flu illnesses and prevent flu-related hospitalizations. According to the Center for Control and Disease (CDC, 2014) during 2012-2013, an estimated 45% of the U.S population got vaccinated, helping to prevent an estimated 6.6 million flu-related illness, with 3.2 million flu-related medical visits, almost 80,000 hospitalizations and roughly $87 billion dollars in total economic burden. Influenza is extremely contagious and each year on an average 5%-20% of the U.S population get the flu with tens of thousands die from a flu-related illness. Therefore, many health cares setting along with Virginia Mason Medical Center is mandating all their healthcare workers to get the influenza vaccination. Consequently, making annual influenza vaccination requirement for healthcare workers a continuing and debatable health topic. The potential of getting the vaccination have great benefits to healthcare professionals, their patients, and their families by

Immunization rates still remain low and hospitals that have voluntary programs in place, are not seeing the results they would if mandatory vaccine programs were put in to place. A mandatory influenza vaccine policy is the best solution to this issue and long overdue. Health care-associated influenza occurrences are becoming more common as it contributes to patient mortality and morbidity (The American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). Thus, proving even further the need to prevent and control influenza by putting the health and safety of our patients first.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “It's estimated that 90 percent of seasonal flu-related deaths and more than 60 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations in the United States each year occur in people 65 years and older “ (2011).The CDC advises that the best way to prevent and control the spread of influenza each year is by the use of vaccinnations. In effort to control and prevent influenza epidemics, the CDC uses the epidemiological process to predict the strain of the virus that will be most relevant to the population and this data is used to formulate influenza vaccinations (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011).

In recent years encouragement to get flu shots has become a yearly mantra. Elderly, children six months to two years, health care workers and immune-deficient people are urged in the strongest terms to go to their doctors or clinics and get a flu shot. This group encompasses about 98 million people. In the fall of 2004 this was in the forefront of American and to some extent the Western World media with the shortage of this flu seasons vaccine. Current medical wisdom states that flu shots are safe, effective and prevent mortality. A recent study published by The Journal of the American Medicine Association (JAMA) has brought the current wisdom into question. On February 14, 2005 JAMA

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.

Seasonal influenza commonly referred to as the “flu” is an acute viral infection caused by the influenza virus that can have possibly devastating effects on a community (“Influenza (Seasonal),” 2014). Seasonal influenza viruses cause annual epidemics that peak during the winter but can begin as early as late fall and last through early spring (“Prevention and Control of Influenza,” 2008). Influenza infections in the US affect a large amount of the US population. On average in the United States 200,000 people are hospitalized due to influenza infections (“Vaccine-Preventable Adult Diseases,” 2016). In addition, the annual death toll in the United States alone related to influenza and its complications is about 20,000 (Fallon, 2013). Though influenza can affect people at any age, the rates of serious illness and death are among the highest in persons aged sixty-five or older (“Prevention and Control of Influenza,” 2008). The disproportionate effect of the influenza infection on older adults calls for public health interventions.

Influenza is one of the most important human respiratory infections and its seasonal recurrence is a major contributor to human morbidity and mortality. Seasonal influenza has an estimated annual attack rate of 10-20%, leading to 3-5 million cases of severe illness and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths each year [1]. Throughout history, influenza A has also been the greatest contributor of human pandemics. During the last century, four influenza A pandemics (1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009) caused over 50 million deaths globally, created significant social and economic impact on the human society, and shaped future research and public health policies.

Relating to the Audience: As college students, we cross paths with hundreds of people every day. With winter coming up, and illnesses running rampant, we are all highly susceptible to catching diseases such as the flu. With vaccinations, we can prevent getting these illnesses.

Every year, a shocking 5% to 20% of the American population contract the Influenza virus.

The influenza, or “flu” for short, vaccine is an important vaccine that a human should consider taking in the fall time. It can also be referred to as the flu shot. The flu is a virus that infects the human and causes the human to suffer from fevers, coughs, bodyache and even a sore throat. The flu season in the United States is usually around December to March. It is important to understand that the flu vaccine

Influenza or the flu is a highly contagious disease that affects millions of people world-wide. It has been a public health issue for many decades. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes flu as an illness of the respiratory tract that can manifest symptoms like cough, runny nose, and fever. Symptoms can range from being mild to being extremely severe, and can sometimes lead to fatality. Certain parts of the population, such as the elderly, children younger than five years of age, pregnant women, and individuals with a certain illness like asthma and diabetes, are at a higher risk for complications from the flu. These complications consist of exacerbation of chronic diseases, pneumonia, and ear and sinus infections. A person infected with the flu virus can easily contaminate others simply by talking, sneezing, or touching an object with the virus and then using the hand to touch one’s own orifices. Although there are other measures like good hand hygiene that can be done to prevent illness from the flu, the best method is still through vaccination. Some individuals may be hesitant to receive vaccines due of fear of needles. However, they do have another option of

Conclusions demonstrating increases in earlier vaccination is more cost-effective and successful in the prevention of influenza associated mortality is perhaps most essential for regions experiencing rapid growth of the virus (Khazeni, Hutton, Garber, Hupert, & Owens, 2009). Since the occurrence of the pandemic, great emphasis has been placed on the importance of influenza vaccination and its role in preventing and slowing transmission of the virus.