Flu Vaccines Pros And Cons

In the U.S. the CDC or Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people to have the flu vaccination once a year. Anyone over the age of six months or a weak immune system. The flu vaccine is the best way to keep yourself and your family safe from getting the flu. It has also been proven to decrease the amount of deaths yearly and prevent the

Each new strain of the virus must be identified and that is usually done around February for the appropriate development and dispersal of a new vaccine for later that year. They do this by collecting strains of the flu virus from about 100 centers worldwide and then they analyze them in a laboratory. They take this information and use it to decide on the arrangement of the vaccines that are being offered for the following flu season. Also, there are two types of vaccines one that is injected and another that is a nasal-spray vaccine both that are made with live, attenuated virus. Flu vaccines specifically are recommended each year as this article mentions simply because “New flu vaccines are released every year to keep up with rapidly adapting flu viruses” (Mayo). This makes since because flu viruses change so quickly therefore last year's vaccine may not protect someone from the viruses of the upcoming years. Also after vaccination, one’s immune system does produce antibodies that will protect them from the vaccine viruses. Overall the fact that antibody levels start to decrease over time that makes it another reason to get a flu shot every

* Pneumonia: Pneumonia is the fifth highest killer of older adults, especially during the winter months of flu season. At high risk are seniors with chronic disease such as diabetes heart disease and reparatory conditions. The flu and pneumonia shot are recommended for all adults over the age 55 to help prevent this killer.

As a result, the burden placed on the health care system is significantly reduced. Therefore, people at a high risk of contracting influenza should seriously consider being vaccinated. Evidence suggests that educating high-risk people about the influenza vaccine is worthwhile. For example, during the influenza season of 2000-2001, 70% of adults 65 years of age and older received the flu shot. This suggests

Last year, only twenty-six percent of eighteen to forty-nine year olds got the flu shot (Singh, 2014). With an average of 200,000 people hospitalized annually due to flu-related symptoms, these low vaccination rates are generating serious health risks among young adults all over the country (National Consumers League, 2013). This winter, at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., the average age of people hospitalized with influenza was 28.5 years old, and of those that ended up in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital, only two of the twenty-two had received the flu vaccination (Singh, 2014). The primary reason that young adults do not get the influenza vaccination is that they believe that they are invincible and influenza is not a serious illness (Singh, 2014). One in five Americans who do not receive the influenza vaccination claims that influenza is not a serious illness (National Consumers League, 2013). Of the Americans who do not get vaccinated, forty-five percent cited their good health as a rationale for bypassing vaccination (National Consumers League, 2013). This may be partly due to the targeted measures by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to increase vaccination rates among children and the elderly. In comparison to the twenty-six percent of young adults that were vaccinated, 56.6% of children (ages six months to seventeen years old) and 66.2% of seniors (ages 65 and older) were vaccinated. When targeted measures are used, they work. The problem

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).

Influenza, also known as the flu, is a highly contagious viral disease that affects the upper respiratory tract. Flu season typically lasts between the months of October and April. Signs and symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue, runny nose, and headaches. Individuals that are at a high risk of getting the flu include: children under the age of two, persons 65 and older, pregnant women, and persons with a chronic illness. Environment factors can also increase the risk of contracting the flu. Complications can include pneumonia, ear and sinus infections, dehydration, or worsening of chronic medical conditions. The influenza virus could eventually lead to longer hospitalization or death if left untreated. According to the CDC, the best way to prevent the flu is by getting vaccinated each year. Compliance with the vaccination is also important in preventing the flu.

The immune system weakens with age, which makes seniors more susceptible to contracting seasonal influenza. Over ninety percent of deaths from the flu happen to those over 65 years of age. Seniors have the option of getting the regular flu vaccine or a higher-dose shot that results in a stronger immune response.

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 is responsible for hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. Prevention through vaccination is one way to circumvent illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths. Those persons who were more susceptible fall into the categories of 6 months to 4 years of age and 65 years and older. According to CDC (2013), the 2012-13 influenza season was characterized as a moderately severe season based on the surveillance data. Regardless of suggestions and encouragements of schools and places of employment for individuals to be vaccinated against the flu, fewer than half the persons in the United States each year are inoculated against this disease. Influenza vaccines are now widely used to reduce the burden of annual epidemics of influenza virus infections (Cowling, et al., 2016).

Background: With increasing age, the immune system tends to deteriorate and vaccination may or may not help the elderly. Flu shots can provide an immunity boost against the influenza virus for the elderly. In this report, the effectiveness of flu shots on the elderly population will be reviewed.

In the elderly (P), does the flu vaccine (I) compared to no vaccine (C) reduce the incidence of the flu (O) during flu season(T)?

Vaccinations can be important to one regardless of their age. The influenza vaccine specially can prevent the spread of diseases and in some cases, even death. Some may not realize the seriousness of influenza and what effects it can have on them. Influenza can have a worsened effect depending on your age as well. Centers for Disease Control puts out multiple styles of advertising to target specific audiences or all at once. This all including babies, children, young adults, the elderly, etc.

Mrs. L stated that she has had her current pneumonia and shingles immunizations. She has also had her flu shot for the year. For the prevention of pneumonia and influenza, it is recommended that older persons receive an influenza vaccination yearly and a pneumococcal immunization every 10 years (Tabloski, 2006, p. 508).

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (2012), recommends Prevnar vaccination for subjects aged ≥65 y and for those aged 50–64 y at high risk for specific health conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, nephropathies, hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Assaad, El-Masri, Porhomayon, & El-Solh, 2012). For the purpose of launching the scholarly project, I chose the 50 and over adult population ( with comorbid conditions including asthma, COPD and diabetes) because this is the identified patient population who are mostly unaware about the need for Prevnar vaccination.