Essay about Influenza Vaccines

What exactly is the influenza shot made from? Have you ever wondered how the vaccine is made? There are two parts to making a flu shot: First, scientist experts around the world decide what types of flu will be included in the flu shot for each year. Then, vaccine manufacturers start making the flu shots so that by the time the next flu season starts, millions of doses are already available. How do they decide what goes into a flu shot? Every year, in more than 100 countries around the world, health workers and expert scientists collect samples from people who are sick with the flu. These samples are taken and sent to five international labs, chosen by the World Health Organization, that test the samples and find out what strains of influenza are most common. The five labs are in the U.S., England, Australia, China and Japan.

Thesis Statement: We will look at how and why the influenza vaccine might work less some years.

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

To answer my research question I will first review literature on flu vaccines from conventional sources such as the Center for Disease Control and National Institute for Health. I will then review other material available on the Internet written by doctors that do not agree with the conventional

Influenza is a respiratory infection caused by a range of flu virus. The virus is very contagious and can cause mild to severe illness and even death. Droplets spread the virus, especially when infected people cough, sneeze or talk. Touching a contaminated surface or object can also transmit the virus. Getting vaccinated annually is the best method of averting the flu virus. When there is a vaccine shortage, it will be fair and ethical to give the vaccine to the most vulnerable or high-risk members of the society such as; those with asthma, diabetes, and heart diseases, children and the elderly and most importantly health care workers. Selling the vaccine will undermine those at high risk who cannot afford to buy the vaccine. The ethical principles of Utilitarian and egalitarianism are the contending principles for rationing the seasonal flu vaccine.

Influenza is caused by an RNA virus from the Orthomyxoviridae family (that consists of the genera influenza A, B, and C). Human influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal epidemics almost each winter within the United States. Influenza type B infects humans only, therefore it is unable of undergoing a mutation. Pandemics are caused solely by influenza A strains. The emergence of a new and completely different influenza virus to infect people will cause an influenza pandemic. Influenza kind C infections cause a mild respiratory illness and aren't thought to cause epidemics (Duncan, 2013).

There is a vaccine for influenza. Both the WHO and the CDC highly recommend that everyone over 6 years old receives this shot. Because influenza changes to rapidly, a new version of the vaccine is developed twice a year, the vaccines usually provide moderate to high protection against influenza. Though the vaccine is highly controversial.

CDC reports released earlier this year revealed that only 40% of the American population was vaccinated against the Influenza Virus (IFV), last year. The vaccines are expected to reduce need for treatment from healthcare providers by 60% and yet the majority of the population remains vulnerable to this rapidly, mutating virus. (Brandenburg et al., 2013)

Influenza is a highly contagious viral infection that is one of the most severe illnesses of the winter season. Each year, 15 to 61 million Americans contract influenza. Many people tend to confuse the flu with the common cold, but the flu is much more serious. Seasonal influenza can be prevented when a person receives the seasonal influenza vaccine. There are two choices of vaccinations:

This misconception comes from the fact that the virus is actually injected into your bloodstream. Mayo Clinic--a highly regarded team of physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals--studied the process by which flu vaccines are created: year round, viruses--new and old-- are under surveillance. The data collected from the surveillance is used by the World Health Organization to predict which virus strains will be the most prominent this coming flu season. Once these chosen strains have been collected in samples, the virus is multiplied in controlled environments. This virus does go into the vaccination, but the virus is either killed, meaning it won’t replicate at all, or muted, meaning it’s not strong enough to replicate enough to harm a human body (Tosh). So, when people say vaccinations actually inject the virus into a body, those people are not wrong; the virus is inside your body, but is used as a model for antibodies to be made. While some people may develop flu-like symptoms soon after their vaccination has been distributed, it is because their body has not created enough antibodies to ward off the actual virus in the environment. All of this evidence shows very clearly that vaccinations do not cause the flu, and are therefore safe and okay to

The Flu vaccine is a medicine developed by, epidemiologists, microbiologists, physicians and other public health experts to protect the society from three to four influenza viruses that will occur and cause disease for the following season and the data is acquired through research or forecast. The Center for Disease Control

In October 2009, a vaccine against H1N1 was approved. Originally the vaccine was only given to health workers but was eventually given the general population in the winter of 2009. Flu vaccines have a very good public profile. There are only mild side effects of the vaccine such as soreness at the sight of infection, small fever, and aches. The flu shot contains weakened virus, so the immune system fights only a small amount of the flu virus. There is also a nasal spray version of the vaccine. Vaccines are prescribed when someone has the flu and before someone gets the flu. With more people aware of the flu’s causes, more and more people are getting the flu vaccine every year. There is little natural immunity to flu strains, so therefore, almost everyone is susceptible to infection. There are some drugs that that help against influenza, but vaccines are generally more helpful since viruses tend to develop resistance against drugs fairly quickly. There are four different antiviral drugs. They are usually prescribed when someone gets the flu, not before someone gets the flu like vaccines. Examples of antiviral drugs are Tamiflu, Relenza, and Rapivab. They are usually prescribed for five days. There is still a need to help develop antiviral drugs. More rapid development of vaccines are also needed since vaccines take many months or even years to create, so it is not helpful to make a vaccine when a virus breaks out, but rather

Influenza is a life threatening illness caused by influenza virus. It is a contagious disease of the respiratory tract causes serious infections and death around the globe usually in winter season. There are three types of influenza viruses infect humans, type A, B and C. Influenza A and B cause severe disease and major outbreaks and can be prevented through influenza vaccination. Influenza C causes common cold like illness among children. Influenza A is responsible for influenza pandemics. Influenza A and B viruses have two main proteins on the outside of virus, the haemaglutinin (H) and the neuraminidase (N) proteins and are referred as antigens as they are the structures to which our immune system responds. New strains of influenza A and B continually form because the H and N antigens change.

Wild birds are considered the reservoir of the type A influenza virus and antigenic shifts caused by mutations are present in many animal reservoir. Antigenic shifts are dangerous because it can be unaffected by the host’s immune system. Pigs can be infected by both human and animal influenza virus, which may lead to recombination and creation of new strains that can be transmitted. Influenza virus can be transmitted from animal to human in cases such as the bird flu (H5N1) or swine flu (H1N1), which experienced an outbreak in

Finally, the influenza virus lost its’ potency. The vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk in 1903, eventually was revised by him and his partner, Thomas Francis, in 1920. Today, the influenza virus changes constantly. The vaccine may not prevent illness against the newest and most changed virus but it will prevent against the old and most common forms that people encounter daily. In today’s public vaccine released by the CDC, there are four different types of influenza virus antibodies to help protect the recipient from