Main Types Of Influenza

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).

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

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 symptoms of influenza, the seasonal flu, include a fever from one hundred point four degrees to one hundred and six degrees Fahrenheit, the fever can be continuous or it may come and go. It is usually higher with younger people, and lower with adults. The higher the fever is, the more severe the other symptoms are. These other symptoms include: body aches, headaches, pain when you move your eyes, fatigue, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat, and chills. After a couple of days of rest, most were up and feeling good again. For pregnant women, small children, and the elderly, influenza could be very

Each year 6-20% of U.S. residents are infected by influenza and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized due to complications (Klepser, Corn, Schmidt, Dering-Anderson, & Klepser, 2015). Influenza has a huge impact on not only the health of our nation, but economically, as well. Studies show that the single most effective way to prevent the spread of influenza is to vaccinate. The CDC recommends that all children over 6 months old to be vaccinated against influenza yearly (CDC, n.d.). Seldom have there been medical advancements that have impacted the health of billions of people. One such important medical advancement is the invention of vaccines. At the end of the 20th century, the CDC published its list of

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).

In this case study, the history of present illness and associated signs and symptoms as well as confirmation of positive exposure to influenza warrants considering antiviral therapy. Antiviral medications are clinically most beneficial when started as close to illness onset as possible. According to current guidelines published by the AAP (2016) for the current influenza season oral oseltamivir remains the antiviral drug of choice for the management of influenza infections. Benefits with the greatest effect on outcome should occur with treatment initiated within 48 hours of illness onset but is not contraindicated if initiated later in the illness. Review of the case study provides no rationale not to consider prescribing antiviral therapy. Certainly, it is well known that immunization is the most important public health measure for the prevention of influenza infection, however, antiviral drugs also may be used for prevention in high-risk patients in certain

Influenza fortunately can be prevented in most cases. You can prevent it through an annual vaccination. The vaccine is made up of 8 to 10 strains of the influenza virus. When you receive the vaccination the strains have been “killed”, so there is no possible way for you to get this illness just by receiving the vaccination. Your body recognizes the unknown strains and builds up immunity so if a “live” virus gets in your system your body has the correct code to “kill” it off.

Influenza, also known as “the flu,” is a virus that infects the respiratory tract. Although Influenza is not as severe as many viral infections it's almost the worst for viral infections of the respiratory tract. Typically, when someone is infected with influenza they experience fever (usually 100° to 103°F in adults, but even higher in children) and causes a cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, and also headaches, muscle aches, and usually extreme tiredness. There are sometimes other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea but usually only in rare cases with young children. One other note: The term “Stomach flu” isn’t really caused by the influenza virus.

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.

There are two important proteins used in the determination of the type of influenza; haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). There are 18 known variations of the haemagglutinin protein and 11 of the neuraminidase protein, giving hundreds of possible variations in the subtypes of the virus . These subtypes are further divided into different strains that have a divergent molecular makeup, giving rise to viruses that differ in virulence, ease of transmission and severity of symptoms. Not all strains of influenza can cause disease in humans; influenza D subtypes cannot infect humans and influenza C infections are rare and usually very minor. Influenza A and B are the subtypes that are responsible for the common infections and the epidemics and pandemics that occur periodically, with influenza A causing the majority of these infections. The virus is transmitted through the inhalation of droplets which are expelled when an infected person coughs or sneezes, through contact with a contaminated surface and through the exchange of saliva . The infected person becomes infectious to others around 12 hours after first contact with the virus and remains contagious for around the next five days; this can vary as the immunocompromised can take longer to subdue the virus and children tend to be more infectious than adults . The virus incubates in the respiratory tract by invading cells through the cleavage of the viral protein haemagglutinin by human proteases . The pathogenicity of a certain strain is determined by the spread of proteases in the respiratory tract that can cleave the proteins of the virus; a strain is typically milder if the proteases that reside in the lungs and throat are the only ones capable of cleaving the virus, causing an upper respiratory tract (URT)

In patients sixty-five years and older how does the use of an influenza vaccine contrasted to not obtaining the vaccine reduce their chance of acquiring pneumonia during the flu season? “In 2005, pneumococcal disease and influenza were the eighth-leading cause of death in the United States and the primary cause of infection-related mortality for all age-groups” (Assaad, El-Masri, Porhayman, & El-Sohl, 2012, p. 453). Vaccination for influenza is widely identifiable as one of the most efficient and cost-effective public health interventions. (Wheelock, Thomson, & Sevdalis, 2013, p. 893). Approximately 90% of deaths caused by these illnesses occur among adults sixty-five years of age or older. It is hypothesized that the impairment to the airway epithelial lining triggered by influenza fosters bacterial growth, and that in turn bacterium-derived proteases boost virus-related virulence. There are several studies that have been established that show vaccinating the population of older patients, aged sixty-five and older, has shown a decrease in developing pneumonia during flu season. In a sizable study that included Swedish patients aged ≥ than 65 years old showed that immunization with the flu vaccine resulted in a 29% decrease in the occurrence of all-cause pneumonia and a 35% drop in the death rate from all-cause pneumonia in the vaccine group. Moreover, patients who were admitted in the hospital for influenza or

The best strategy for preventing the spread of influenza continues to be yearly vaccination. However, despite this information, people

Influenza is also referred to as flu and it is a respiratory infection that is caused by viruses which are a significant cause of respiratory disorders in human being and range from seasonal, endemic and pandemic infections. These viruses pass through the airways and enter into the body via the mouth or nose. About 5-20% of the people in the US suffer from the flu every year. There are several strains of the virus and they have been known to cause pandemics that kill millions worldwide. It can be deadly for the vulnerable populations such as the elderly, newborns and those suffering from chronic illnesses(National Institutes of Health, 2012).