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.
As an asthma patient, Alison doesn’t fall in the high-risk group as stated by the Santa Clara County. The truth is that, when the influenza vaccine scarcity happens, some people will suffer who could have been protected under typical situations. However, it is imperative to apply the rules of conduct based on the concepts of what is ethically virtuous or malicious. Rationing is the dissemination of any needed goods or services that are in limited supply to those who need it in agreement with a set of rules that assure fair distribution. Regulating the supply of the flu vaccine will need fairness in how every individual is
Hi my name is Marah and today I am going to persuade you to get a Flu vaccination. I recently got a job working at Walgreens Pharmacy. Every day that I work I see people coming in to pick up their prescriptions that don’t look like the feel very great, with a tissue in one hand and their money in the other. No one wants to be sick, it’s not fun and it makes you feel like crap and you get absolutely nothing done. So it would only make sense if everyone was taking the precautionary measure in getting a flu shot. People should be lining up to get their vaccinations in order to prevent them from them getting sick and missing school, work or important events; but they aren’t, at Walgreens, we give maybe about 4 flu shots a day,
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
Vaccination was first introduced globally for small pox and later on extended to other communicable diseases which are now known as vaccine preventable disease. Vaccination is beneficial both for individuals and community. This bring us to the ethical dilemma - Vaccination of a healthy child with the intention of protecting both the individual child and the community at the same time exposing the child to the theoretical risk of exposure to disease products whether live, attenuated or killed. There was a time when people never questioned the government or their physicians. Now because of more public awareness and accessibility to medical information, they are questioning the safety aspects of vaccines.
Healthcare providers have a moral and ethical obligation not to do harm to patients. Mandatory vaccination could prevent harm from being done to patients by preventing the spread in influenza. “Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities,
Usually, vaccinated children get sick after vaccination. This is because the flu virus has entered their bodies and sensitizes it against it. And, what’s more, the flu shot actually causes immunosuppression-weakened immunity.
Case Scenario 1: It has become necessary to ration a vaccine for a contagious disease. There is only enough vaccine available to cover 75% of the U.S. population. It is necessary to determine an appropriate method for doing this. Analyze this case by applying each of the theories of Utilitarianism, Rights-based, Justice-based and Virtue-based ethics as discussed in Module 2. (20 points)
The article “Don’t Believe Flu Myths” relates to this week’s topic of public health laws and protecting people from themselves. In summary, the article discusses this year’s grim flu season and the need to have a larger proportion of the population vaccinated. Due to its positive stance for immunization and protecting individuals from each other, the article supports the lecture for this week. In particular, implementing vaccinations for children in public schools is an extremely large concern of public health. Flu vaccines for children are especially important this year, as the predominant flu subtype seems to notably affect children. According to the article, “since the beginning of the flu season in October, 53 children have died from the
Through the rise of technological advances in medicine, the vaccine has changed the world for the greater good of the human race. Making a great triumph and virtually eliminating an array of life-threatening diseases, from smallpox to diphtheria, thus adding approximately thirty years to many humans’ life spans. Although, a new complication has arisen, possibly linking neurological digression with this rise of new vaccines. Such a digression has forced parents to exempt their children from receiving vaccinations and brought forth mental anguish affecting the minds of many.
Is it ethical to allow parents to be exempt from vaccinating their children before they begin attending school due to their religious or personal beliefs? Childhood vaccinations have been around since the 1977 Childhood Immunization Initiative. It is important to have your child vaccinated for both the benefit of your child and your surrounding community. Vaccinations help prevent the spread of diseases that can lead to hospitalizations and sometimes even death. In the United States, only medical exemptions are allowed throughout all 50 states. Exemptions that are religious or personal vary from state to state. These exemptions are given due to the fact that individuals have a constitutional right to exercise such beliefs. An important fact to keep in mind is that many cases of diseases like measles, smallpox, and polio have been prevented from turning into an outbreak because a majority of the population in the United States is immune to them. If it were not for this majority, diseases would be spreading rapidly. We have progressed as a society to protect each other’s health and allowing an alarming number of individuals to opt out of getting these vaccinations will cause a serious threat to our society. Is it ethical to allow people to put the lives of others in danger?
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this narrative review is to discuss what influenza is? And what the ethical and morality of flu vaccinations. This discussion is grounded whether or not flu vaccinations are necessary for individuals.
In America, it is the norm for everyone to get vaccinated. U.S. citizens live in a country that claims to be a democracy, but somehow that gets away with forcing us to execute activites and tricking us into believing they are always correct and trustworthy. For example, the United States government is slowly and secretly trying to make it a requirement for everyone to get every vaccination. Here’s how they are doing it: The pharmaceutical companies that develop and produce the recommended vaccinations and medications, donate millions of dollars to the FDA. In 2014 their donations made up 94% of the FDA’s total budget, which ended up equaling 4.7 billion dollars (Mercola). The FDA is the Food and Drug Administration, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Once the FDA approves the pharmaceutical companies new medications or vaccinations, their representatives are allowed to go to medical offices and distribute their product. Unfortunately, they often leave out information about side effects, and more importantly, ingredients. Then the misinformed doctors continue the trend to their patients.
disease to occur with numerous antigens entering the body at once and that their child will not be able to properly metabolize and excrete the mercury from their body.
The right of individual freedoms and the collective good for society as a whole, is an ethical dilemma that is debated time and time again. Many will agree that each individual has control over their own body and what is done to it or what goes into it. However, when it comes to the question of what is better for society, those same individuals will agree that individual rights are superseded by public good. (Leonard, 2009).
Should children’s health be at risk for the greater good of community health? The news today is full of tragic stories about complications of vaccine use and there have been injuries from the beginning of vaccine use due to incomplete data on the side effects. The injuries have also brought about changes in the way vaccines are manufactured. The Georgia State Government requires citizens to receive vaccines in order to attend day care, go to school, and work at certain jobs and each state has its own mandates as well. The only way to get around the vaccine is to claim religious or medical exception. For either of these exceptions, one has to have a notarized affidavit for religious exception or a
Some of the most important things in life is our health and family. Individuals cherish their family and try to provide the best life afforded to them. When their family’s safety or health is in jeopardy, the individuals will try to protect and ensure the proper measures are taken to safeguard their recovery to a healthy state. When this effects the child, the parents will do anything to ensure these beliefs by any means necessary. This can be a productive attitude, but also can be destructive to the parent’s goal of maintaining the child’s safety and health. In addition, this also evokes ethical dilemmas in pediatric health care. One dilemma that has been on the rise in the last decade, is parents refuting vaccinations for their children from reports of a link to vaccines causing autism. From December 2014 to February 2015 a 110 individuals acquired measles associated to the Disney Land® theme park. During the outbreak, 49% of the victims were unvaccinated and the rest were in different stages in the MMR vaccination process (i.e., only received one to two doses) (Zipprich, J., Winter, K., Hacker, J., Xia, D., Watt, J., & Harriman, K., 2015).