Influenza Argumentative Essay

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

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.

Every fall season we hear the question; did you get your flu shot yet? It is supposed to protect you from that nasty flu virus that circulates our communities during the fall and winter months. But, did you know that in 2011 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Adverse Event Reporting Systems Website (AERS) reported 51 deaths caused by the flu vaccine in the United States (U.S.) (CDC,2012). According to National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), as of July 2012 there have been more than 84,000 reports of adverse reactions, 1000 vaccine related deaths and over 1600 cases of Guillain- Barre syndrome, a acute form of paralysis, triggered by the vaccine (NVIC.ORG).

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 Papatya Tankut—RPh Vice President of Pharmacy Affairs at CVS health—“Getting a flu shot is the most effective way to protect yourself and your family from getting the flu” (A). Most people underestimate the importance of the flu shot even though it is the best thing someone can do to stay healthy. It allows for people's body to identify influenza so it knows how to fight back incase it has to face the flu. With this, it is also never too late for someone to receive the flu vaccine. The CCD recommends to receive the influenza vaccine as soon as it is released for flu season; however, it is still beneficial to get the vaccine as long as the disease is circulating (C). Throughout the flu season, there are many opportunities to receive the flu and become sick. Even getting the influenza vaccine during the second half of flu season helps protect your body from that point until flu season ends. By families receiving the flu shot at the beginning of the season or towards the middle or end, the influenza vaccine helps people become more immune to the

Seasonal influenza is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the industrialized world. The United States alone averages more than 23,000 influenza-associated deaths annually (Cortes-Penfield, 2014). Everyone is given the option to receive the flu vaccination each year. The vaccine is offered in health care facilities, clinics, and pharmacies around

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

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

In the healthcare field, it is essential that workers receive the flu vaccination due to the potential to either become infected by a patient or unknowingly spreading the virus to the patient population. The state of New York requires that health care workers in not only hospitals but other medical agencies in the state “be immunized against influenza viruses as a precondition

The flu has a number of common names which include “English Sweat,” “Grippe,” “Influenza,” and “Swine Flu.” It is a very tiny virus with a diameter of 80-120

Vaccinations are not only beneficial to the vaccinated, but to the public health of the

According to Healthy People 2020 a goal of theirs is to “increase immunization rates and reduce preventable infections.” The influenza virus is one of these preventable infections, which can cause serious harm to patients. The influenza virus is known as the “flu.” Everyone in his or her life has had some experience with the flu, whether that is himself or herself or a family member. What if there was a way to ensure people from contracting a strain of the influenza virus? Well, thanks to technology and medical research there is.

Throughout history, the flu has killed and afflicted countless people, but the virus has been becoming a big problem in somewhat more recent history. One of many serious flu outbreaks started around 100 years ago. Illness from the 1918 flu pandemic, also known as the Spanish flu, came on quickly. People who had caught the virus felt fine in the morning, but were dead by nightfall. Others who caught the Spanish Flu, but did not die directly from the sickness often died anyway from

Vaccinations are important because they can save the lives of children and allow more protection against diseases. Before vaccinations, thousands of infants, children and adults died from different types of diseases. Because of advances in medical science, children can be protected against more diseases than ever before. Some diseases that once injured or killed thousands of children, have been eliminated and others are close to being. One example of the great impact that vaccines can have is the elimination of polio in the United States. Polio was once America’s most-feared disease, causing death and paralysis across the country, but today, thanks to vaccination, there are no reports of polio in the United States. In Terho Heikkinen’s journal entry he explains that “the rate of mortality from pneumonia and influenza among [people] dropped dramatically with the initiation of the vaccination program; however, after the program was discontinued, the excess mortality rates started to increase rapidly” (226). Liz Szabo writes, “according to the CDC, vaccines given to infants and young children over the past two decades will prevent 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths over the course of their lifetimes.” Countless researchers have discovered that vaccinations have proven to protect individuals from deadly diseases.