Flu is a highly contageous disease. You must research how vaccination can prevent this disease and how reliable it is. You then need to formulate and argument to support or reject the statement above.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Followers
Blog Archive
-
▼
2009
(19)
-
▼
May
(12)
- Chemotherapy is not the only method available to c...
- Antibiotics are actually killing us?
- Plastic surgery has gone too far.
- The possible side-effects of using Botox as an ant...
- Should baby foreskin, obtained through circumcisio...
- Is"Passive Smoking" or "Second-Hand Smoking" as ha...
- Do the benefits of plastic surgery through breast ...
- The Ekka is the place to best catch the flu. True ...
- Antibiotics should not be prescribed for a common ...
- Every St Peters student should get a flu vaccinati...
- Which is the best medicine? Aspirin or Paracetamol?
- Babies should all be vaccinated against whooping c...
-
▼
May
(12)
PART A
ReplyDeleteThis paragraph argues that every year school children should be vaccinated against influenza.
There are three types of influenza. The virus is classified as type A, B or C. Influenza type A and B are the most common types of flu and are important in human disease. Both influenza A and influenza B viruses often change their surface proteins. This is called antigenic drift and this causes new strains to develop. It means that the contents of the vaccine must be changed to contain the new strains and people need the new vaccine annually. (1)
In most years influenza occurs during the winter months. On average, 20%-43% of children are infected during typical influenza seasons and this is a high rate. People aged 65 years and over and children under the age of 2 are most severely infected by the virus. (2) Currently only the elderly and people with chronic diseases are recommended for vaccination in Australia.
The government should consider routine influenza immunisation of all school children, because children have an extremely high incidence of influenza. Immunising children would also offer herd protection. This means that vaccinating school children would also protect other unvaccinated groups from developing the disease, such as the elderly and the very young. Since they are the groups most severely affected by the disease, this would be an important benefit. (2) An example of this occurred in Japan from 1962-1987 when all school children were vaccinated, then from 1997-1994 they were not. The vaccination prevented 37,000 deaths per year, mostly of elderly people. This is a very significant finding. (3)
Vaccination for school aged children would prevent the development of severe disease and would improve herd protection. The Australian immunisation handbook states that, ‘influenza vaccine should be administered to any person who wishes to reduce the likelihood of becoming ill’. (1)
Part A
ReplyDeleteThere are three types of Flu's (a.k.a Influenza), Influenza A, B and C.
According to the CDC(Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov), all children from 6 months up to 19 years of age should get a vaccination every year as well as pregnant women, people 50 years and over, any one with a chronic medical condition, nursing home staff/'housemates' and anyone who works in an are that they could get the Flu (Health Care workers etc.). People who should not get vaccinated are; people who have severe rections/allergy to chicken eggs, influenza vaccinations, people who develop Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), Children who are outside of the 'age barrier'and people who have moderate-to-servere illness with a fever. And a quote from the CDC says that "Yearly flu vaccination should begin in September or as soon as vaccine is available and continue throughout the influenza season, into December, January, and beyond. This is because the timing and duration of influenza seasons vary. While influenza outbreaks can happen as early as October, most of the time influenza activity peaks in January or later."
There are two main types of Influenza Vaccinations, The 'Flu Shot' and a special nasal spray. The nasal spray is created with live, weakened flu virus' that do not cause the flu. The Shot is the most used way of getting the vaccination.
http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/protect/keyfacts.htm
PART B
ReplyDeleteI have read through the information provided by Josh and I think that his information comes from the USA. The American recommendations are slightly different from the Australian ones.
The Australian Immunisation Handbook, 9th Edition (2008) has the following recommendations:
Annual influenza vaccination is recommended for any person over 6 months of age who wishes to reduce the likelihood of becoming ill with influenza.
Annual Influenza vaccination is strongly recommended for the following groups:
1. All individuals above 65 years of age
2. People at increased risk of complications of influenza infection
3. People who may potentially transmit influenza to those at high risk of complication from influenza
4. People involved in the commercial poultry or in culling poultry during confirmed avian Influenza activity
5. People providing essential services
6. Workers in other industries
7. Travellers
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePART B continued...
ReplyDeleteThe Australian recommendations also state that vaccination is best undertaken in autumn, but can be given as early as February each year.
Should Everyone In St Peters Get The Flu Injection?
ReplyDeleteWho Can Catch The Flu?
Anyone can catch the flu but it usually goes away after a week or so. For some people the flu is very dangerous. These people include: under 5’s, over 50’s, pregnant women and people with asthma or diabetes. Some experts say that 6 month – 18 year olds should get the flu injection and especially kids with kidney disease, anemia or immune system problems.
Who Shouldn’t Be Vaccinated?
Some people will have a bad reaction to the vaccine so they shouldn’t get vaccinated. These people include: people allergic to chicken eggs, people who have already had a bad reaction to flu vaccines, under 6 month olds, currently have a fever or who have had Guillain-Barré syndrome in the past 6 weeks.
Side Effects
There are many side effects to the Flu shot such as:
• Local Reactions (pain where shot given)
• Systemic Reactions (fever, muscle aches and malaise)
• Allergic Reactions (hives, anaphylactic – deadly but rare)
Does It Work?
The effectiveness depends on your age and health but testing has shown that it does prevent the flu. A study in 2008 showed 75% effectiveness. Although young adults got 57% – 77% the elderly 40% - 50% and over 70 year olds got 15% – 30% so it might not be as reliable.
Should Everyone In St Peters Get A Flu Vaccine?
I think it would be good for everyone to be safe from the flu but I think because of the side effects, it should be up to their parents.
http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/protect/keyfacts.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_vaccine
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/05_flu_shot_rxn.htm
http://kidshealth.org/kid/ill_injure/sick/flu.html
Sorry that was Part A
ReplyDeleteI think everyone should get a flu shot every time it is necessary for the floolowing reasons:
ReplyDeleteInfluenza, often referred to as 'the flu', is a respiratory infection caused by a distinct group of viruses, the influenza viruses. Infections with influenza are usually more severe than those with other respiratory viruses and involve a combination of respiratory (cough, sore throat) and constitutional (fever, headache, muscle aches) symptoms. In older adults and people with a range of pre-existing medical conditions, influenza infections can lead to serious and even life threatening complications. A notable feature of influenza is that repeated infections can occur throughout life.
Due to the fact that this virus CAN be kept away, but it will almost always come back, a booster shot whenever is necessary would be ideal to keep the flu and its spreading around the world at bay.
"Influenza is transmitted by tiny droplets of moisture spread from the respiratory tract of infected people by coughing, sneezing or even talking. When these are breathed in by a susceptible person the viruses they contain can enter the cells of the respiratory tract and multiply."
As you can see, it would be extremely easy to spread the flu around, so some necessary precautions should be taken.
- A vaccine whenever needed.
- If the virus somehow does break out and flourish, contact with others should be kept to a minimum.
- Schools everywhere should have free influenza injections for its' students when obligated.
"The young generally have the greatest risk of being infected because they have not developed immunity to influenza. Very young infants may become seriously ill."
2009, WHO, viewed 23 May, 2009.
>http://www.influenzacentre.org/fluinfo.htm<
PART A
ReplyDeleteSince we are considering routine influenza immunisation of all school children we should also review the reasons against this. Vaccine efficacy is one of the factors that needs to be taken into account. Efficacy means the ability of an intervention to produce the desired beneficial effect. (1) Studies have shown that the vaccine may only be effective in somewhere between 31% - 91% against influenza A and 45% against influenza B. (2)
Due to herd protection, annual immunisation appears to be economically worthwhile but, this must be compared with the need to immunise with a new influenza vaccine each year. This is because of antigenic drift. It is also necessary to vaccinate children under the age of nine, twice in the first year they are immunized. In addition, the harshness of the influenza season varies unpredictably from mild to severe. Unfortunately, it costs as much to immunise in a mild year as in a severe one. (2)
There may also be problems introducing vaccinations to all school aged children. Between 2004-2005, in the United States, uptake of the influenza vaccine was recommended universally. It was estimated that only 43% received the vaccination. Again, in 2003 in Canada the flu vaccine was offered without cost and only 27% were immunised. (3) The parents of the unimmunised children were more likely to believe that the vaccine’s side effects were more severe than the disease, or weakened the immune system. These are untrue, because many studies have repeatedly shown the vaccine to be safe, with a low rate of adverse events and the benefits clearly outweighing the risks. (2)
Another issue is the question of how practical is it to add another new vaccine into an already crowded childhood vaccination schedule.
Issacs (2005) considered these facts and believes that ‘there is currently insufficient reason for introducing universal childhood vaccination for this disease in Australia. There are too many unanswered questions about the cost-effectiveness, efficacy and feasibility of universal immunisation of healthy children.’(2)
I completely agree with A.C.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I agree?
I think it is very important to get vaccinated every year because then you will have less chance of catching flu.
The flu can also spread by sneezing and coughing. You can also spread the virus from the living objects such as; telephone, doorknobs and utensils. A virus enters from the air to your body and into your mouth or nose.
Risk of not getting vaccinated
If you don’t get vaccinated these are the chances of higher risk that you might get. Some people do recover, but others over 200,000 people are hospitalized and more than 36,000 died from flu and the flu complications each year just by not getting vaccinated.
Reduce your Risk
If you want to reduce your risks and prevent the flu the best thing is to do is to get vaccinated. The Vaccination is hard to beat, but the does its work well. The easiest way to prevent disease from spreading is to get vaccinated is better to treat than treating a disease which has occurred.
http://www.umm.edu/features/flu_vac.htm
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/flu/facts/vaccination.asp
Sorry i forget to write that it was Part B
ReplyDeletePart B
ReplyDeleteACD says" I think it would be good for everyone to be safe from the flu but I think because of the side effects, it should be up to their parents. "
She says that it needs to be balanced against the side effects. Recent experience shows that rushing in to develop vaccines and give them to the population can cause more deaths than the complications of the virus itself. THe data is very difficult to analyse however. In the Israeli reports following stopping the vaccinations Kokai reported no increase in the death rate. (Deaths following influenza vaccination—background mortality or causal connection. Vaccine Volume 25, Issue 51, 12 December 2007, Pages 8557-8561)
America estimates its minimum number of essential vaccinations in a pandemic at 24 million (http://www.pandemicflu.gov/vaccine/allocationguidance.pdf). The Kokai figures suggest this would mean 24000 deaths within ten days of vaccination.
PART B
ReplyDeleteIt’s a good idea to be vaccinated against the flu but this doesn’t mean that all children should get flu shots, but if your child is in one of the high risk of getting a flu such as being around crowded areas such as schools, then you should consider getting them a flu shot each year. Keep in mind that beginning this year, the flu shot is being formally recommended for all children 6 to 59 months of age. I believe once a child is in high school they are responsible enough for their own bodies and the decision of getting a vaccination is up to them.
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/immunizations/a/flu_shots.htm
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePart B
ReplyDeleteAs a lot of people have said, the flu is very easily spread. If St. Peters is going to have everyone vaccinated shouldn’t they improve the hygiene? For example, the senior school has no tissue boxes, the computer lab keyboards are touched by many people’s hands, which are then used to eat lunch and if the flu can be spread by talking (Tom, May 22, 2009 9:30 PM) maybe the flu vaccine isn’t enough, especially with the flu changing every year. Another thing is if people are sick they should have to stay home because it would spread so fast around such a big school.
Part B
ReplyDeleteResponding to Josh Cook’s post at 12:33 on the 22nd of May, I agree with most of your information, however I believe that everyone should get it every year unless they have a severe reaction to the shot, not only pregnant women, people 50 years and over and anyone with a chronic medical condition. In a large school, if even a few people have the virus, it can very quickly spread through the entire school causing a major outburst of sickness. Thus causing many students to miss school and disrupt their education. This is why I believe that everyone should have the flu shot.
Part B
ReplyDeleteI disagree with those who have said that st peters students should get the flu vaccine each year. The vaccination does not provide total protection. Viruses mutate quickly and there are many different flu strains. The virus will be stopped if your body has enough defenses built up. You can still get the flu though if your body can't produce a response quick enough, you don't produce a response well enough, the virus mutated beyond your ability to recognize it, or the virus's part in the vaccine can't be detected by the body in the intact virus.
Part A
ReplyDeleteThe flu is an irratating disease which everyone gets at least once in their life. The Flu shot is one way to get rid of it for the rest of one's life because, as Mr Jamieson said, viruses keep changing their "lab coat". Which means that they keep changing their defense, so one medication doesn't work for long. However, vaccinations lets the body know what to do when one has the flu. Which is why I agree with everyone who said that St Peters kids should get the flu shot every year. However, the parents must have a say.