Explore the World of Influenza Prevention: A Comprehensive Essay on Vaccination Strategies and Research Proposals

Introduction

Vaccination is the best strategy for influenza prevention and control—the method aids in reducing illness and lessening the severity of infections. Currently, immunization goes a long way in preventing 2-3 million deaths globally from diseases like pertussis, measles, diphtheria, and influenza (Fisman & Bogoch, 2017). In the document, the study sought "Flu vaccine" as a real-world problem that was solved using numerous disciplines. The paper's goal will be to identify those disciplines and how they were synthesized in crafting a solution. Moreover, the document will create a research proposal on the flu vaccine as the chosen problem and its solution.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Research proposal: Towards a universal flu vaccine

The available flu vaccines only offer body immunity for the strains matched to. Hence, creating a 'universal' flu vaccine has been a vision (Kesik-Brodacka & Plucienniczak, 2014). The 2009 swine flu pandemic caught the health community by surprise, claiming around half a million lives. Therefore, since then, scientists and the health community have tried encompassing a more effective strategy in manufacturing enough vaccines not to be caught off-guard again (Nyhan et al., 2014). The research proposal will be titled "Combating Influenza: Towards a Universal Flu Vaccine." Therefore, in creating solutions for influenza vaccines, interdisciplinary coordination between technological advancements and multiple-vaccine programs has played a central role in demonstrating a promise in clinical testing (Krammer, 2015). Moreover, technological advances have been critical in investigating the human response to influenza; hence, with the coordination of scientists, the health community, and technology experts, a universal flu vaccine can be researched and manufactured. It will eliminate the periodical adjustment of influenza vaccines.

Effects of Influenza Virus

The influenza virus is a respiratory infection that affects the respiratory tract in human beings. The virus can cause deaths and many people hospitalized and can also lead to economic losses for a nation (Schotsaert et al. (2014)). These effects of the influenza virus can be minimized or reduced drastically by introducing the most influential vaccine. Pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and those who have low immunity are the ones who are at a higher risk of contracting the virus, and its effects are severe for them. The vaccine should be prioritized for them.

Vaccination and detection of influenza Virus

Early detection and vaccination of victims against influenza reduce mortality rates among those affected (Hilleman & M. R. (2002)). Detection of the virus can be done through mass testing of those suspected to have contracted the virus. People who also show the virus's signs and symptoms should also be tested to ensure that it is the virus. Mass testing can be conducted in suspected areas such as learning institutions, places of worship, and other areas where people can gather and interact closely. Other people who have symptoms such as high fever, chills, cough, muscle aches, headaches, runny nose, and fatigue should be isolated, tested, and monitored.

The currently available influenza virus vaccines are normalized for the HA antigen of two influenza strains A and B (Wu et al. (2020)). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus will circulate rapidly globally, hence raising the demand for vaccines. The rise in cases leads to high demand for vaccines, leading to more vaccine production by vaccine-producing companies. The mismatch between the vaccine and the type of the virus leads to the vaccine's ineffectiveness; hence more fatalities and infections are experienced. Doctors and those concerned with the handling of the disease should ensure that the type of vaccine to be administered and the type of virus that is likely to affect the area match.

Prevention of Influenza Virus

The rise of new technology in the medical industry has advanced the influenza vaccine production process (Nannei et al. (2016). During the early years before the advancement in technology, when a nation could be hit be affected by the virus, coming up with a suitable vaccine was not a walk in the park. Researchers were forced to use several traditional methods of coming up with the vaccine, which consumed a lot of time, making so many people affected and losing their lives. With the new technology, countries are now up to date with the virus structure changes, making the production of more effective vaccines. The virus structure can change due to the changes in their cell structure and mutation, which occurs due to the viral genome.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization recommended that vaccines against the influenza virus should be conducted yearly for all people who are six months and older (Shu et al. (2017)). People who were to be given the highest priority in the vaccine administration are the elderly and those with health-related problems such as high blood pressure, asthma, and other respiratory diseases. Those who work in healthcare were also among the people to receive the vaccine to ensure that they don't contract the virus and spread it to the patients they attend to daily. Healthcare workers should also be considered because they can easily handle the vaccine's side effects if there could occur due to the vaccine's incompatibility and their immune systems.

A worldwide solution to curb the spread of the virus and future occurrences. This can be done by ensuring that biological researchers can combine their skills to ensure that they can develop a vaccine with the least side effects on humans. The vaccine should also be easy to administer to people, such as through spraying in the nose, injection to the muscles, and intradermal injection. The approved vaccine can then be distributed to nations at high risk of being infected by the virus and don't have the resources to make purchases. The vaccine can be sold at a low price to developing countries, they can be given as donations, or they can be provided on loan, which can be paid later.

Effectiveness of the Influenza Virus Vaccines

Vaccine effectiveness is also an important factor when dealing with the influenza virus. The vaccine's effectiveness can vary depending on the seasons, the age, and the health status of the person. The vaccine match is sometimes best when it matches the virus, hence effectively controlling the virus. Even when the vaccine and the virus match are promising, health problems can also affect the virus's effectiveness. An example is people with asthma can easily contract the virus when exposed to it despite being administered the vaccine earlier. Scientists should develop a vaccine that explicitly controls the virus despite an individual's health conditions related to the respiratory tract.

Influenza vaccine is also important to the individuals and the country (Jorgensen et al., 2018). One advantage of a country is that it prevents a country from reaching a situation whereby some economic activities have to stop because some business activities have been shut down. After all, an area of a business has been affected. This can be an area like an airport, which can be closed due to the virus's spread by controlling local and international flights. Administering vaccines to individuals can minimize the chances of a severe outbreak as those people who would have seriously been affected by the pandemic will not be affected. Only those people who have extreme health conditions are the only ones who can be affected by the virus. This makes the government effectively control the outbreak by isolating those involved from the healthy ones.

Early administration of vaccines is also advantageous to individuals. Administration of vaccines to individuals on time saves them the cost of visiting the doctor because one has contracted the flu. When one has also acquired the flu, he can be forced to be isolated for a while. This can be costly as he has to pay for the medical bills and pay for the resources he has used in the isolation center. Also, the business of an individual can come to a standstill if one is on a sickbed. This is because one cannot run his business effectively, which leads to the economic stagnation of an individual's business. Administering vaccines on time can prevent all these from happening hence saves all these financial losses that could have happened.

Influenza vaccination can save the lives of children and the elderly in society. This is based on the study conducted during the 2017 infection wave in which fewer people's lives were lost than in the previous years where there was less vaccination, and more deaths were recorded. Vaccination reduced the number of people in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This is because there are fewer affected people, reducing the risk of fatalities and severe disease cases that land people in the ICU. After all, the infection is more chronic. When older people, especially parents, are vaccinated, young children who have not reached the vaccination age cannot be infected. Their parents will not pass the virus to them. This reduces the deaths of infants that might occur.

However, the vaccines also pose some disadvantages. The influenza vaccines pose side effects such as swelling of the injection site, fever, soreness, and aches. These are signs that occur only to a small population administered with the vaccine, about 1- 2% of the total population. There are also rare side effects that occur rarely but are serious when they occur, including swelling around the eyes and lips, difficulty breathing, increased heartbeat rate, high fever, and dizziness. One is advised to seek medical attention in case he experiences these symptoms. The side effects in children can cause headaches, vomiting, runny nose, muscle aches, and wheezing. These side effects only last for a short time than when one has the actual influenza virus.

Conclusion

In conclusion, vaccination should be the priority to consider when thinking of influenza virus prevention and control (Committee on Infectious Diseases. (2017)). This is because vaccination is cost-saving and a cheaper method of curbing the spread of infections. This can be achieved by applying the outdated technology of disease control and implementing the modern technology that uses the current and latest technology in influenza vaccine and disease control.

References

Committee on Infectious Diseases. (, 2017). Recommendations for prevention and control of influenza in children, 2017–2018. Pediatrics, 140(4).

Fisman, D. N., & Bogoch, I. I. (2017). Have you heard? Indirect flu vaccine effects are critically important. The Lancet Public Health, 2(2), e57-e58.

Jorgensen, P., Mereckiene, J., Cotter, S., Johansen, K., Tsolova, S., & Brown, C. (2018). How close are the WHO European Region countries achieving the goal of vaccinating 75% of crucial risk groups against influenza? Results from national surveys on seasonal influenza vaccination programs, 2008/2009 to 2014/2015. Vaccine, 36(4), 442-452.

Kesik-Brodacka, M., & Plucienniczak, G. (2014). A universal flu vaccine. Acta Biochimica Polonica, 61(3).

Krammer, F. (2015). The quest for a universal flu vaccine: headless HA 2.0. Cell host & microbe, 18(4), 395-397.

Nannei, C., Chadwick, C., Fatima, H., Goldin, S., Grubo, M., & Ganim, A. (2016). Considerations for sustainable influenza vaccine production in developing countries. Vaccine, 34(45), 5425-5429.