Free Paper Example on Influenza

Introduction

Influenza is an infectious disease caused by the influenza virus and is commonly known as the flu. Three influenza virus types affect human beings, namely, Type A, Type B and Type C influenza virus. Its symptoms can be mild or severe, but the following are common signs and symptoms, fever, fatigue, diarrhea especially in children, cough, sore throat, headache, body aches and runny nose. Majority of the people who get infected by this disease will recover after a few days or less than a week. Some people will develop complications when they contact the flu such as pneumonia, ear infections, myocarditis, and inflammation of the brain and multi-organ failure.

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Transmission

Influenza virus can be transmitted through the following three ways. The first one is a direct transmission, which occurs when an infected person sneezes directly into the eyes, nose or mouth of another person (Laberge & Shachak, 2013). The second way is by air where a person inhales the aerosols produced by an infected person while coughing, sneezing or spitting and lastly through hand to mouth, hand to eye or hand to nose from the contaminated surfaces or direct personal contact such as a handshake. The influenza virus can leave outside the body and will stay alive depending on the surface on which it lands. Only small droplets of influenza can be inhaled as the larger ones will quickly drop to the ground.

Treatment for a person infected with influenza is to allow the person to rest and take many fluids. In case of severe infection or if the infected person is at risk for complications, your doctor may prescribe an antiviral drug for treatment. Some medicines include oseltamivir, zanamivir, peramivir or baloxavir (Woodul et al., 2019). They may shorten your illness and prevent serious complications.

The CDC estimates that 5 to 20% of Americans are affected by influenza every flu season and that between 3000 and 49000 of the citizens die from the flu every year. Flu affects approximately 5 to 10% of adults and 20 to 30% of children worldwide (Woodul et al., 2019). No gender is majorly affected by the disease through pregnant women are at increased risk of having a severe illness. The infection rate is higher among children, but the elderly are at higher risk of complications and hospitalization. The mortality rate is approximately 1532 deaths for every 100000 people affected with the flu (Woodul et al., 2019).

Influenza is not a reportable disease, and the majority of people doesn’t seek medical attention when infected with the disease. There are several social determinants of health which contribute to the development of the disease. The first one is the culture. Culture is the way of living of people and may include how they greet like hugging, which may lead to the spread of the disease (Laberge & Shachak, 2013).

Residential Segregation

The second factor is the residential segregation where the individuals reside, and another one is the access to healthcare services, transportation options, availability of resources to meet daily needs, public safety, social support, availability of community-based resources in support of community living and opportunities for recreational and leisure time activities and socioeconomic conditions among others. All these factors may lead to the development of the flu and lead to its transmission.

Influenza is an infectious disease, and it has three components for it to spread, namely, the host, the agent and the environment that brings the host and the agent together. Scientists developed a tool to address these three components, known as the epidemiologic triangle. The details for influenza are discussed as follows. The agent is the pathogen which is the influenza virus. The presence of the agent is enough to cause disease; however, this will depend on other several factors as to whether the agent would cause disease or not. The next component is the host. The host is the organism who is exposed to and carries the disease. The host may or may not show the signs and symptoms of the disease or show any signs of illness. They will be unaware that they are carrying the disease and are more likely to spread it the condition more to other people. Hosts vulnerability will depend on age and hygiene practices. Children and the elderly are at higher risk of getting infected with the flu. The third component is the environment.

It refers to any external factors that can influence exposure and susceptibility to the influenza virus. These environmental components may include crowded areas, and lack of sanitation (Fauci et al., 2020). Influenza is a community-based infection, and the community should, therefore be at the forefront to prevent the disease's spread.

Prevention Strategies

The following are some of the prevention strategies for the virus, implementing environmental and engineering infection control measures, appropriate management of ill HCP, implementation of respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette, administration of influenza vaccine and adherence to infection control precautions for all patient care activities and aerosol-generating procedures (Fauci et al., 2020).

Community health nurses have several roles in dealing with infections. In particular, community health nurses provide treatment for those affected with the flu; they offer education to the community about maintaining good health and also plan for educational assemblies, conduct health screenings and administer an immunization.

Demographic data include things such as age, gender, race and ethnicity. These data are essential for addressing the health of a community (Fauci et al., 2020). They will help determine the gender, age or race that is more susceptible to the various diseases and then the necessary precautions can be taken. The lifestyle of individuals can also be included in the demographic data.

The office of the Pandemic and Emerging Threats within the Office of Global Affairs leads the HHS”s global diplomatic and policy engagement to prevent, detect and respond to pandemic influenza (Fauci et al., 2020). The organization supports the development of the WHO Pandemic Influenza Risk Management Interim Guidance and establishing and strengthening of the African Vaccine Manufacturers Initiative, among others (Fauci et al., 2020).

Influenza affects the world at large, especially the developing countries. Children, elderly and pregnant women are the people who are most affected by the disease. Different countries have a different approach on how to deal with the flu. Majority of countries use influenza vaccine to prevent the disease while others advocate for hygiene and proper health sanitation (Fauci et al., 2020). The developing countries have inadequate health systems and are therefore prone to attract, and other countries culture also promote the spread of the disease.

Conclusion

To conclude, infectious diseases are mostly transmitted from one person to another, which is very dangerous. They can therefore be prevented by breaking the epidemiologic triangle, and the community is educated on the best practices to keep them safe. They can also be transmitted through people getting closer to one another in terms of physical distances, and such a case is Covid 19.

References

Claas, E. C., Osterhaus, A. D., Van Beek, R., De Jong, J. C., Rimmelzwaan, G. F., Senne, D. A., ... & Webster, R. G. (1998). Human influenza A H5N1 virus related to a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. The Lancet, 351(9101), 472-477.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9482438/

Fauci, A. S., Lane, H. C., & Redfield, R. R. (2020). Covid-19—navigating the uncharted. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejme2002387

Laberge, M., & Shachak, A. (2013). Developing a tool to assess the quality of socio-demographic data in community health centres. Applied Clinical Informatics, 4(1), 1.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3644810/

Taubenberger, J. K., & Morens, D. M. (2008). The pathology of influenza virus infections. Annu. Rev. Pathol. Mech. Dis., 3, 499-522.
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-similarities-and-differences-with-influenza

Woodul, R. L., Delamater, P. L., & Emch, M. (2019). Hospital surge capacity for an influenza pandemic in the triangle region of North Carolina. Spatial and spatio-temporal epidemiology, 30, 100285. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31421794/.