Summary
The global influenza virus is a challenging wicked problem that has been wiping out millions of people for over a hundred years. The virus adapts and mutates the strains, making the flu problematical to eradicate with our current methods.
The Wicked Issue
The problem with Influenza started in 1918 when the Spanish flu broke out causing the first flu pandemic the world had ever faced. The BC Medical journal called the epidemic, “The greatest medical holocaust in history” (Skowronski and Kendall). Little did they know back in 1918 that the virus was only going to adapt and create different strains. It was the beginning of one wicked issue that future generations were going to have to combat and attempt to finally eradicate.
The virus is destructive due to the fact that it isn’t just one strain that we can just eradicate. The viral disease has an abundance of different strains that mutate which makes it challenging to stop. The different types of the virus are Influenza A, B, C, and their sub-types. The different strains are introduced to humans by animals. For example, the 2009 Swine flu pandemic also known as H1N1 was influenza C and multiple subtypes of Influenza A. Therefore, not only can humans contract the swine flu, but so can pigs. Swine flu eventually decreased in number of occurrences, then again it is still possible to catch.
Today,
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The 2018 flu season brutally struck the United States. Even though the strain that went around H3N2 wasn’t new the vaccination that was made did not protect the majority of the public against that certain strain. Wretchedly, the hasty virus was, “only successfully targeted by vaccines in about 30% of cases, according to the CDC” (Ducharme and
Influenza was a deadly virus that killed millions of people around the world back in 1918. The virus of influenza has eight genes with no fix structure, and the segment structure can change the virus fragmentation endlessly. The virus is independent and can replicate rapidly once it gets into your lungs which can the air pathway and the infected person would drown in their own body. People with the virus can spread it by coughing, sneezing, and sometimes people might touch a surface which has the virus on it and touch their mouth or nose without properly washing it. The virus has eight genes.
Despite the efforts of the greatest minds in the world, scientists were unable to explain why the virus acted the way it did. These unique characteristics contributed to millions of deaths and the growing fear of the
The Great War was coming to end and with it soldiers were returning home. Returning home with them was a disease known as influenza. The global interconnectedness from this total war not only connected people and violence but also spread the flu. Influenza killed many citizens globally and was difficult to stop, due to a lack of medical knowledge. Africa and India had a similar response to the influenza epidemic as both blamed the unfortunateness on the divine.
Throughout history diseases have been and outbreak everywhere. There are cures, but the ones that are very deadly can kill an ill person within hours. The name of the diseases is the Bird flu, Spanish flu, the Plague, the Cholera, Smallpox, and the Ebola. The disease that is most affecting the nation is the plague.
Influenza, “ has been described as the greatest medical holocaust in history” and may have killed as many people as the Black Plague”. This illness, (which originated from southeast asia) was obviously quite lethal, but nowadays we have an effective mean of defense, a vaccine, also known as the flu shot! Influenza is a virus that spreads in droplets caused by coughing or sneezing! It’s symptoms include fevers, chills, muscle aches, coughing, congestion, runny noses, headaches, and fatigue. If you notice that somebody has these symptoms don’t worry it’s not a life or death situation, however you might wanna stay away from them, it’ll save you a huge discomfort!
insufficient progress to date remains less than 50% been made in view of the increasing speed of the HCWs influenza vaccine. Medical workers have identified a number of barriers to vaccination. But eliminate this barrier, and effectively increase the support rates of the multi-faceted program inoculation any inoculation, this program is a recent phenomenon, it was widely. Medical authorities are now considering a mandatory influenza vaccination for health care providers (Sullivan,
Influenza vaccines direct and indirect medical costs have resulted in an effective cost saving for all ages especially the 65 and up (Carias et al., 2015). The direct and indirect cost of influenza vaccination is associated with many economic principles that ties in with 1) the health outcomes, 2) medical cost, 3) hospitalizations, 4) loss of lives, 5) inpatients admission, 6) over the counter medication, 7) out of patients visits, drug prescription, 9) days lost to work and much more (Carias et al., 2015). Therefore, the overall economic cost of providing vaccination to the population is relevantly high given the above factors that is considerable to weigh the benefits cost of vaccination.
The influenza had been in America for two months, and in France for at least a few weeks. Even though the disease would eventually be called the Spanish flu, it actually spread across the world under different names.
Like the Spanish Flu, Covid-19 is a highly contagious virus that led to a global crisis, becoming a pandemic. Both pandemics have claimed millions of lives worldwide, causing widespread devastation. However, advancements in medical science have allowed for rapid vaccine development, providing a significant remedy against Covid-19. Vaccination efforts have played a crucial role in gaining immunity and controlling the spread of the
The influenza first attacked people who were in close contact with each other, places like military bases and prisons had to face the deadly disease head on in it 's early stage. At first it was thought to be a small dilemma that would be over within weeks, instead it spread like wildfire. “By noon, the camp’s hospital had dealt with over one hundred ill soldiers. By week’s end, that number jumped to five hundred.”
The regulations put out by government ensured that the outbreak would come to an immediate halt, and if a new epidemic were to sweep through the states, it would be derailed. Another outbreak of influenza became prevalent in England in 1933. A doctor was able to isolate the disease and noticed how it spread. Lots of this was due to research from the Spanish Influenza, and the death toll was much lower. (Youngdahl)
We’ve had many global outbreaks in our world of diseases and viruses. The novel The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is about an outbreak of a vicious disease. It gives a terrifying, true narrative about an eruption of a deadly virus, Ebola, the great slate wiper, the disease that did horrific things you did not want to imagine (Preston 64). The vicious virus approached upon the people out of nowhere, when no one knew what it was or why it was happening. The government's response was very well reacted to the situation, they jumped right on the situation, contained the virus and tried to find a cure as soon as possible.
Influenza season is here again so it is time for everybody to add getting a flu shot to their “to-do” list. It is recommended for everyone to get flu shot from ages 6 months and older (McCarthy 1). It is the obligation of healthcare works and their employers to promote influenza vaccinations to patients and is an annual requirement for the workers as well (Lynkowski 1). Winter season is time for healthcare workers to get in line, roll up their sleeves and consent to treatment for a flu shot. For the hospital, their goal is to get all employees vaccinated, especially those who have direct contact with patients which brings up a number of ethical issues arising from the attempts to implement mandatory flu shots (Dubov 2530).
a. Because of these mutations, a new vaccine is created every year by doctors, predicting what that flu season 's virus will be like. b. Because it is only a prediction, occasionally the virus created in the lab doesn’t match up with the circulating virus. 1. With the virus that doesn’t match, a person is still more protected than a person without the vaccine, as stated in a CNN report in December of 2014 on the effectiveness of mutated viruses.
A pandemic is a disease that exists throughout an entire country, continent, or the entire world. 12. Why would it not be advantageous for a virus to kill its host as quickly as possible?