Summary: Affluenza For Influenza

Affluenza for Influenza

Around November to March, people begin to panic because of the annual flu season. Flu also known as influenza, is a common viral infection that can be deadly. Influenza (also known as the flu) has been around for centuries and it has different variations. The flu has killed millions of people throughout the course of history and there is not a cure for it; but there are preventive measures against it. The development of influenza vaccines helped better health conditions, and encourage healthcare in countries around the world. The development of the influenza vaccine did not come overnight, doctors diagnosed patients with influenza but they did not know what it is at the time. “Throughout history, influenza viruses

The flu epidemic of 1918 caused American mortality rates to drop down by 60% and the public expected for a vaccine to come but the developers of the vaccine did not have the correct gene to use for the vaccine. The virus was finally detected in the 1930s in the midst of the Great Depression. However, the vaccine for influenza did not come until World War II. In 1944, the vaccine for influenza was first introduced to the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board and the soldiers were the first to be vaccinated against the flu. Civilians later on got the vaccine in 1945. Today, the developers of the flu shots know that there are different types of flu, and to get the vaccine, doctors have to make an educated guess and create a vaccine that they think will work for the year. There are one hundred forty two influenza centers in the world and they collect data on the flu, monitor strains and then relay their data to one of the five world health organizations. There are also different types of vaccines for the different hemispheres. The flu shot is the only vaccine that is continually being updating because influenza is a rare type of virus that is constantly

“Influenza is a disease of modernity: the faster people travel around the world, the easier it is for the virus to spread” (Suddath). Influenza is evident through history, and for the longest time, the world did not have anything to prevent it. In the twenty-first century, when the vaccine is readily available and goes as cheap as five dollars, people refuse to take it. Flu shots are a luxury when it comes to third world countries. Families would line up at the nearest city hall and line up for the whole day just to get a shot that prevents them from getting sick. Still, not every child can get a flu shot because it is a long trip to the city hall or they ran out of the vaccines or they did not have anyone working to get the food for the family that day. Here in the United States, some parents refuse to get their children vaccinated. California is one of the seventeen states that allow personal belief exemptions; this means that parents can sign a form that states that their child is enrolling in the school unvaccinated. Some parents believe that flu shots will infect their children with the flu, some believe that it will give their children cancer and etc. It is likely that people get symptoms of the flu after a flu shot but that it because of the dead virus that is inside the vaccine. The worst thing that can happen from a flu shot is the Guillian-Barre Syndrome which is when a person’s immune system attack