Pandemic Influenza

Epidemiologists: Pandemic Influenza

Epidemiologists: Pandemic Influenza

Introduction

It seems that since the beginning of time, we suffer each year from influenza or "flu." Changes in the genetic structure of the virus require us to develop new vaccines on an annual basis in order to prevent the attempts of the virus especially in those who are elderly or chronically ill, as for them, flu can be serious and even disastrous outcomes. With shortage of vaccine in recent years, and inefficient methods of production of these vaccines, the people affected as it is. However, what is worse, it seems likely that an influenza pandemic may occur in the coming years.

Influenza, also known as the "flu", is a virus that infects the respiratory tract. Even though influenza is not as severe as many viral infections but it is almost worse for viral respiratory tract infections. Typically, when a person is infected with influenza, they have a fever (usually 100 ° to 103 ° F in adults, but even higher in children) and cause coughing, sore throat, runny nose or nasal congestion, as well as headaches, muscle aches and usually extreme tiredness. There are sometimes other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but usually only in rare cases with young children. Another note: the term "stomach flu" is actually not caused by influenza virus (www.dieoff.org).

Epidemiologists concerned Influenza Pandemic

A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population, which causes serious illness and then spreads easily person-to-person worldwide. Flu Pandemics have occurred intermittently over the centuries. The last three pandemics, in 1918, 1957 and 1968, killed approximately 40 million, 2 million and 1 million people worldwide, respectively. Although the timing cannot be predicted, history and science suggest that we will face one or more pandemics this century. Due to cases of Avian Influenza ("Bird Flu") infecting humans in Asia, it is likely that the next flu pandemic will occur within the next four years and could result in up to 200 million deaths--so it is said. The past three pandemics were all derived from Bird Flu. Bird Flu itself cannot become a human pandemic, but if it mutates with common influanza, it is highly likely to do so. Although remarkable advances in technology have been made over the years, we are constantly reminded that sometimes this remains insufficient. (Vaillant 2009)

Many Epidemiologists think that vaccines and antivirals, with appropriate measures, can solve everything. This is not so. Other Epidemiologists says that neither of these can prevent a destructive pandemic, especially because of modern transportation that can theoretically spread a disease in a matter of a couple months. Neither of these is strictly accurate but both should be taken into consideration. Disease can spread quickly in these modern times but with modern innovations such as transportation advances, there are also medical advances that can also be taken advantage of (www.dieoff.org).

Prevention Methods of Influenza Pandemic

The current method of manufacturing ...