This flu season is devastatingly similar to the 2009 swine flu pandemic. This week, 7 more
children died, bringing the total to 37 deaths. The CDC is comparing this flu to 2013-2014 season. The predominant strain (H3N2) causes the worst outbreaks of influenza A viruses and influenza B viruses. The elderly, children, and people with chronic health conditions will be the most affected. This strain is able to adapt to the immune system faster than other strains of the flu. This brings up the idea of vaccinations and whether or not they are effective. According to another article in the Washington Post, (linked here), this year’s vaccine takes about 2 weeks to produce a “full immune response.” However, due to the easily changing strain of H3N2, the vaccines are not adapting, and are not protecting as effectively.
children died, bringing the total to 37 deaths. The CDC is comparing this flu to 2013-2014 season. The predominant strain (H3N2) causes the worst outbreaks of influenza A viruses and influenza B viruses. The elderly, children, and people with chronic health conditions will be the most affected. This strain is able to adapt to the immune system faster than other strains of the flu. This brings up the idea of vaccinations and whether or not they are effective. According to another article in the Washington Post, (linked here), this year’s vaccine takes about 2 weeks to produce a “full immune response.” However, due to the easily changing strain of H3N2, the vaccines are not adapting, and are not protecting as effectively.
How do you think the government should be responding to outbreaks such as this? Do you think that kids that did not get a flu shot will be more prone to spreading the illness to others? What should organizations like the CDC or the FDA be doing to prevent more deaths?
5 comments:
The only thing that the government and other organizations can really do is to continue developing better treatment and to promote the usage of vaccinations. The more children get vaccinated, the less likely that influenza will spread. However, even vaccinations aren't perfect; the current method of developing vaccinations involves scientists essentially guessing how the flu virus will evolve, then making a vaccine for it.
There isn't much the gov't can really do. They can just continue to develop better vaccines. I don't think that kids that did not get a flu shot will be more prone to spreading the illness to others. People who got the flu shot can still spread the flu. In my opinion the flu shot isn't really effective. I don't think the CDC or the FDA can do much in cases like these.
Yeah, the government can't really do much in the way of combating the flu. If Congress really wanted to do something, it could issue a mandate or something for the CDC to focus their time on developing a better vaccine. Truth be told, a more effective solution would be to utilize state and local governments alongside local CDC branches. As Chris said, our vaccination technology is limited, and my knowledge of vaccines is significantly lacking, so I'm definitely not the one to be offering medical solutions. Best to leave this to the informed officials.
The only options the government has is to funnel money towards researching the new strains, and updating the vaccines as new strains are discovered. Inevitably, it’ll be not ideal and impossible to try and address all possible strains. However, we also face the risk of pouring tons of money to develop new technology, and end up not being conclusive. Money is an important factor that must be considered. Alongside, the government should make it more easily accessible for people who aren’t well aware of its purpose, or can’t afford the vaccination. While the CDC and FDA can’t protect people from getting infected, education and information on preventative measures should be further publicized, so people can stay protected during the flu seasons.
As someone who is currently sick, I think one thing the local government can do is encourage sick students to stay home. Throughout the last few weeks, I've seen a lot of people coughing and sneezing really often, which not only disturbs class but spreads whatever sickness they have. I don't think there is that much that the government can really do besides possibly developing a better vaccine, but the flu has changed so much that whatever vaccine they develop may not be enough to combat the flu.
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