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Jaia Christy
English Concurrent Enrollment
Mrs. Pfeiffer
31 May 2016
Influenza Vaccine
The common flu, aka Influenza is a highly contagious respiratory illness that originates
and is created by the influenza virus. Influenza can be spread to other people from six feet away.
People obtain and spread the flu virus by droplets made when people with the flu cough, sneeze
or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby, or possibly be
inhaled into the lungs. Less often, a person might also get the flu by touching a surface or object
that has the flu virus on it, and then touching their own mouth or nose. There are various
treatments used for the prevention of the influenza virus but has been a very controversial topic
that many people have different opinions on.
Dating back to old Hippocrates, influenza has been and continues to be one of the lion
kings of infectious diseases. It occurs in two different patterns, annual seasonal epidemics,
during winter months in the temperate countries, and year-round in the tropics, and global
pandemics, which can occur during any season and last more than a year (Mandal, What are
Vaccines?, News-medical. net ). An estimated 3,000 to 49,000 individuals in the United States
die every year from seasonal influenza (Neel Joe, "How Many People Die from Flu Each Year?
Depends How You Slice The Data, NPR.gov). Influenza epidemics occur when novel influenza
viruses in animals undergo genetic changes that allow the viruses to infect humans, who in turn
transmit the new human-adapted virus to others. Epidemics like these are why the influenza
vaccination was created and recommended to everyone in the world, so theres the question most

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people would ask/ consider why civilians wouldnt want the vaccination that could prevent
individuals from obtaining the sickly and deadly virus.
What is the Influenza Virus?
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by an influenza
virus. There are two main types of influenza (flu) virus: Types A and B. The influenza A and B
viruses that routinely spread in people (human influenza viruses) are responsible for seasonal flu
epidemics each year. Influenza A viruses can be broken down into sub-types depending on the
genes that make up the surface proteins.
What is the Influenza Vaccine?
There are many different kinds of vaccinations for the flu such as the egg-based flu
vaccine, the cell-based flu vaccine, and the recombinant flu vaccine. The one that people receive
from doctors and physicians is the egg-based flu vaccine, this vaccine is actually the most
common way that the flu vaccine are made. The most common influenza vaccine administered to
people is the trivalent flu shot. The trivalent flu shot contains the strains of the influenza virus
Type A H1N1, Type A H3N2, and one strain of Influenza B. The reason why these are the basic
three is because these strains are the most common influenza viruses doctors see people suffer
from or are most commonly exposed to. There are generally two types or classes of influenza
vaccines: inactive vaccines and live attenuated (weakened) vaccines. The inactive (killed)
vaccine is what the world calls the flu shot and the live attenuated (weakened) vaccine is well
known as the nasal spray.
The difference between these vaccines is the way they are manufactured. The egg-based
production process begins with Center for Disease Control and Prevention or another Influenza

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Collaborating Center providing private sector manufacturers with vaccine viruses grown in eggs
per current FDA regulatory requirements ("Influenza Vaccine Development"). For flu shots, the
influenza viruses for the vaccine are then inactivated (killed), and the virus antigen is purified.
The manufacturing process continues with the purification and testing. For the attenuated nasal
spray vaccine, the viruses are weakened rather than killed and go through a faintly different
production process.
Positive Outcomes from the Influenza Vaccine
The Influenza vaccination is recommended from almost all health care physicians to help
stop the production and distribution of the influenza virus. The flu vaccination exposes a persons
body to the influenza virus. The immune systems white or immune cells help the body fight
infection. The first time the body encounters a germ, it can take several days to make and use all
the germ- fighting tools needed to get over the infection. After the infection, the immune system
remembers what it learned about how to protect the body against that disease. The body keeps a
few T-lymphocytes, called memory cells that go into action quickly if the body encounters the
same germ again. When the familiar antigens are detected, B-lymphocytes produce antibodies to
attack them.
Obtaining this vaccination helps the body become immune to the various germs entering
the body. Not all flu viruses are the same this is why doctors and physicians recommend
Influenza shots to the public to expose their body to new germs located in the flu vaccine to help
the body become immune to the multiple germs around us. Every time a person gets sick with
the flu they are infected with a new flu virus open to the body and the body then can know how
to fight off the unknown virus that it encounters.

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Negative Outcomes of the Influenza Vaccine and the risks
Although the flu shot may help many, they are often common side effects that
follow with obtaining and receiving the flu shot. When people get the flu shot, they often dont
come back for the following dosage because the side effects are too severe for them. When
individuals think they have obtained the flu from the Influenza shot they have the symptoms
soreness/swelling of the injection spot, headache, fever, and soreness (Possible Side-effects
from Vaccines., Cdc.gov). These symptoms are fairly normal, but some patients symptoms are
more severe than others, causing them to make the decision in not furthering the flu vaccination
process.
These symptoms are what most people would consider the worst, but there are further
severe complications that may follow with influenza shot. Even though there are various side
effects that may come with the shot, the important thing is to pay attention if there are any
reactions that are not listed as common side effects. Reactions such as difficulty breathing,
hoarseness, swelling around the eyes or lips, hives, paleness, weakness, racing heart, dizziness,
behavior changes, and high fever. These reactions if left untreated can be immensely dangerous
and lethal to individuals that have reacted to the shot.
Doctor's Perspective
Doctors and physicians see the influenza vaccine as one of the greatest advancements in
medicine. Vaccines are one of the greatest public health accomplishments, and they have led to
the significant reduction of several infectious diseases in the United States. However, in recent
years, vaccination rates have decreased causing a growing concern in the health fields.

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The CDC has updated the influenza virus spread in the years 2015-2016 (Russel et al.).
The graph shows that there is a growing increase in the influenza virus causing doctors and
physicians to become more adamant in individuals getting the flu shot. Even before these years
the flu virus was becoming a very serious and continuous problem seen in hospitals, there were
tremendous amounts of people hospitalized just from the flu virus in the years 2013-2014
(Thompson et al). The seen increase in the influenza virus in these four years has caused health
care physicians and doctors to make the decision of making the public more aware of the risks in
not receiving the influenza vaccine and the positive outcomes the flu shot gives to the United
States and the communities in it.
People Who Dont Want the Influenza Vaccine Perspective
The reasons why the majority of people fail to line up for flu shots, even in pandemic
years, are varied, complicated and differ from person to person, experts say. Driven by
misinformation, some fear that the vaccine carries risks. The risks consist of having an allergic

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reaction to eggs which can be recommended before administering to the individual. Another risk
is that the flu shot links to epilepsy or Alzheimer's disease, which there has not been a connection
to the influenza vaccination, but is a common myth in the communities. Some think the flu shot
is unnecessary or wont do any good. With all this said the most known reason why people do
not get the influenza vaccination is misconceptions such as a person can get the flu from the
vaccination which has been proven not true. As said above, the flu vaccination contains
inactivated or killed viruses. Another example is that the deaths from the flu are exaggerated, the
United States loses 3,000 to 49,000 individuals a year just by the flu. Still, despite universal
recommendations by public health officials urging just about everyone over the age of six
months to get vaccinated, most Americans dont get the flu shot.
People Who Want the Influenza Vaccine Perspective
The individuals who get the flu vaccination know mostly about the risks and the positive
outcomes. Such as getting a sense of immunity when a person exposes their body to the
influenza virus. The main reason why people get the flu shot, is because it helps individuals
become less sick, the flu shot decreases the chance of one getting sick compared to being
constantly exposed to foreign viruses that people encounter on a daily basis. Another group of
people also may get the flu shot to prevent the virus they may carry from spreading to others,
such as older people and newborns, where their immune systems aren't strong enough to fight or
help the body get rid of the virus. Then there's also the group of individuals that have had the
influenza vaccine administered to them at a young age and it is just a familiar routine in their
regular checkups, this group sees no issue with the flu shot and it's fairly regular in their lifestyle.
The influenza virus is a very complex structure that has a very debatable topic on how it
should be treated. There are two main sides to this debate: (1) Yes to the vaccine and (2) No to

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the vaccine. Everywhere in the world health care officials are recommending the flu vaccination
because they have done experiments and spent countless hours of studying on the Influenza virus
and how it spreads and what it is capable of doing. Even though there's worldwide
recommendations by health officials urging just about everyone to get vaccinated, most
Americans dont get the flu shot. Americans dont get vaccination due to many reasons some can
relate to and some cannot. The influenza vaccination is ultimately up to choice and there are
many reasons why people should and shouldn't retrieve it.

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Works Cited
Mandal, Ananya. What are Vaccines? News-medical. net. AZO Network, 26 Sep. 2013. Web.
29 Apr 2016
Dr. Ananya Mandal writes about the general basics of vaccinations. In the article she
discusses the history of vaccinations and how they came about. Ananya Mandal then
discusses the vaccinations called prophylactic and cancer preventing vaccinations that are
being developed. She then discusses the benefits of receiving a vaccination. This a
credible source due to the fact she is a doctor and she studies the subject. This
information will be beneficial in the research paper to help further discuss the history of
vaccination and help describe the specific vaccinations physicians use.
Neel, Joe. "How Many People Die From Flu Each Year? Depends How You Slice The Data."
NPR. NPR, 26 Aug. 2010. Web. 2 May 2016.
Neel states how many people in the United States dies from the influenza virus. In his
article he discusses that he has obtained the information from CDC and they have
provided information for them to continue further analysis. This a credible source
because it was from the CDC and they will have the most correct information on
infectious diseases. This source will help give an estimate on how many people die from
the flu yearly so that it will help stress the issue and why doctors recommend it.
"Influenza Vaccine Development." Flu (Influenza) Vaccine Development. N.p., 14 Jan.
2011. Web. 3 May 2016
In this site it states and describes how the influenza vaccination is made and how
many eggs is needed in administering and producing the vaccine. This site is

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slightly credible it gave information that was helpful and was improved by the
U.S Department of Health and Human Services. This site will help describe how
the influenza vaccine is produced.
Possible Side-effects from Vaccines. Cdc.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. n.d.
Web. 2 May 2016
In this website they discuss how the vaccination one receives can have side effects. They
discuss the different variations of side effects and risks for each vaccination that is given
by physicians. This source is reliable and credible because it is regulated and monitored
by the government. This site will help the research paper become unbiased by presenting
the risks and side effects people have that help make them make the decision in not
receiving vaccinations. The information will help further discover the risks and the
benefits.
Russel Kate, Lenee Blanton, Krista Kniss, Desiree Mustaquim, Sophie Smith, Jessica Cohen,
Shikha Garg, Brendan Flannery, Alicia M. Fry, Lisa A. Grohskopf, Joseph Breese, Teresa Wallis,
Wendy Sessions, Rebecca Garten, Xiyan Xu, Anwar Isa Abd Elal, Larisa Gubareva, John Barnes,
David E. Wentworth, Erin Burns, Jaqueline Katz, Daniel Jernigan, and Lynette Brammer.
"Update: Influenza Activity United States, October 4, 2015February 6, 2016." Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Feb. 2016. Web.
1 May 2016.
In this article CDC collects, compiles, and analyzes data on influenza activity year-round
in the United States. Timing of influenza activity and largest circulating influenza viruses
vary by season. The information provided from the source is reliable and correct the U.S

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Department of Health & Human Services has confirmed the research provided. The
research gathered will be play an important role in showing the most recent epidemics in
the United States regarding the Influenza spreads recently in the year. This will also help
make comparisons and differences between the years 2004 and 2015-2016.
Thompson William, Shay David, Weintraub Eric, Brammer Lynnette, Bridges Carolyn, Cox
Nancy, Fukuda Keiji, Influenza-Associated Hospitalizations in the United States.
Media.mycme.com. American Medical Association. 15 Sep 2004. Web. 1 May 2016
These group of highly educated individuals discusses the estimate annual influenzaassociated hospitalizations in the United States by hospital discharge category, discharge
type, and age group. After the extensive research they were able to estimate influenzaassociated hospitalizations for primary and any listed pneumonia and influenza and
respiratory and circulatory hospitalizations. This is a reliable source, the authors all are
doctors, the research was presented unbiased and there was a great list of references
provided. The research provided will be a very significant part in the research paper.
From the information given and the statistics provided this will help substantially in
providing a given amount of people that come in the hospital because of Influenza.