October 18, 2017
Speaker Tom Takubo
Room 439M, Building 1
State Capitol Complex
Charleston, WV 25305
RE: Senate Bill 318 - Offering flu vaccines to persons 65 and older in specific facilities
Dear Mr. Takubo,
My name is Courtney Passley and I am a junior nursing student at West Virginia University. I am writing to you to present my perspective and my support for senate bill 318. I very much support this bill and I would like to present some information as to how this will help the community.
Influenza is an illness that can result in prolonged hospitalization or even death in cases that are not treated in time. The influenza virus changes every year and it is recommended by the CDC that all people 6 months and older get vaccinated every year to protect
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The vaccine can help prevent someone from contracting the flu and if they do contract it, it is usually a mild case. According to the CDC, flu vaccination has been proven to have direct correlation with reduced hospitalizations among people with diabetes and chronic lung diseases. A large portion of this population with chronic illnesses are 65 years of age and older. According to the CDC, the vaccine has also been associated with lower rates of cardiac events among those with heart disease. This has been found to be especially significant in those who experienced a cardiac issue of some sort in the last year. Again, a large portion of people who experience cardiac events are of older age. If the vaccine can reduce the occurrence of flu in the older population we can also keep down the length and cost of hospitalizations. In assisted living, family members including young children are very likely to visit their loved ones. Young children are more likely to contract influenza due to their underdeveloped immune system. This could be prevented if we take responsibility to ensure that all of these people are getting immunized in these
Current influenza vaccines are about 70% to 90% effective in preventing influenza in healthy adults. Since the vaccines are made of dead fragments of influenza viruses, they cannot cause influenza. The strains of influenza that circulate change every year and therefore, it is necessary to make a new influenza vaccine annually. After vaccination, the body's immune system produces antib... ... middle of paper ... ...
The use of vaccinations has been a major topic in the news lately. The decision to or not to vaccinate your child is a decision that parents face each day. For some the decision is an easy one, a no-brainer. For others, it’s a very difficult one to make. People that are pro-vaccine believe that they are protecting their children and the future generations by vaccinating them against diseases that they could potentially get. People that are ant-vaccine believe that by choosing not to vaccinate, they are protecting their children and future generations from the serious side effects that they could potentially get from the vaccination.
Influenza, or the "flu," is an infection that is caused by the influenza virus. It is a virus that generally infects the olfactory organ, pharynx, and it can sometimes spread to the lungs (2007). Symptoms of influenza can be identified as acute fever, cough, chills, fatigue, body aching and, in young children, ear aches. Unlike the viruses that cause the common cold, the influenza virus can cause severe illnesses like pneumonia, especially in those who are very young or very old, or who have conditions such as cancer, heart disease, bronchial asthma and diabetes. Influenza can be spread by something as simple as an infected individual coughing or sneezing, through little droplets that go up to a meter (3 feet) and land on any nearby individuals
While everyone has their own rights to their bodies and the bodies of their children, that does not mean that what they think is best for themselves or their children is best for the rest of the population they come into contact with. The majority of people associate vaccinations to babies and children under a certain age, but young adults and elders fall into the category of needing vaccinations. There is currently no federal law requiring adults or children to be vaccinated. Many positives come out of vaccinations to not only the individual, but also to the people they come in contact with. Currently there is an ongoing debate on whether or not vaccinations are safe and if they cause certain disorders in children. The risk of not getting
Protection). A Vaccine is an injection given to children and adults. These injections help prevent
Influenza is a major public health problem which has outbreaks all over the world. Resulting in considerable sickness and death rates. Furthermore, it is a highly infectious airborne disease and is caused by the influenza virus. Influenza is transmitted easily from one person to another person, which has a great impact on society. When a member of society becomes sick, it is more prone to spread to other people.
Influenza is very contagious and spreads rapidly from person to person. Influenza causes worldwide yearly epidemics. According to World Health organization Influenza affects 5-15% world’s population and resulting in 500,000 deaths yearly. Ottenberg stated that, in United States, an average of 200,000 were hospitalized and 36,000 died each year from influenza complications. Influenza is the sixth leading cause of death among US adults and is related to 1 in 20 death in persons older than 65 years. Disease control and prevention estimates indicate that infections like H1N1 which is one of the types of influenza, have resulted in an estimated 42 to 86 million cases and 8520 to 17620 deaths. As I mentioned earlier that infections like influenza are very contagious, they can spread easily from hcw to Patient and back to hcw. The most efficient and effective method of preventing influenza infection is vaccination(The best way to prevent influenza is with annual vaccination).(Sullivan,2010) (Gregory,Tosh &Jacobson, 2005). Motivated by a desire to actively avoid illness Influenza may increase the risk for death in people with existing heart, lung, or circulation disorders. In fact, the higher than average number of winter deaths in people with heart disease may be due only to the occurrence of influenza during those months.Vaccination provides immunity to fight against infection.To increase resistance to harm by modifying the environment to minimize preventable illness (NEED TO CHANGE WORDING)
Schools, offices, and any workforce should require students and employees before entering to protect those who surround them from getting sick. Students, in fact, before they enroll to school, they are required to get their yearly flu and other required vaccinations. Hence, this should continue so none of the students and staff would get infected. Despite that many people still do not believe in vaccinations, there is more proof shown that vaccinations had been a great help to many. It decreases the number of people getting sick and getting infected with serious diseases. Furthermore, it lessens the pain of a person who is ill because he or she is protected due to the vaccinations that was given to him or her. However, people should not take for granted of getting vaccinated, especially for the parents. Immunizations will protect their children and themselves from getting sick. Vaccinations are surely safe and they, indeed, prevent illnesses such as measles, chickenpox, shingles, polio, etc. that anyone may encounter. Hopefully, more vaccinations would develop and continue to be given for different types of diseases that may develop in the future. People need to keep in mind that the more people will vaccinate, the more healthier and safer the surroundings will become. All the more people will be encouraged and they will believe that
Getting you flu shot make you immune system stronger for fighting bacteria and viruses that around you and that you can catch, and especially for the kids because they go to school and communicate
There is the well-known saying, “Better safe than sorry.” People are affected daily by diseases and illnesses that could be prevented by a simple vaccine. Specific vaccines should be required for every citizen by a certain age. The benefits of regulating vaccinations range from protecting future generations, economic savings, the safety of vaccines and the eradication of serious and deadly diseases.
The American people have rights, and one of those rights is to decide what we want administered into our bodies. I think it is very important to educate others on the risks of vaccines so that they can decide what is fit for them. I also want to bring awareness to the difficulties people face to keep vaccines out of their bodies and their children’s bodies. It should not be a struggle. We have rights to our own bodies and we should not be treated any differently for choosing not to vaccinate. I do not get the flu shot, nor do I get every new shot thrown my way by doctors, and I am perfectly healthy. In fact, I rarely get sick. I depend on natural immunity and other natural means for my health, and that works great. (“Vaccines ProCon.org.”) Barbara Low Fisher, Co-founder of National Vaccine Information Center, stated, "If the State can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biological products of known and unknown toxicity today, there will be no limit on which individual freedoms the State can take away in the name of the greater good
"Vaccination, or inoculation with dead or weakened pathogens, is used to stimulate an immune response in the body to combat a virus. " The vaccination helps the body 's immune system to stay strong and fight the diseases or viruses that may enter the body. The vaccination 's ability to combat the disease will keep the body healthy in multiple ways. People against the mandatory vaccinations will question the safety or how well will the inoculations works. Diseases that once cause deaths , sicknesses, and disabilities are now greatly controlled due to the new vaccinations. Inoculations are making your immune system stronger. When you get vaccinations, it will prevent other disease which is good for the entire country. For example, if there where multiple deadly disease going through the country then tourism would greatly decrease causing a decrease within the economic system. If mostly everyone did not recieve their vaccination because they were not forced then this could possibly create a big ripple effect and greatly effect
The Anti-Vax Issue According to World Book Advanced Encyclopedia, immunization is defined as the process of protecting the body against disease by means of vaccines or serums (Hinman). While medical science backs up the efficiency and necessity of vaccines, within the past decade, a rise in parents disbelieving the medical community and neglecting to immunize their children has occurred. This “fear of vaccines” is nothing new, but with the ever-increasing safety of vaccines, the benefits of inoculation far outweigh the risks. Parents who refuse to vaccinate, or anti-vaxxers, put more than their children’s lives on the line, but also risk the safety of the whole community. Because vaccines are essential to protecting individuals and communities
Recently the number of parents who are intentionally delaying their children’s general vaccinations is increasing. The controversy that is causing the number of delayed vaccinations to go up is based on the fact that there are negative articles connecting them to autism and other similar diseases. When parents are researching vaccinations and they read those negative articles, those articles make them believe that vaccines cause autism. Vaccines are important because they protect humans from preventable diseases and getting them could save human lives. Vaccines are important throughout life no matter what some research suggests. Parents are now more likely to intentionally delay vaccines because of negative press, even though vaccines
For innumerable centuries, unrelenting strains of disease have ravaged society. From the polio epidemic in the twentieth century to the measles cases in the latter half of the century, such an adverse component of nature has taken the lives of many. In 1796, Edward Jenner discovered that exposure to cowpox could foster immunity against smallpox; through injecting the cowpox into another person’s arm, he founded the revolutionary concept known as a vaccination. While many attribute the eradication of various diseases to vaccines, many United States citizens are progressively beginning to oppose them. Many deludedly thought that Measles had been completely terminated throughout the United States; however, many children have been patronized by