Influenza Infection Risk Factors

When the new species arrive in new environment, it will need to adapt that as human appear on the earth try to develop technology and system in order to overcome difficulties. In the past thousands of years, human already vanquished weather, fundamental living condition and becoming dominated the earth, however, there still has a stanch enemy that hasn’t be overcame which is disease. In the history, human faced various of disease. For example, cancer, flu, cough, anxiety, coronary artery diseases, these diseases can be classicised into chronic disease and epidemics. Chronic diseases would cause by environment or personal problem, but the epidemics could spread by bacteria or virus, so people try to figure out the solution or method to inhibit the infectious diseases, meanwhile, virus would evaluate and variate consistently as a competition between human and nature. In addition, some of contagious diseases is deathful and rest of them are not but still affect people’s daily life. Thus, the scientists and biologists spend their entire life for finding a suitable way in the cause of eliminate the virus till now even though some of epidemics have been treat but it accounted few of that. Recently, the most famous diseases are flu which is easily to infect to other one and with low dead rate but have strong effect to the life. This essay will discuss that the whole situation of influenza and prevention and solution.

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Influenza could be the most common infectious disease among human being for thousands year and it cause several times of the world-class infectious epidemic in history such as 1918 flu pandemic or recent swine around 2009, creating the huge health problem for the world and crashing the economic development. Firstly, Cassidy (2020) reported that there has more than 310,000 cases presenting to hospital and health services nationwide in Australia last year, however this is one of the most successful vaccination years to date, but it broke out before the vaccination said by researchers. The flu shot development is depend on the situation in north of earth in order to guess predicable strains. Moreover, the death rate is around 1% which means flu cause 1500-3000 death per year and people with chronic diseases have a 40-fold increased risk of dying from flu (influenza specialist group 2020). Secondly, the disease usually has great deal of impact on non- governmental economic and government fiscal solvency for travel ban, shutting down the working place, subsidy or other solution to inhibit the disease infection. Besides, flu could be happened everywhere with human and although you can get the flu at any time, it is more likely to occur in the coldest month of the year (April to October). The flu season usually peaks in August, but so far this year, more flu cases have been diagnosed in the laboratory than usual-an appeal for flu-related symptoms from the direct service hotline (Flu trends in Australia 2019). According to Newall& Scuffam & Hodgkinson (2008 pp.6818–6823,) that for government the cost of influenza per year has been forecasted rough $800 million included direct cost from day lost due to the flu, nevertheless, direct costs command these prediction accounting around 68-70%. Specifically, direct costs contain the patient ’s out-of-pocket expenses, general practitioner costs, medical insurance and other health insurance company costs, laboratory and diagnostic costs, and hospitalisation costs. In addition, the lost-on grass roots are hyperbolic because people usually didn’t have sufficient balance and some of fundamental need would hard be satisfied. Absenteeism (absence from work due to illness) causes an annual loss of $ 7 billion in wages, while attendance (absence from work) results in a loss of productivity of $ 34 billion. This can have a devastating effect on the workplace, because the virus can spread quickly among colleagues and even family members (Lucas 2020). In brief, as above that can be known flu is about our life habit and can affect human dramatically.

There have several risk factors of influenza will be pointed below:

• Public area: according to WHO (2018) said that in terms of transmission, seasonal influenza can easily infect and spread rapidly in crowded areas (including schools and nursing homes). When an infected person coughs or sneezes, virus-containing droplets (infectious droplets) spread into the air and spread to one meter and infect people who breathe droplets nearby. The virus may also spread through contaminated hands.
• Pre-existing health problem and age: Adler et al. (2014) reported that in the United Kingdom (UK), 49% of children under five years old, 59% of children 5-14 years old, 35% of children 15-24 years old and 25% of children 25-44 years old are infected. Although many cases of influenza may be moderate, serious complications may occur, especially in children, elders and individuals with pre-existing health conditions. To help reduce the effects of flu, it is important to understand who is most likely to be infected. although the heavy burden of influenza, there is little quantitative information about risk factors, and this information may guide potential prevention strategies.
• Genetic changes: human influenza virus binds to sites of respiratory epithelia; avian influenza virus targets duck intestinal epithelium. This difference may be a natural barrier between species. Although, pig tracheal epithelium has two binding sites, so influenza infection in pigs may transfer genetic subtypes from birds to humans and other species, so tiny genetic mutations in the flu virus can cause the flu to spread quickly to many people because we do not have natural immunity against new subtypes. (Pruitt 2007, p.44-46).
• Weakened immune system: when people during pregnancy or with bad situation of their body might increase the risk to get the flu, according to Jamieson et al. (2009) reported that from April 15 to May 18, 2009, CDCs from 13 states reported 34 confirmed or probable H1N1 pandemic cases among pregnant women. 11 (32%) women were admitted to the hospital. The estimated admission rate of H1N1 influenza virus infection in pregnant women during the first month of the outbreak is higher than that of the general population (0.32 per 100,000 pregnant women, 95% CI 0.13-0.52 versus 0. 076, 95% CI 0 · 07-0 · 09). Between April 15 and June 16, 2009, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 6 deaths from pregnant women. All patients had pneumonia and subsequently required acute respiratory distress syndrome with mechanical ventilation, so that, complications of pregnant women infected with the pandemic H1N1 virus may increase the risk.
• Obesity: obesity is all of the beginning of diseases; it could cause diversity of sick and to worsen body health condition. In early 2009, link between obesity and influenza was first discovered during the H1N1 pandemic. Data from many countries around the world indicate that obese patients account for a high proportion of influenza-related hospitalizations and deaths. Obese patients (BMI 30 kg / m²) or obese patients (BMI $ 40 kg / m²) appear to be at increased risk of admission and death in the influenza-related intensive care unit (ICU). In addition, compared with non-obese patients, the mechanical ventilation time, ICU and hospitalisation time of obese patients who were hospitalized and received ICU treatment in 2009 were both obese H1N1 infected patients. Since certain chronic medical diseases (including cardiovascular and metabolic diseases) that may put people at risk of influenza-associated complications are highly related with obesity, attempts to clarify the independent contribution of obesity to the severity of influenza viruses have been a challenge.

References

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8. Lucas, F ,2020, Flu costs Australian employers $7 billion in lost productivity, The Sector, February 27, < https://thesector.com.au/2019/02/27/flu-costs-australian-employers-7-billion-in-lost-productivity/ >
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