Cultural dimensions
Niall Johnson in Britain and the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic, 2006
An outbreak of an infectious disease such as the flu pandemic is not just a biomedical phenomenon, it is also a social one. The propagation and transmission of the disease are channelled by human activities and interactions, our social structures and behaviours. There are social aspects to the spread of the disease, the responses to it and its impacts. A disease that claims so many millions of lives has an impact that extends beyond the simple and terrible roll calls of the dead. Some of those impacts can resonate over centuries, such as the plague song that is the nursery rhyme Ring-a-ring O’ Roses. This chapter examines some of the social and cultural dimensions of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic, including naming of disease, diseases and metaphors, and representations and recollections of the pandemic.
The Great Influenza
Rae-Ellen W. Kavey, Allison B. Kavey in Viral Pandemics, 2020
The history of the deadly influenza pandemic of 1918 and the extended struggle science and medicine have waged to control the influenza virus reveal a much more complex and nuanced story. This chapter contends that a new approach to influenza vaccine development is indicated, incorporating complete understanding of the biology of emerging influenza viruses, their variable pathogenicity and their capacity for continuous evolution in the context of ever-increasing global risk. It illustrates that the existing technique for vaccine development is fraught with problems – problems intrinsic to the characteristics of the virus itself and to historic surveillance techniques that guide vaccine production. By the time 1918 influenza pandemic occurred, very little more was known: viruses were a mysterious group of tiny microbes that were infectious, filterable and required living cells for replication, but their structure and function remained unknown. The extensive global spread of the 1918 influenza virus dramatically exemplifies the critical role of global interconnectedness in pandemic disease spread.
Role of Biochemic Cell Salts in Prophylaxis and Complementary Nutraceutical Therapy of Influenza-Like Illnesses or Respiratory Tract Complications (COVID-19)
Srijan Goswami, Chiranjeeb Dey in COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2, 2022
This chapter provides the fundamental idea about the biochemic system of medicine specifically in relation to the prevention, treatment, and management of influenza-like illnesses and respiratory tract complications. The biochemic system of medicine is a form of treatment that uses simple inorganic cellular minerals as a therapeutic component for the prevention, treatment, and management of several acute and chronic health conditions. The biochemic system of medicine should be included as a specialized aspect of existing nutritional and dietary sciences and strictly as homoeopathy. The only aspect of the biochemic system of medicine that has any similarity with homoeopathy is the technique of trituration. The major challenge with the biochemic system of medicine is the lack of trained professionals in this domain who can take on the education, research, and treatment further. Those who exist possess faulty understanding based on homoeopathic perspectives.
The rationale for quadrivalent influenza vaccines
Published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 2012
Christopher S. Ambrose, Myron J. Levin
Two antigenically distinct lineages of influenza B viruses have circulated globally since 1985. However, licensed trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines contain antigens from only a single influenza B virus and thus provide limited immunity against circulating influenza B strains of the lineage not present in the vaccine. In recent years, predictions about which B lineage will predominate in an upcoming influenza season have been no better than chance alone, correct in only 5 of the 10 seasons from 2001 to 2011. Consequently, seasonal influenza vaccines could be improved by inclusion of influenza B strains of both lineages. The resulting quadrivalent influenza vaccines would allow influenza vaccination campaigns to respond more effectively to current global influenza epidemiology. Manufacturing capacity for seasonal influenza vaccines has increased sufficiently to supply quadrivalent influenza vaccines, and methods to identify the influenza B strains to include in such vaccines are in place. Multiple manufacturers have initiated clinical studies of quadrivalent influenza vaccines. Data from those studies, taken together with epidemiologic data regarding the burden of disease caused by influenza B infections, will determine the safety, effectiveness, and benefit of utilizing quadrivalent vaccines for the prevention of seasonal influenza disease.
Evaluation of the field-protective effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccine among Korean children aged < 5 years during the 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 influenza seasons: a cohort study
Published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 2019
Young Kyung Kang, Hea Lin Oh, Jung Sub Lim, Jun Ah Lee, Yun Kyung Kim, Byung Wook Eun, Dae Sun Jo, Dong Ho Kim
ABSTRACT Background: A field effectiveness evaluation of the influenza vaccine among children younger than five years is important due to the high burden of influenza in this age group. The epidemiology of influenza virus changes rapidly each year. Moreover, the development of a new type of influenza vaccine is accelerating, necessitating a new field effectiveness evaluation. Methods: This multi-center, open-label cohort study was conducted in the northern part of Seoul from December 2014 to May 2015 and in Gyeong-gi Province from December 2015 to May 2016. The cohort comprised an influenza vaccinated group and non-vaccinated group. During the influenza seasons, we conducted influenza rapid tests and polymerase chain reaction assays for individuals with suspected influenza and checked for the presence of influenza virus. We calculated the influenza vaccine effectiveness by comparing the incidence rates of influenza between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups. Results: During the 2014–2015 season, the field effectiveness of the influenza vaccine was 38.4%. In particular, the vaccine effectiveness against type A influenza virus was 50.7%. During the 2015–2016 season, the vaccine effectiveness reached 23.8% and the vaccine effectiveness against type A influenza virus was 48.5%. The vaccine effectiveness against influenza B virus was markedly reduced in both seasons. Conclusion: The influenza vaccine was supposed to be effective against influenza A, but may have a limited effectiveness against influenza B among Korean children aged < 5 years.
Cell culture-derived flu vaccine: Present and future
Published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 2018
Alberto Pérez Rubio, Jose María Eiros
ABSTRACT The benefit of influenza vaccines is difficult to estimate due to the complexity of accurately assessing the burden of influenza. To improve the efficacy of influenza vaccines, vaccine manufacturers have developed quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) formulations for seasonal vaccination by including both influenza B lineages. Three parallel approaches for producing influenza vaccines are attracting the interest of many vaccine manufacturing companies. The first and oldest is the conventional egg-derived influenza vaccine, which is used by the current licensed influenza vaccines. The second approach is a cell culture-derived influenza vaccine, and the third and most recent is synthetic vaccines. Here, we analyze the difficulties with vaccines production in eggs and compare this to cell culture-derived influenza vaccines and discuss the future of cell culture-derived QIVs.Keywords: Influenza vaccine, cell culture-derived, quadrivalent.
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