My presentation at Hunter College at 2014.

1. Influenza Vaccine

2. Influenza

3. Immune Mechanism

4. Mutation

5. Antigenic Drift
• Genetic changes:
1.Drift:
• As in all RNA viruses, mutations in influenza occur
frequently because the virus' RNA
polymerase does not proofread at all, resulting in
an error every year during viral genome
replication.
• Antigenic drift has been responsible for heavier-
than-normal flu seasons in the past, like the
outbreak of influenza H3N2 variant .

6. Antigenic shift
2.Antigenic shift:
Is the process by which two or more different
strains of a virus, or strains of two or more
different viruses, combine to form a new
subtype having a mixture of the
surface antigens of the two or more original
strains.

7. Pandemic Influenza

8. Genetic Shift
• 1918 Spanish Influenza— H1N1 strain.
• It killed at least 25-50 million people worldwide.
There were at least 675,000 deaths in the United States alone.
• 1957 Asian Influenza
Approximately 69,800 people died in the United States.
• 1968 Hong Kong Influenza—The virus returned again in 1970 and 1972.
The mortality rate for the epidemic was 33,800.
It is thought that prior immunity to the Asian flu virus and improved medical care and surveillance
may have helped reduce the severity of illness in 1968.
• 2009 Swine Influenza—The more recent 2009 flu pandemic, commonly known as the swine flu
although it doesn't infect pigs, first appeared in April 2009 in Mexico as a re-assortment of bird,
swine and human flu viruses.
Over 14,000 people died around the world, including 3,600 in North America.
A mass vaccination campaign was introduced in addition to the trivalent seasonal flu vaccines and
by November 2009, over 65 million doses of vaccine had been distributed.

9. Benefits of Flu vaccination
What are the benefits of flu vaccination?
• Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick from flu.
Protecting yourself from flu also protects the people
around you who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness.
• Flu vaccination can help protect people who are at greater
risk of getting seriously ill from flu, like older adults, people
with chronic health conditions and young children
(especially infants younger than 6 months old who are too
young to get vaccinated).
• Flu vaccination also may make your illness milder if you do
get sick.

10. Continued..
• Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of more serious flu outcomes,
like hospitalizations and deaths.
– Reduced children’s risk of flu-related pediatric intensive care unit
(PICU) admission by 74% during flu seasons from 2010-2012.
– One study showed that flu vaccination was associated with a 71%
reduction in flu-related hospitalizations among adults of all ages and a
77% reduction among adults 50 years of age and older during the
2011-2012 flu season.
– Flu vaccination is an important preventive tool for people with chronic
health conditions. Vaccination was associated with lower rates of
some cardiac events among people with heart disease, especially
among those who had had a cardiac event in the past year. Flu
vaccination also has been shown to be associated with reduced
hospitalizations among people with diabetes (79%) and chronic lung
disease (52%).

11. Recommendations
• The CDC recommends that everyone older than 6 months of age
get a flu vaccine every year.
• Exceptions:
1. Talk to doctor before getting the shot.
People with a history of Guillain-Barré Syndrome
Allergies to eggs or any of the ingredients in the vaccine
who are not currently feeling well.
• Cannot get the vaccine via nasal spray:
People younger than 2 or older than 49,
pregnant women
people who are allergic to eggs

12. Side Effects
• Pain at the Injection Site
The most common side effects
< 2 days.
• Some achiness and pain in the muscles throughout your body after
the shot.
<2days.
Rx: pain killers.
• Headaches, and in some cases dizziness or fainting,
This is considered a mild side effect, and
it should not last longer than a day or two.

13. Influenza Symptoms
Influenza Symptoms
• Fever* or feeling feverish/chills
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle or body aches
• Headaches
• Fatigue (tiredness)
Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is
more common in children than adults.* It's important to
note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.

14. Flu complication

15. Tamiflu
Indications
• Tamiflu is a prescription medicine used to
treat the flu (influenza) in people 2 weeks of
age and older
• Flu symptoms for no more than 2 days.
Tamiflu can also reduce the chance of getting
the flu in people 1 year and older.
• Tamiflu does not prevent bacterial infections
that may happen with the flu.

16. S/E Tamiflu
Important Safety Information
• Allergic reaction or a severe rash with Tamiflu, stop taking
it, and contact your doctor right away.
Let your doctor know :
• pregnant,
• nursing,
• have lung/heart /kidney/immunity problems
• About any medications or
• Received a nasal-spray flu vaccine in the past two weeks.
• The most common side effects are mild to moderate
nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain.

17. End
• Now, would you take the vaccine?