Health care providers play a critical role in H1N1 vaccinations

Patients and parents expect health care providers to have information about new vaccines. So, when a new H1N1 vaccine became available in October 2009, the question was: Would health care providers recommend it?

Results from the latest C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health indicate health care providers play a critical role in influencing parents and patients to vaccinate their children and themselves against H1N1 flu.

The poll found that 29 percent of children and 16 percent of adults have received H1N1 vaccine, as of January 2010. Vaccination levels were more than two to three times as high when parents thought their children's providers strongly recommended the vaccine (66 percent) and when adults perceived strong recommendations from their own providers (57 percent).

"For H1N1 vaccination among kids and adults, it looks like the advice of health care providers is tremendously important," says Matthew Davis, M.D., director of the poll and associate professor of pediatrics and internal medicine in the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the U-M Medical School. "Our study indicates that the impact of provider recommendations on H1N1 vaccination goes in both directions," says Davis.

For patients and parents whose health care providers strongly favored H1N1 vaccination, immunization rates were much higher than average. But if providers were less positive about the vaccine or even neutral—neither for nor against it—then H1N1 vaccination was much less likely, Davis says.

Among parents who had communicated with providers about H1N1 vaccine, only 38 percent reported that providers strongly recommended H1N1 vaccine for their children; 35 percent of parents perceived that the providers were neutral.

Among adults who had spoken with providers about H1N1 vaccine, 22 percent reported that providers strongly recommended the vaccine, while 55 percent perceived that their providers were neutral.

Swine Flu - Learn the Essential Facts About It

There won`t be a single person unaware of the term `swine flu` by now. With the way it is spreading across the world, everyone is wary of catching the disease and falling prey to its ill-effects. Although there is hardly anything that we can do to keep the disease at bay, it is pertinent to learn a few important things about it. Swine flu is caused by pigs. But no, keeping pigs in the backyard will not give rise to the dreaded disease and neither if you fondle it or kiss it. There is a chance of you getting infected if the pig has the virus, but generally it takes much more than that to get the dreaded disease.

Our fascinating immune system:

There must have plenty of times that we have been infected with the normal human flu. It is not very dangerous except for very young infants and old people, already leading a debilitating life. Thankfully enough, nature has entrusted us with such an immune system which immediately recognizes an alien in the body and rises to the occasion to incapacitate it. But this leads to a mutation of the virus which returns to try its luck again. This time, our immune system faces a little more difficulty in driving it away. This is the reason why better vaccines must be developed each time to fight the enhanced form of the virus.

How does swine flu affect us?

When there is a mutation in the external proteins of the normal human flu virus, our immune system puts forth its defense mechanism to fight the virus. During this time, we suffer from the effects of the virus, like having fever and running nose and perhaps some respiratory problems. If it so happens that the body is unable to meet the challenge thrown by the virus, we succumb to the virus and have to breathe our last. In case of swine flu, our body is not able to recognize the symptoms of the virus which makes it increasingly difficult to fight against it. The virus has now crossed the bridge and attacked the human race from the pigs.

Are you susceptible to the virus?

It has been found that people who have had no interaction with pigs are most susceptible to swine flu. Their immune system has no record of such a virus and is least equipped to fight it. When the virus affects a significant part of the population of a place, it will surely turn out to be pandemic. It is difficult to pronounce the exact effects of the swine flu virus in the global perspective. How virulent the virus is will determine the degree to which it will affect the humans. Several other factors are also responsible for the outbreak of swine flu as a pandemic.

The spread of the disease:

In the past, swine flu would not have spread and become pandemic throughout the world. It would have affected an entire locality or city. But with people traveling great distances across the seas and oceans, the flu is not one to stay behind. By the time a person learns that he is infected, he may be thousands of miles away from his city.

Necessary precautions:

So what should be done to avoid this dreaded disease? Firstly, now that we know that there is a particular season when the pigs are affected by this flu, we should put the pigs in quarantine and prepare specially designed suits for people who handle them. Basic hygiene is a must with clean hands and clean environment. And further, traveling to places where swine flu is rampant should be avoided for some time until the particular period of getting the virus is gone. You can also take the help of different agencies who will help you to guard against swine flu. So educate yourself and help design a better life for yourself.

About Roberto Sedycias
You can have access to articles about health in portuguese language from page Health Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil