What factors affect the uptake of flu vaccinations

Factors that affect the Uptake of Flu Vaccinations

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13 March 2009 Introduction

Influenza or flu is a highly contagious disease that affects mammals and birds (Qureshi et al 2004 . It is caused by the ribonucleic acid (RNA viruses that belong to the family Orthomyxoviridae , the group of influenza viruses (Neustaedter 2005 . Flu is typically transmitted from infected surfaces of animals such as mammals through the air by sneezes or coughs , which makes the disease very contagious

(Wilschut , McElhaney Palache 2006 . Flu can also be transmitted by various organs such as saliva , faeces , nasal openings and blood . The fact that the influenza viruses remain infectious for as long as about one week at the normal human body temperature calls for more stringent measures to curb its spread . One of such measures is vaccination

The fact that some strains of the virus can be inactivated by some kinds of disinfectants and detergents makes it easy to control the spread of flu , but the nature of body reactions limits the application of various vaccines to different organisms especially human beings (Wilschut McElhaney Palache 2006 . For a vaccination program to be effective the antigenic material used (vaccine ) must be able to produce immunity to the particular disease being targeted (Wilschut , McElhaney Palache 2006 Wicker et al 2007 . The nature of spread of the influenza virus makes control flu of by vaccination more taxing

According to Neustaedter (2005 , the spread of...