Flu is a common viral infection that affects people in different communities. In many cases, people heal from it without medication. However, this is not the case for high-risk groups because it can be deadly. They attack the nose, throat and lungs. Despite everybody being vulnerable, children, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and the elderly are at a higher risk. The symptoms are diverse and dependent on the person. The common symptoms include fever, muscle aches, coughing, runny nose, headaches and fatigue. Many viral infections cannot be cured. However, pain killers may be used to reduce the symptoms. Resting and taking a lot of fluids help the body to fight it. Below is the disease Needs assessment.
The prevalence of influenza among the elderly and children is a concern because these are high-risk groups. This has been the case in Bronx, New York. Out of an estimated total population of 25000, 5000 are children while 4800 are older adults. I selected these populations and would like to analyze the needs assessment relevant to the said population. The purpose of this is to make sure that they are no longer faced with the issue of influenza viruses. The infections due to this virus increases throughout the cold seasons(Javanian et al., 2021). Therefore, autumn and winter are the peak seasons where many people in the selected population suffer from the infection of the virus. Being an urban and mixed suburban community, people socialize with each other, thus providing the medium of transmission and thus increasing the prevalence of the disease(Jędrzejek et al., 2022). The sickest people are the children and the elderly, thus exposing them to serious health consequences. Therefore, there is a need to make sure that the affected population is cautioned from the adverse consequences of getting infected with the virus, thus posing a risk to their immune systems.
Children and older people make up 40% of the total population of the people of Bronx. This is the case because they make up 9,800 individuals in a population of 25,000 people. Therefore, having such a large portion of the population be considered high risk is wanting and thus, we should work to make sure that they are cautioned from the virus to the extent that it does not become a problem anymore(Ljubic et al., 2019). The burden of the condition lies across all age groups. The middle age group is burdened with taking care of those who have been affected.
Additionally the children and the elderly go through the symptoms; thus, they are burdened (Hayden & Palese 2016). Both genders are affected because the virus is not biased about gender. However, the benefit of having children and older people as the vulnerable groups is that the socioeconomic status is minimally affected(Eski et al., 2018). There are a few elderly persons who are still active socioeconomically.
The risk factors of people who have contracted the virus are many. This includes long-term illnesses that affect different parts of the body. Additionally, there are infections like pneumonia, dehydration, sinus problems and ear infections(Hutchinson 2018). For the past five years, the prevalence of the disease has been significantly increasing during the cold seasons.
Conclusion
Influenza viruses can be transmitted easily because they are airborne. Additionally, they are more prevalent among children, elderly adults and people with chronic illnesses. This is the case because all these groups have compromised immune systems. Moreover, these groups are equally important in the population and thus should be taken care of to ensure that they are no longer vulnerable to the virus.
References
Eski, A., Öztürk, G. K., Gülen, F., Çiçek, C., & Demir, E. (2019). Risk factors for influenza virus related severe lower respiratory tract infection in children. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 38(11), 1090-1095.
Hayden, F. G., & Palese, P. (2016). Influenza virus. Clinical virology, 1009-1058.
Hutchinson, E. C. (2018). Influenza virus. Trends in Microbiology, 26(9), 809-810.
Javanian, M., Barary, M., Ghebrehewet, S., Koppolu, V., Vasigala, V., & Ebrahimpour, S. (2021). A brief review of influenza virus infection. Journal of Medical Virology, 93(8), 4638-4646.
Jędrzejek, M. J., Mastalerz-Migas, A., & Janicka, P. (2022). Incidence of Influenza Virus Infection among Wroclaw’s Healthcare Workers in Pre-COVID-19 2019–2020 Influenza Season Using Novel Flu SensDx Device. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3159.
Ljubic, B., Gligorijevic, D., Gligorijevic, J., Pavlovski, M., & Obradovic, Z. (2019). Social network analysis for better understanding of influenza. Journal of biomedical informatics, 93, 103161.
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