Vaccination: The Most Effective Way to Combat Infectious Diseases - Essay Sample

Introduction

Infectious diseases continue being the leading cause of illness and death around the world. In the United States alone, pneumonia and influenza respiratory diseases are the 8th leading cause of death on an annual basis. Vaccination is the only proven cheap method of managing infectious diseases among children and adults. The main aim of prevention is to keep people and out of the hospital. Research shows vaccination against contagious diseases significantly improves life expectancy among people. Protection reduces mortality among infants and also prevents the spread of infectious disease among the elderly. Pneumonia is among the deadliest infectious disease, with children below the age of five and adults above the age of sixty-five being at the most considerable risk. According to the World Health Organization, 15% of deaths of children worldwide points to pneumonia.

However, it does not mean the other age group is entirely safe, only that they have developed some resistance. Therefore as such, to contain the spread and deaths associated with pneumonia cases, vaccination programs significantly play a vital role in reducing new infections. The vaccination program should equally be applied to the less vulnerable group, too, since pneumonia will still affect them when they age. In light of the dangers posed by pneumonia disease, the vaccination program is focusing on children and the elderly continues. The causative agents for pneumonia disease are bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and the spread is through blood at childbirth or airborne. Healthy people 2020 in the United States government objectives of improving the health of all Americans with adults aged 18 years and above being the main targets.

Unaddressed Health Concerns

The pneumonia vaccination program for Healthy people 2020 still suffers a significant setback among the adult population. One of the most important issues not being addressed by all the stakeholders involved in racial and ethnic disparities. Adult vaccination among blacks and the Hispanic population continues at a low-cost rate as compared to the whites' population. The racial gap, therefore, makes the whites to shy away from the vaccination program since they feel it is so expensive to them. In addition to that, whites' people think the program is mainly tailored for the less fortunate in the society hence feeling no need to embrace it.

Government policy also plays a significant role in any vaccination program. The vaccination program for the children, in the United States government policy, makes it mandatory for all children to undergo vaccination before joining schools. However, when it comes to adults above 18 years, there is no policy requiring all adults to be vaccinated. The lack of a proper set system makes the reception of pneumonia vaccination among adults to below with a lot of laxities. Additionally, clinics see no need to encourage their patients to take prevention since there is no policy requiring them to enforce the same.

In as much as the government and other stakeholders have put in considerable efforts to ensure there is access to adult vaccination, the number of vaccinated adults is still low. The low number can is due to the small fee charged for the vaccine. The small fee on pneumonia vaccine discourages adults because some will see no need for vaccination since they are not sick. In addition to that, health insurance companies lack packages to cater to the prevention of adult, hence hampering the effort. Therefore as such, the government and other stakeholders should work on making the vaccine freely available to all the people.

The focus of physicians and medical care on the adult population has been on acute diseases with no integration of vaccine programs in adult medical care. The focus on severe conditions leads to a low number of adult vaccination. It is, therefore, essential for healthcare professionals to include vaccination programs for the adults they are caring for during treatment. By integrating the vaccination program as the primary care for adults, the process of managing and preventing deadly diseases will reduce.

Legal barriers instituted by the state and federal government are another significant setback for adult vaccination. The federal and state governments have limited the adult vaccination program to only a few selected healthcare facilities. The legal limitation will ultimately slow the process of vaccinating adults since the selected providers are limited and isolated geographically. The limited accredited facilities to offer adult vaccination can only reach a small group of population in their vicinity, hence leading to the low number of adults who vaccinated.

In addition to that, there is a lot of construed information about the vaccination program to adults. People, therefore, become doubtful about the whole process of adult vaccination despite the goodwill of the government and other medical stakeholders. The misinformation usually arises from religious groups, mass media, and other platforms like social media. In the long run, there will be fewer numbers of adults who have administered vaccination for infectious diseases.

There is also a lack of research and evidence-based information relating to adult immunization and the prevalence of diseases in adults. Therefore with this regard, a lot of research needs to be done since evidence-based research will encourage health care providers to step up their efforts in recommending vaccination to their patients. Additionally, research will better inform the public, thereby reducing the myths associated with adult vaccination.

Ultimate Outcome(S) or Goal(S)

Drawing from the example mentioned above concerning free vaccination, the government formulated the health care act 2010 for affordable health care. This health act requires that all medical insurance provider should expand their coverage to include a vaccination plan for its client without having to cost-share the bill for the same. The policy act will go a long way in seeing the number of people who are vaccinated increases. The policy seeks to enforce the same affordable healthcare plan to people visiting the public and private hospitals. The health act is totally in line with Healthy People 2020, which seeks to control the spread of infectious diseases like pneumonia.

Furthermore, the government is actively seeking to identify gaps and disparities witnessed due to racial and ethnic minorities. The main goal of the government now is to develop targeted approach strategies to reduce variations to increase vaccination. The targeted approach will ultimately increase the number of adults in both the whites, Hispanic, and blacks vaccinated against infectious diseases. Healthy people, 2020 is improving its outreach program to sensitize people on the need to get immunized against infectious disease. The outreach program will curb the adverse effects of myths generated by the mass media and religious groups. This effort will go a long way in ensuring more people get immunized against infectious diseases like pneumonia, hence managing the spread of contagious diseases.

Similarities Between Data Gathered and Data Generated

The data gathered showed a high correlation between vaccination and the prevalence of diseases (Jones et al., 2016). Collected data show that those people who have a history of immunization get less prevalence of diseases. The collected data is in line with the generated information that drives the Healthy People 2020, which suggests that vaccination is the only way of reducing the spread of infectious diseases. Additionally, the government's generated data and gathered data both show there is a significant reduction of the infectious diseases after an immunization plan on a particular population.

Differences Between Data Gathered and Data Generated

To stop the spread of infectious diseases, Healthy People 2020 has been campaigning for adults to get vaccinated against infectious diseases based on the data they have. However, there is not appropriate database setup to tract vaccination and spread of disease, hence lacking evidence against their campaigns. There a have been widespread concern about adult vaccinations in issues relating to safety. However, there is no real data that supports the contrary allegations against adult immunization.

Weakness and Strengths of the Community

The community targeted under the Healthy People 2020 is the adult group above 18 years of age. The main strengths of this community include strong immunity and resistance to diseases. Most people who are above 18 years of age are generally resistant to many infectious diseases as compared to children below five years and people above 65 years of age. The resistance nature of this community makes them immune to the highest risk of contracting infectious diseases (Jones et al., 2016). Therefore as such, there is no big rush in ensuring all adults are immunized.

Additionally, the target community stands a higher chance of understanding the need for vaccination since most of them are the working group. In addition to that, by the virtue that this group is mainly the working group above 18 years, it makes them very active all the time. With the group being engaged at work and in carrying out leisure activities predispose them to fewer chances of contracting an infectious disease.

However, it is essential to note that, although the target community is resistant to most of the infectious diseases, this makes them ignorant to go and get vaccinated. It is, therefore, essential for the target group to get sensitized on the need to get treated. Because even if one is resistant, without getting vaccine ultimately will make them the carrier hence infecting the venerable groups like children and older people (Jones et al., 2016). Moreover, some adults above 18 years of age lack the financial muscle to pay for their medical insurance, ultimately impacting negatively on efforts to get all adults vaccinated against infectious diseases.

Areas Needing Improvement

Healthy people 2020 achievement solely lies in the government's ability and other stakeholders to create affordable healthcare plans so that all access the vaccination. Additionally, a lot of sensitization campaigns need to done out to enlighten the adults on the need for immunization against infectious diseases (Isturiz, 2017).

Conclusion

In conclusion, vaccination against pneumonia is one way of managing it and stopping the spread. Therefore as such, for Healthy People 2020 coming to a realization, adults need to be sensitized on the need for vaccination. Additionally, the government and other stakeholders to step up the campaigns on educating people and medical care professions for the need for sensitization on pneumonia vaccination. Moreover, the government must continue to subsidizing the pneumonia vaccination program. The subsidization program will ultimately go a long way in saving the cost of treating chronic diseases. Lastly, healthcare professionals, together with their patients, need to work out modalities on incorporating vaccination in their medical care plan. By doing this, it will positively impact on the Healthy People 2020.

References

Isturiz, R., Sings, H. L., Hilton, B., Arguedas, A., Reinert, R. R., & Jodar, L. (2017). Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A: worldwide epidemiology. Expert review of vaccines, 16(10), 1007-1027. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2017.1362339

Jones, J., Poole, A., Lasley-Bibbs, V., & Johnson, M. (2016). LGBT health and vaccinations: Findings from a community health survey of Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky, USA. Vaccine, 34(16), 1909-1914. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.02.054