In this style of science writing, we aimed to find a complex topic that required more research and come to new conclusions based on an already existing study or forming an entirely new study to support the call for more research.

Introduction 

Vaccines are the greatest counter action to prevalent diseases.  However, the flu vaccine isn’t as effective as the public believes it to be. People are suffering from the flu after being administered their annual vaccine. More study on the flu vaccine should take place to ultimately decide if its dependency by the public is necessary. With more study, we will discover that people should not only rely on the flu vaccine itself, but that there are more preventive methods such as healthy lifestyle that aid in flu resistance. 

Background 

In contemporary America, we have conquered several diseases such as HPV virus, Measles, or Rubella. Vaccines are the means of preventing people from getting diseases and creating an epidemic. Some are administered at birth, while some are to be received annually. However, people generally assume vaccines are good for them, on the sole basis that it is what they are told to do. Skepticism hasn’t risen until the recent years, when people who had been administered the flu shot were still found coming down with strands of the flu. The flu shot does not prevent the flu, it instead strengthens your immune system to combat the flu. In addition to this phenomenon, Experts found that elderly people who were administered the flu vaccine have seen increased death tolls compared to those who hasn’t been administered the flu shot since 1989. Experts have also found that when vaccine production slows down, death rates do not fluctuate. This leaves the public wondering why they should be taking a flu vaccine in the first place. On one hand, pro-vaccine doctors advocate for using the flu shot as your first defense toward the flu. On the contrary, anti-vaccine advocators urge the public to lead healthier lifestyles to prevent the flu instead. The purpose of the research is to decide what the general consumer should do when flu season comes—should they rely on the controversial flu shot, or should they focus on other preventive measures? 

Hypothesis 

The average consumer should not be administered the flu shot following the 2014-2015 results of the flu shot effectiveness, as so many people came down with the flu after receiving the shot. People should practice natural preventive measures and avoid the flu shot if possible through measures such as exercise and maintaining sufficient vitamin C levels for strong immune systems. 

Methods 

In a study conducted by the Oxford University, the hosts of the experiment sought to understand the true effectiveness of the flu shot. They gathered 10,012 individuals, 24% of those being 6 months- 8 years old, 13% being 9-17 years old, 33% being 18-49 years old, 18% being 50-64 years old, and 13% being 65 years old and above. 4018 (40%) of the subjects were male and 5994 (60%) were female. 6845 (69%) of the subjects were white non-Hispanic, 1142 (11%) of the subjects were black non-Hispanic, 947 (10%) were Hispanic, and 1023 (10%) were other non-Hispanic races or ethnicities. The subjects would be surveyed for whether they had the flu or not, which strand of the flu they had, and if they were vaccinated or not.  

This study’s subject pool does not require many characteristics, the less characteristics screened for this study creates a study that best assesses the effectiveness of the flu shot for all consumers. The subject group did not need to be divided, they were only organized by age and ethnicity. The subject pool included 10,012 individuals, which is a fair number of individuals for this study. The study design was ethical and was done without any individuals being manipulated or controlled. The researchers did not have a need to control extraneous variables. The study’s analyses were very accurate when coming to the final deductions, as the analyses were very straight forward only. 

Results 

 

According to the Oxford University experiment, this is the results of the 10,012 individuals who were in the study to discover the effectiveness of the flu shot. There are many things that raise alarms when looking at the final results, such as how of the 2,795 individuals who came down with the flu, half of them were immunized. Additionally, of the people who didn’t come down with the flu, only half of them received the shot. Individuals 65 and above represent a population where every 8 out of 10 people came down with the flu after being administered the flu shot. For individuals aged 50-64, 60% (269) of the 448 people who came down with the flu were administered the flu shot. For individuals who were aged 18-49, 39% (324) of the 831 people came down with the flu after being administered the flu shot. Roughly half of the 493 individuals who came down with the flu were administered the flu shot. Lastly, 40% (304) of the 759 individuals aged 6 months – 8 years were administered the flu shot and still came down with the flu. 

 

In this graph provided by the Center for Disease Control, we find that the flu shot has usually been roughly 50% effective for all people until 2014-2015, where effectiveness took a steep decline. Only One-Fifth of the population in 2014-2015 found the flu shot effective, while the other 80% of the population remains at risk for the flu shot. Following the 2014-2015 flu season, the effectiveness went back up to about 50% effectiveness but has entered a steady decline that continues into today. 

Discussion 

According to the results in the table, the flu shot has severe inconsistencies in their effectiveness. The results of the flu shots vary per age, and large fractions of people who were not vaccinated still did not come down with the flu. People 65 and above see almost no usage for the flu shot—whether they get the shot or not, it appears to be ineffective for this age group. This discovery makes those aged 65 and above a high-risk group for the seasonal flu. Such a large portion of the subject pool in this age group came down with the flu despite being vaccinated. The subject pool accurately represents any average consumer, by testing people of all types solely by age group. 

In the bar graph, we can see that the flu shot still lacks in reliability. The flu shot for the past 10 years has been incapable of protecting the public from the flu. People are gambling with a 50% effective shot when it could mean their lives. Although the effectiveness has increased from the all time low during 2014-2015, the effectiveness continues to decline. We are straying away from that 50% effectiveness every year and if trends continue, we will repeat the 20% effectiveness in the near future. 

Conclusion 

The flu shot alone is not the best way to avoid the flu. We as consumers are blindly believing that flu shots are exactly what they claim to be. We believe our doctors who say to get the flu shot every fall/winter season to avoid the flu. What we don’t know as the general public is that there is no single flu strand. Because the flu is always changing every season and becomes a new strand so often, it is difficult to produce a single vaccine that completely protects someone from the flu. It is a preventive method, just not a reliable one on its own. The benefit for the public in conducting this research is being able to find a way that all people, regardless of age can protect themselves against the yearly flu. There are too many deaths to the flu every year for a sickness that we have a vaccine for. In addition to finding the best preventive method against the flu, this research would also teach the public to not blindly trust something that they fear. The general public is scared of the flu and being told there is a method to prevent the flu is enough for the general public to have trust. Educating the people on the truth of the flu shot would urge people to conduct their own research in order to know what is best for themselves. 

Although the flu shot has had severe inconsistencies among age groups and shows that it is not a reliable source. My hypothesis was that we should completely move away from the flu shot and practice healthier lifestyles. However, after conducting the research and reaching new conclusions, my hypothesis changes. The average consumer should practice a healthier lifestyle in terms of healthy eating and exercise, but these actions should be used in conjunction with the flu shot as the best way to prevent the flu shot in all. The flu shot after all is an immune system steroid and is not completely ineffective. Balancing taking the flu shot with the healthier lifestyle will be the best way to avoid the flu every season. 

 

Page Break 

Sources: 

Brendan Flannery, Rebecca J Garten Kondor, Jessie R Chung, Manjusha Gaglani, Michael Reis, Richard K Zimmerman, Mary Patricia Nowalk, Michael L Jackson, Lisa A Jackson, Arnold S Monto, Emily T Martin, Edward A Belongia, Huong Q McLean, Sara S Kim, Lenee Blanton, Krista Kniss, Alicia P Budd, Lynnette Brammer, Thomas J Stark, John R Barnes, David E Wentworth, Alicia M Fry, Manish Patel, Spread of Antigenically Drifted Influenza A(H3N2) Viruses and Vaccine Effectiveness in the United States During the 2018–2019 Season, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, , jiz543, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiz543 

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/2018-2019.html 

Brownlee, Shannon, and Jeanne Lenzer. “There Is Little Evidence That Flu Vaccines Are Effective.” Vaccines, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2012. Current Controversies. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010672242/OVIC?u=cuny_centraloff&sid=OVIC&xid=7f5bccde. Accessed 16 Nov. 2019. Originally published as “Does the Vaccine Matter? (Shots in the Dark),” The Atlantic Monthly, Nov. 2009. 

Newman, Alex. “There Is Evidence That Vaccines Promote, Rather than Eradicate, Disease.” Vaccines, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2012. Current Controversies. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010672240/OVIC?u=cuny_centraloff&sid=OVIC&xid=7cdd0148. Accessed 16 Nov. 2019. Originally published as “Swine Flu: The Risks and Efficacy of Vaccines,” New American, 14 Oct. 2009.