SearchExclusive.com

Flu & Influenza

Rationale
Influenza is a disease caused by a virus. The flu is unlike other illness in that antibiotics will not cure it. The treatment of influenza is mainly symptomatic, meaning that the medications given are only to reduce the symptoms caused by the illness, not to treat the cause of the illness. If you have a fever, then medicine to lower the temperature will be given; if you experience muscular and joint pain, then medicine to relieve the pain will be given. There are antiviral medications that can be given within the first 48 hours of exposure to the flu to reduce flu duration. However, the main treatment will center on bed rest and intake of adequate fluids. If the management of your flu is inadequate or if your bodily resistance is decreased your flu could lead to pneumonia, which is a fatal disease. Thus, it is urgent and essential that you receive the flu vaccination.

Generic and brand names
The generic name is Quadrivalent influenza vaccine (split virion, inactivated). The brand name is Fluarix Tetra.

Composition of the vaccine
This vaccine contains the antigens for the following types and subtypes of viruses:

A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09 – like strain (A/Singapore/GP1908/2015, IVR-180)
A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2) – like strain (A/Hong Kong/4801/2014, NYMC X-2638)
B/Brisbane/60/2008 – like strain (B/Brisbane/60/2008, wild-type)
B/Phuket/3073/2013 – like strain (B/Phuket/3073/2013, wild-type)

Each 0.5 ml vaccine dose contains 15 ug haemagglutinin of each of the recommended strains. In short, this vaccine will prevent you from contracting flu caused by the four viruses mentioned in the above.

Mechanism of action
This vaccine provides active immunization against four influenza virus strains (two A subtypes and two B types) contained in the vaccine and induces humoral antibodies against the haemagglutinins. These antibodies neutralize influenza viruses.

Schedule of administration
The flu vaccine is given once a year during flu season which starts in October.

Indications and usage
This vaccination is administered to persons aged 3 years and over. If the recipient is between 3 to 9 years and if there was no history of previous vaccination with influenza, he/she needs to be revaccinated at least four weeks later.

Precautions

Always review the clinical history of the patient especially the previous vaccinations and occurrences of undesirable events;
Appropriate medical treatment and supervision should always be readily available in case of anaphylactic event following the administration of the vaccine;
Vaccination should be postponed if the patient suffers from acute severe febrile illness;
The vaccine should never be administered intravenously;
This vaccine should be injected intramuscularly with extreme caution to individuals with thrombocytopenia or any coagulation disorder since bleeding may occur following an intramuscular injection;
This vaccine should be used in pregnancy only when clearly needed, and the possible advantages outweigh the potential risks for the fetus.

Side effects
The very common side effects of this vaccination are irritability, myalgia, pain at the injection site, and fatigue. Common side effects are the loss of appetite, drowsiness, headache, gastrointestinal symptoms (including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or abdominal pain), arthralgia, redness at the injection site, swelling at the injection site, shivering, and fever. The very uncommon side effects are dizziness, rash, hematoma and pruritus at the injection site.

Dosage and mode of administration
This vaccine is administered by intramuscular injection at the deltoid muscle (shoulder muscle) or at the anterolateral thigh, depending on which area has the greater mass. It means that it could be injected into your muscle.

To prevent the occurrence of anaphylactic (allergic) reaction, which could be fatal, this vaccine is not given via the intravenous route—that is, it is not given directly to your blood vessel. It is not also given under your skin. A single 0.5 ml dose of the vaccine is injected to you whenever you are scheduled to receive it.

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.