Elderly Unprotected by Flu Vaccine

Around December of last year, the flu season began. The flu causes problems for us during the end of the year, but the vaccine for the flu has helped us through the difficult seasons we face. This year, however, was not such a good one, especially for elderly people. This flu season, the vaccine for the flu was not as helpful to us, especially for people who are over the age of 65. Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that this years flu vaccine,  "—is not nearly as effective as we would like among most people over the age of 65 for one particular strain of the flu, and that's why early treatment is important." I think everyone would certainly agree with Dr. Frieden. Most doctors offices and pharmacies, give the flu vaccine shot out early in the year, and for free in some places. The strain that Dr. Frieden spoke of, is an H3N2 flu strain, which has been the most dominant with the influenza virus, and was especially hard on the elderly. According to hospital reports, among people over 65, 146 out of 100,000 were hospitalized for the flu, compared to the rate of 36 out 100,000 of last year. Children that are 6 months and older, are recommended by the CDC to receive the vaccine.
We all know what the influenza virus comes with. Headaches, fever, itchy and stopped up noses, etc. Not most people want to go through that, I would think. Dr. Frieden also says that "This season has been worse than average and particularly severe to the elderly. Although it's far from perfect, the flu vaccination is by far the best tool we have to protect from the flu." Authorities have stated that the vaccine was effective to adults and children by 62%, but by the day, it keeps falling. Thursday's report said that it the vaccine was effective by 56%. The vaccine itself, is a good match for the most common viruses of the flu circulating, the vaccine was 47% effective of protection against the H3N2 virus, which is the main virus to the influenza. Frieden himself, says that "We simply need a better vaccine against influenza, one that works better and lasts longer,". The Department of Health and Human Services, are working to find a better, and stronger vaccine as we speak. I can relate to this story, because right now, my uncle is at home, with the virus. He has the vaccine, but it didn't work very sufficient for him. He has been bedridden to the couch for about a week now. Officials say that the worst of this years flu season is over, and that flu cases are declining. But, they still hope that we can be better prepared for next years flu season, as this one comes to a peaceful end.

This information provided from the article "Flu vaccine less effective, especially among elderly", from the CNN website.

Cheating

Cheating. We all know what is is, and that's its wrong. I'm sure that we all have cheated on a big test, or copied someone's homework, at some point in our school lives. There's still people out there, that still cheat today. All the big schools, and colleges have had some problems with this, in past and present-tense. Harvard is one of the big colleges. Just two weeks ago, on Friday, 60 students attending Harvard, were forced to withdraw from the big Ivy League school for a short period of time, for having cheated on a final exam in a Congress class. I know that everyone can relate to this, because we see someone cheating in classrooms all the time, and they seldom get caught. But, when they do, they're punished, but only for a short period of time. In the past, Harvard disciplined more than 125 students just last year, for this cheating scandal. In an e-mail that was sent throughout the campus, Dean Michael D. Smith, in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Sciences, said that "somewhat more than half of the cases involved students that had to be withdrawn from the college for a period of time.". For us high-school and elementary students, were basically suspended for maybe a few days to a week or two at a time, depending on how serious the situation is. Harvard says that the length of a students withdrawal period, is usually two to four terms.

For us kids, the suspension period is not long, so no one really minds it. The parents will be furious, of course, but the suspension period is supposed to be for you to realize that if you do something like this a second time, you'll be suspended again, and for a longer period of time. One parent in particular, whose son is attending Harvard, and who was also a graduate himself from the college, says that "If you challenge the entire faculty at the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Law School to come up with a process that took more time, cost more money, embarrassed more innocent students, and vindicated guilty faculty....that could not have outdone the process that took place,". Everyone says that this incident was, and still is unfortunate for the Harvard college. But, the fact that the board of the school is taking action, and sending the students who did the cheating away from their studies, should make the students realize that cheating is wrong. And, now that they know it is, hopefully they will realize, that they shouldn't do it again. Two to four terms, is most DEFINITELY a long period of time to be away from college, especially if it's a business and law school. So, the next time you think about whether or not to copy someone's homework, or steal answers off of someone's test, think about the consequences they'll be, if you are caught. You may think it's a good idea now, but if you keep cheating for the rest of you're school years, by the time you get to college, you may just end up like one of the 60 Harvard students that were withdrawn from campus Friday.


This information is provided from the article "Harvard disciplines dozens of students over exam cheating", from the FOX News website.