Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and their Contribution to Influenza Infection
Social determinants of health or SDOH are conditions under which a person is born, grows in, ages in, and dies in (Powell, 2016). A number of social determinants of health are recognized and they influence the epidemiology of diseases within populations. One of them is low socioeconomic status (low family incomes). This influences flu infection in that the person or family may not afford antiviral medications and have no health insurance leading to complications. The other is poor sanitation and living conditions. This SDOH is tied to low socioeconomic status and facilitates the spread of flu. Under transmission above it has been observed that poor hand hygiene (lack of water) may lead to the virus being transferred to door handles and knobs where others touch them and get infected too.
Yet another SDOH is low educational achievement. This affects flu in that ignorance makes it difficult for the community to be educated and for them to quickly understand the implications of the condition. Last but not least is the SDOH of lack of access to quality healthcare services. Because of poverty, the affected population demographic will not be able to afford healthcare insurance such as provided for by the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Kominski et al., 2017). This means extreme poverty as the ACA 2010 was meant to cushion poor populations.
Epidemiologic Triangle of Influenza as a Communicable Disease
The epidemiological triangle of influenza like any other communicable disease includes the host factors, the agent (virus) factors, and the environmental factors (Hammer & McPhee, 2018). The host factors for influenza include socioeconomic status, immunity status, and nutritional status amongst others. As already observed, an immunocompromised person will experience serious disease as opposed to a patient that is not. Having been vaccinated also makes a big preventive difference. With malnutrition (especially in children and the elderly), susceptibility to flu is high. Last but not least, poverty will mean that living conditions are poor and so spread of the virus will be fast due to factors such as overcrowding.
Agent factors include virulence and dose. It has been observed above that influenza subtypes A and B are more virulent compared to subtype C. Therefore, a person will definitely get more serious symptoms when infected by either type A or B. by the dose is meant the quantity of virus that a person inhales to make them sick. The more the number of viruses inhaled, the higher the chances of more serious illness. On environmental factors; poor living conditions (dirt), lack of water, and overcrowding lead among the factors that favor the spread of influenza. Special considerations for the community, schools, and the general population concern the maintenance of proper hygiene and the wearing of face coverings for those who have flu.
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