This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated a rise in Influenza (the flu) in more than 10 states, including Virginia. Influenza, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), is “a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat and lungs.” Flu symptoms may include, but are not limited to, “fever, stuffy nose, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, fatigue, chills and sometimes vomiting.” The duration of the flu generally lasts around two weeks, time no one can afford to miss from school or work. General ways to avoid getting the flu include:
• Getting the flu vaccine
• Staying away from people who have the flu
• Good hand washing
• Wiping down commonly touched areas (doorknobs, keyboards, toilet handles, television remotes and the handle of the door to the refrigerator)
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth
• Reduce stress
• Get seven to nine hours of sleep a night
• Keeping yourself healthy
“The best way to [keep yourself healthy] is to get adequate rest, eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and exercise,” said Margo Potts, the Director of the Student Health and Wellness Center.
Despite it only being the middle of the flu season, drug stores like CVS and Walgreens have been reported being out of the vaccine. However, the Student Health and Wellness Center still has around 250 doses of the vaccine for those who haven’t gotten the vaccine yet but would like to. The best part: it’s available at no charge for students.
“There’s no latex [in the medication],” said Potts. “There are a couple of reasons why people should not get the Flu vaccine. Number one is if they’re allergic to eggs. The other is if they have ever had a significant reaction to the vaccine in the past such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome. The third reason is if they come in to get it and they are ill with a fever. So those would be the three reasons not to get [the Flu vaccine]. Now there are people who have compromised their immune system—either through medication or an illness. If that’s the case, getting the vaccine isn’t going to help them.”
Guillain-Barre Syndrome is a reaction that causes temporary paralysis, though it hasn’t been seen since the 1970’s. It is associated with the Flu vaccine that was used at the time, but there has been no evidence provided that the vaccine caused the paralysis.
“There might be people your parents’ age who had that, and so they were instructed to never get the vaccine again because it’s not certain that the vaccine caused it, but there’s enough of an association that it’s just not a good idea to get [the vaccine],” said Potts.
If a student has a roommate who is sick with the Flu, it is recommended that the student gets vaccinated against the Flu if they haven’t already done so.
“There is a medicine available that can be used to decrease the severity and length of the Flu, and in some cases can be used for Flu prevention,” explained Potts. “But it’s only recommended in certain cases, so if a student has concern about that, the best thing for them to do is to call and talk to someone at the Student Health [and Wellness] Center, so we can determine case-by-case who it’s appropriate to use it for. The reason that it’s recommended to not just give it to everyone is that the Flu virus could then develop resistance to the medicine and then we wouldn’t have anything else to use. There are some people who are more at risk of having complications and dying from the flu, so we want to preserve it for them as much as possible.”
People who are at risk for gaining complications include: children who are younger than the age of two, adults of age 65 and older, pregnant women, people who are morbidly obese and people with lung disease, diabetes and/or blood disorders.
