SETH MICHAEL MEYER
Assistant News Editor
Wash your hands, cover your mouth and stay home if you feel ill. Few messages are more important than these as people across the country continue to brace themselves against an influenza season that, according to the New York Post, is “as bad as the swine flu epidemic nine years ago.”
USA Today reported that almost eight percent of visits to health care providers in the first full week of February were for flu-like symptoms. This is similar to the swine flu epidemic of 2009.
When it comes to college students, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases find that 70 percent of undergraduates agree that getting the flu shot is important. However, that does not reflect the amount of students who receive the flu shot, a shocking range of 8 to 39 percent. This fails in comparison to a 43.3 percent of all adults who received a flu vaccination last year, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
In February of last year, the lethargy from college students to get the flu shot caused the largest influenza outbreak in decades. Within just two weeks, The College at Brockport saw 375 cases of the flu amongst their students, as NBC reports.
In an interview with NBC, Libby Caruso, director of Brockport’s health and counseling services, said, “I’ve been here 26 years and I have never seen anything like it . . . At its peak, we were seeing 50 students a day.”
The State University of New York system has been distributing free influenza vaccines to their schools for years, and Brockport is no exception. Even with zero cost, students are not compelled to get vaccinated.
Tori Martinez, one of the many Brockport students to contract the flu, told NBC, “Flu vaccinations just don’t seem like a necessity. I’m young and healthy. Even if I get it again, my body will fight it off within two days.”
So far, Fredonia is off to a relatively good start in combating the flu. Debby Dibble, the Director of the Student Health Center at Lo Grosso, says that flu contraction on campus is “a relatively small number,” and that “some of the kids that we have sent to the hospital to get tested have come back as being negative.”
“We’re seeing a little bit of everything,” Dibble said. The number of flu cases are not dominant on campus compared to other illnesses such as colds and the stomach bug.
The Health Center at Fredonia does not test for the flu, Dibble confirmed. Those who have flu-like symptoms may be sent to Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk for testing. But along with other SUNY schools, Fredonia does offer influenza vaccines while supplies last.
“This year we have given away 300 flu shots and no longer have any here at Lo Grosso,” said Dibble. With no more flu shots to distribute, Dibble recommends those who haven’t been vaccinated to go to the local pharmacies for the vaccine, assuring that most health insurers cover the cost.
For those who do have the flu or symptoms of it, “toughing it out” is not an option, especially for the sake of healthy classmates.
“If they meet all of the criteria of the flu,” Dibble said, “we do not want them to be attending classes.”
If a student does have the flu and needs to be taken out of class for more than three days, the Health Center will contact Student Affairs on behalf of the student to excuse their absences. This leaves less worry for those avoiding treatment to maintain a good attendance record.
“I recommend that everybody gets the flu shot . . . regardless of how much of the flu viruses are covered in that flu shot, it still bolsters your immune system,” Dibble sanctioned.
Along with vaccination, Dibble suggests simply taking care of oneself by getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, etc.
Despite the low number of cases of the flu here at Fredonia, there are many things to remember:
Influenza is still on the rise. Dr. Anne Schuchat, the Director of the CDC reports, “We may be on track to break some recent records.”The 375-case outbreak at Brockport last February started, according to NBC, with “10 students complaining of high fevers, sore throats and coughs.”Even though someone may feel well, the influenza can be carried asymptomatically up to 30 percent of the time (Harvard Health Publishing).
The flu this year is deadly, claiming at least 63 children as of Feb. 3 in a flu season starting back in October. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, stay at home if you feel ill and get vaccinated.