UCF Health Services encourages flu shots

As winter approaches with the continual drops in temperature, students' chances of contracting a virus increases exponentially.

According to the Healthy Knights webpage, a website created by UCF Health Services to educate students on various health topics, the UCF Health Center treats approximately 10,700 students per year for colds and the flu.

UCF Health Services is urging students to get their flu shots as early as possible, with flu season beginning in early October. Megan Pabian, UCF Health Services marketing coordinator said that the vaccination is one of the main ways to decrease a student's chance of catching the flu.

Pabian said that more than 170 flu shots were given over the course of three days upon the opening of the UCF Health Services Flu Clinic, Oct. 13.

"We want to make sure that [students] get vaccinated so that they stand a better chance of not catching the flu," Pabian said. "The flu is not something that you can tough it up and go to class with. You're in bed, miserable, for at least a week. For most students, missing a week of class would be really tough to make up, especially if [they] have exams, or during the week of finals — which happens to be during flu season."

The 2011-2012 flu vaccine includes three dead/killed/inactivated strains of the influenza virus, A/California/7/2009 (H1N1), A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2) and B/Brisbane/60/2008, as stated by the website for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. These strains were selected by the Food and Drug Administration as the three most likely to circulate and spread for the following year.

Many students, however, believe common misconceptions about the flu as well as the vaccination. Common myths include getting sick because of the vaccination and still being protected by the new strains of the influenza virus with a vaccine from two years ago.

The CDC encourages everyone to receive an annual flu vaccination because of the lowered immunity level they receive over time toward that strain of virus, which could then lead to their sickness.

Pabian agrees that students should get vaccinations annually, but early.

"You definitely don't want to wait until January [or] February, once flu is peaking, to get your flu shot," Pabian said. "Many students especially feel that if they've gotten a flu shot in the past, they don't need one now. The truth of the matter is you've never been on a campus with 56,000 people before. Your odds of catching the flu have just skyrocketed."

Senior elementary education major Christina Vales, received her flu shot two weeks ago and is now effectively immune from the virus. Vales believed that the vaccination was key to becoming a healthy student.

"I was nervous because I don't like shots," Vales said. "I always get sick, and so I try to prevent [myself] from getting the flu or anything in the winter. With so many students on campus, it's probably a good thing that students get [the shot] to try and stay immune. Obviously you can't stay away from people who are sick."

In addition to the vaccine, Pabian suggests that students should familiarize themselves with the basic symptoms of both the common cold and the influenza virus, so that they can recognize when they themselves have contracted the virus as well as to distinguish the two illnesses from one another.

Several of the symptoms for the common cold include mild muscle aches, mild fatigue, constant runny nose or sore throat, a mild hacking cough and a low fever.

Flu symptoms, on the other hand, include a high fever, chills, constant headache, extreme fatigue, dry cough and muscle and joint pain.

Senior English education major Karissa Lynch saw the vaccine as the best way to prepare for her upcoming internship with children.

"I just thought it would be a good idea; I never had [the flu shot] before, but this year I feel I have a better chance of getting sick," Lynch said. "Especially with winter break coming up, I don't want to be ill. With finals and December [break], it would suck to be sick on top of all that."

Along with the common cold and the flu, students also have to watch out for the H1N1 virus. H1N1 is a strand of influenza that was declared a U.S. Public Health Emergency in 2009. Though, according to the CDC, this "epidemic" officially expired on June 23, 2010, Pabian commented on the virus' continued relevance towards UCF students.

"H1N1 is still circling. It has not been identified in Florida yet, [but] that's not to say it won't be. When it does come here and it does hit the news, you can guarantee that people will be scrambling to get the shot then," Pabian said. "It's not as prevalent as it was last year, but if students get their flu shot this year, inside the flu shot is an H1N1 booster. It's kind of like two for the price of one."