Glenn Wagstaff
Shivani Shirolkar
According to a Technician news article in the past week, there have been 66 laboratory-confirmed cases of the flu among NC State students. It all started with the spread of norovirus at the beginning of last semester’s finals in December. Before you think, “It won’t happen to me,” think again.
Dr. Julie Casani, the medical director of NC State Student Health Services, says that the spread of the flu this year is as bad as it was last year. The total death toll in North Carolina has been recorded as 95 since the season started in October 2017.
People don’t seem to be taking this illness seriously. Being sick often means you get to skip a day at school and sleep your worries away, or even watch reruns of your favorite TV show, but this year, there is a lot more at stake. There are cases of skipped flu shots when people either forgot to take them, or procrastinated on taking them since they weren’t a priority. The Technician news article from last week mentions that 85 percent of the students feeling under the weather have admitted to not taking a flu shot this year.
The seasonal flu is highly contagious and can be spread up to six feet away from the source. The viruses involved are mainly spread through direct contact like touching, or indirect contact like inhaling too close to a sick person.
You may be sick without even knowing it — it takes about one to four days for the signs of the flu to start showing up and taking their toll on your body.
Symptoms include a runny nose, sore throat, fever, chills and muscle aches. As the virus spreads throughout the lungs and the respiratory system, the body reacts by trying to destroy the infected tissue altogether — in the worst case, shutting down all the organs one after the other and resulting in death.
The best way to protect yourself is to wash your hands frequently and not come in contact with the belongings of others. It’s important to be aware and consciously stay away from other people during these times. Everything on campus is in close quarters, and so spreading of the illness is incredibly easy.
Students diagnosed with the flu are having to miss their classes (maybe even for a few days) to stay home. This is quite a blow to their academic routine, as exam season is fast approaching with midterms. It’s a lot better to responsibly take care of yourself than to knock yourself out for a solid week and miss out on valuable course work.
It starts out as the average combination of the troublesome common cold and a headache, possibly accompanied by fever, until you realize that it’s much more serious than that. It’s a good idea to take immediate action and call a doctor or medical specialist to get your symptoms checked.
Often, students might underestimate their symptoms and go to class anyway, in the fear of losing attendance credit and missing material covered on the exam, but your health is more important. Also, infecting other students in the process is a high possibility.
Taking the risk of not getting a flu shot is not worth it. It only takes a few moments, and you’ll be done within seconds.
Unfortunately, it isn’t 100 percent effective. In fact, difficulties with choosing the viruses to include in the vaccine and other difficulties dropped its effectiveness this year to less than 20 percent. Though the odds seem bleak, it’s better to be safe than sorry. A few minutes of your time can give you at least a considerable amount of protection from the deadly flu.
Flu shots are available at the NC State Student Student Health Center on Cates Avenue. A Late-Season Flu Clinic has been scheduled for Feb. 14 in Admin Services II for faculty and staff as well. I would recommend getting a shot if you haven’t, as there is still time — don’t let your guard down just yet, it’s not over.