By Nicole Prokopchak//
With the flu season already having started, health officials want students to know the importance of getting vaccinated.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their list of information for the 2017/2018 flu season that recommended to not use the nasal spray flu vaccine. “Flu vaccines have been updated to better match circulating viruses (the influenza A(H1N1) component was updated),” stated the CDC. Only injectable flu shots are recommended now, which are available to students at Hood College.
Teresa Cevallos, director of Health Services at the Hood College Health Center, strives to get the message across to students. “Prevention is always better than a cure. As with any immunization, it is there to prevent you from getting sick,” she stated.
Cevallos explained that while the health center does not see that many cases of the flu each year (less than 10 cases), she would like to attribute that to more students getting vaccinated.
Students live in close proximity to one another and are much more susceptible to catching sicknesses when living with each other. “The more students that get vaccinated, the less able the flu is to spread, it is important to protect yourself and others. This is a prime example of herd immunity,” explained Cevallos.
Hood College senior Melissa Sepe is a firm believer in getting vaccinated. “Not only is it protecting your health, its also helping from having the flu spead all over campus,” Sepe said. “This is my fourth year living on campus and I’ve seen first hand how fast sicknesses can spread. Do your job and get vaccinated just to be cautious. Its better to be safe than sorry.”
Flu symptoms that can run you bed-ridden for up to a week or more, which is keeps students out of class. Hood College senior Max Stankiewicz had the flu last year after not getting a flu shot. “I definitely regret not getting the vaccine last year,” Stankiewicz said. “I had to isolate myself from everyone else as to not get anyone sick. My symptoms lasted a week and I couldn’t go to class. This year I’ll definitely be heading to the campus health center to get the vaccine, I don’t want to risk what I went through last year,” Stankiewicz said.
The Hood College Health Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Flu vaccines are available at any time during their hours on a first come first serve basis. The vaccine is $15 out of pocket and they do not take insurance. The health center encourages students to get the vaccine even if students get it somewhere else through their insurance.