Health Services begins flu vaccines for spring
In the three weeks since students returned to campus, Syracuse University Health Services has seen the resurgence of a familiar foe: the flu.
‘We had several cases of the flu up through the end of last week, which is expected this time of the year, but it reminded us that we wanted to reinvite students and let them know there’s still an opportunity to get vaccinated,’ said Kathy VanVechten, special assistant to the director of Health Services
With more than 1,000 flu vaccines remaining, SU decided to hold a flu clinic Monday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Health Services, she said. Health Services has seen less than 20 cases of the flu during the first three weeks of the spring semester, VanVechten said.
An e-mail about the clinic was sent to students Monday morning. The vaccines were available to all SU and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students. Forty-seven students attended the clinic to receive flu shots, she said.
Since fall 2010, approximately 2,500 doses of the flu vaccine have been administered at Health Services, she said. Many students, faculty and staff have received the vaccine elsewhere, which offers some degree of immunity in the university community, VanVechten said.
During the 2009-10 flu season, a total of 5,800 seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines were administered to students, according to an Oct. 18 article published in The Daily Orange.
VanVechten said unless Health Services officials see a surge in demand for the vaccine and decide to hold another clinic, students can continue to get flu shots by making an appointment at Health Services.
The vaccine is an inactivated form of influenza that can’t cause illness, VanVechten said. Each year’s vaccine comes out in September or October, and Health Services starts immunization in October or November, she said. Health Services held flu vaccine clinics throughout the fall semester until student interest dropped in December and Winter Break approached, VanVechten said.
‘What’s in the vaccine is what’s predicted to be prevalent and circulating flu strains for the year,’ VanVechten said. ‘We start administering it early on so students have an opportunity to build an immunity before flu season hits.’
Flu season stretches from November through February and early March, she said. Students who suspect they have the flu can treat themselves at home with Tylenol, fluids and rest, she said.
Of the cases Health Services has seen so far this semester, none are out of the ordinary or cause the same level of distress that was prevalent because of the swine flu outbreak last year, she said.
‘There’s not the degree of concern that there was with the H1N1, which turned out to cause not as much illness as we thought it was going to,’ VanVechten said. ‘And the illness wasn’t as severe as some folks predicted. Again, since we have vaccine and we’re seeing flu, we just wanted to make sure students knew they could get the shot.’
Published on February 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Contact Jon: jdharr04@syr.edu
