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Campus demand for flu vaccines increases

By Jesse Rangel

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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Health center cancels flu clinics

Students may have to wait a little longer for the seasonal flu vaccine. The Watkins Health Center cancelled the remaining flu clinics, except for one H1N1 flu clinic.

Students may have to wait a little longer for the seasonal flu vaccine. The Watkins Health Center cancelled the remaining flu clinics, except for one H1N1 flu clinic.

In addition to the focus on H1N1 and its pandemic status, even the interest in seasonal flu vaccinations has spiked increased demand on campus.

Seasonal FLU

Effects on the body:

Symptoms for seasonal flu include fever, headache, fatigue, dry cough, sore throat, runny and stuffy nose, body aches and chills.

Resistance level:

Anyone can get the seasonal flu, but there is more focus directed toward older people and children getting vaccinated because of flu-related complications.

H1N1

Effects on the body:

Symptoms for H1N1 are the same as seasonal flu but with more reports of gastrointestinal illness. The severity of symptoms varies with both kinds of flu from person to person, Lisa Horn of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Center said. “I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily worse from person to person,” Horn said on H1N1’s severity.

Resistance level:

No children and few adults under the age of 60 have antibodies for H1N1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One-third of adults over 60 have antibodies for H1N1 because they have had previous exposure to an H1N1 virus.

Source: CDC and Lisa Horn, spokeswoman for Lawrence-Douglas County Health Center

Traffic has been so heavy at the seasonal flu shot clinics this month at Watkins Memorial Health Center that supplies ran out Tuesday and the remaining clinic was canceled. The University has administered nearly 700 doses of seasonal flu vaccine this fall, up from 368 doses in 2008. The University also announced Tuesday that they have scaled back five planned H1N1 clinics to just one, with only 500 available doses being for the Nov. 6 clinic.

Mai Hester, marketing coordinator for Student Health Services, said that before the University announced that vaccines had run out, the office had received feedback from students who said they wanted to get both the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1 vaccination.

“A lot of people have come in and want to get the seasonal flu shot,” Hester said. “We’re putting the message out there that getting both is the best way to protect yourself this season.”

Jimmy Wernel, Overland Park junior, got his seasonal flu shot early on Tuesday. He said it would be good to get both shots because he is going to shadow in a hospital, but he was concerned about the H1N1 vaccine supply available.

Lisa Horn, spokeswoman for the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, said seasonal flu vaccinations have gone from 3,206 total doses last season, from September to December, to 1,806 doses already this season. She said the department started seasonal flu vaccinations earlier to get those out of the way — something the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended — before they started H1N1 vaccines. The department has been out of seasonal flu vaccines since the second week of October.

Joseph Hinckley, Salt Lake City law student, said it was the first year he was getting a seasonal flu shot, and he’s getting both.

“Maybe it’s because this year everyone is being more cautious,” Hinckley said. “And that’s why I did it, because I have a kid and don’t want him to get sick.”

Horn said there was a possibility both shots would be combined into one vaccine next year.

“That would be nice,” Horn said. “It would make things a lot easier for people.”

Jamie Rosenberg, St. Louis freshman, said getting a seasonal flu shot was something she did yearly.

“In college, you’re with a lot of students who get sick, and I don’t have time to get sick,” Rosenberg said.

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