The flu bug bites

by Maggie Hardwick, posted Nov. 8, 2011

Sniffling and coughing are soon to visit the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. Yes, the cold and flu season is upon us and there are several things MU students can do to try to stay healthy.

Typically, the flu season lasts from late fall to early spring in the United States, however, this year the flu season started much earlier due to the presence of H1N1. According to the New York Times Online, the flu is a virus, otherwise known as influenza.

A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza A virus emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population. The virus can cause serious illness and spreads easily from person-to-person. The vaccines that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) creates help fight a combination of different types of flu viruses that are expected to affect the United States for the upcoming flu season. A vaccine gives a person a sample of what the virus might look like so your immune system is ready to fight it off when the real virus enters your body.

“I feel terrible,” said Nicolene Essers, MU freshman. “I have a fever, sore throat, coughing. I’m miserable.”

Contracting the flu virus can give a person many side effects such as fever, coughing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headaches, sinus pressure, aches, chills and general discomfort. Since the flu is a virus, antibiotics do not help to cure the flu. Only the side effects can be treated until your immune system fights the flu off itself. This is why many people get vaccinated before flu season arrives.

“I think I got sick by drinking after my rugby teammates,” said Laura Daily, MU freshman political science major.

There are many ways to get the flu. The flu can be contracted through air-borne contact, meaning that students coughing in class could be passing the flu to each other. Touching a contaminated surface and then touching your mouth, eyes or nose can also contract the flu.

According to the CDC, there is an incubation period that the flu goes through before the infected person knows that he or she is sick, making it possible for someone to pass the flu on to another person before he or she knows they are sick. The CDC also says that a healthy adult can usually infect others five to seven days after he or she becomes sick.

According to www.pandemicflu.gov, on average, there are 23,600 deaths from flu-related causes every year.

Most of these deaths are from complications of the flu. Flu can sometimes lead to bacterial pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections or dehydration. The flu can also worsen already present chronic medical conditions like congestive heart failure, asthma, or diabetes. Many of these deaths are in children and aging adults whose immune systems aren’t fully developed or as strong as they used to be, and cannot fight off the infection.

The CDC also states that the “flu is unpredictable and how severe it is can vary widely from one season to the next depending on many things, including what flu viruses are spreading, how much flu vaccine is available, when vaccines are available, how many people get vaccinated, and how well the flu vaccine is matched to flu viruses that are causing illness.”

“Having the flu made me unable to complete one of my assignments I was supposed to complete for one of my classes, writing a paper,” Daily said.

Not being able to complete homework and not being able to attend class because of the flu can have major effects on a student’s grades. If students get a vaccine and follow certain practices, like regular hand washing and avoiding sickly students, then the chance of getting the flu will be less likely.

The American Academy of Pediatrics gives many helpful tips to avoid getting sick. Some of these include coughing and sneezing into a tissue or inner crease of elbow, frequently wash hands, clean washcloths and towels often in hot water, stay away from smoking and second-hand smoke and do not drink after people during flu season.

The most effective way to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated before flu season arrives. This year, the Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services Department will be offering flu vaccinations at their Worley Street clinic.

The vaccine will be free for children 6 months to 18 years old and $25 for adults 19 or older. FluMist, a spray vaccine administered through the nose, will be available for $30. The flu vaccine is designed for healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49. There is no appointment necessary to receive the vaccine or FluMist and it will be offered Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The flu is generally just a discomfort. A majority of the time it doesn’t cause serious harm, however, if safety precautions, such as getting vaccinated, are taken and students follow healthy practices, there will be a lot less sniffling tigers around campus this year.

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