This year’s influenza season has progressed in a similar way to last year’s plethora of influenza activity and cases on campus. Influenza, also known as the “flu,” is a contagious respiratory illness caused by flu viruses, according the the Connecticut State Department of Public Health. Two types of the virus circulate throughout the United States annually. Influenza A can cause moderate to severe illness, while Influenza B causes milder symptoms that are typically found in children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages all people over the age of 6 months old to be vaccinated, as each year millions of Americans safely receive seasonal flu vaccines. Not getting vaccinated, as the CDC warns, could result in disease or putting others at serious risk for illness, particularly babies or people with cancer.
In the state of Connecticut, the illness was categorized as sporadic between Oct. 1 to Oct. 21. Between Oct. 22 to Nov. 18, it was categorized as local, and between Nov. 19 to Dec. 2, categorized as regional. Since Dec. 3, it has been categorized as widespread.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health reported on Feb. 8, 2018 that, “in Connecticut, influenza activity remains high and widespread with continued increase in the percentage of patients presenting to hospital emergency departments and outpatient providers with ILI, as well as increasing numbers of flu-associated hospitalizations and deaths.” Throughout the entire flu season, a total of 1,360 patients have been hospitalized with influenza. There have been a total 77 influenza-associated deaths in the state of Connecticut alone, with 61 associated with flu A and 16 with flu B. Of those who died, just one patient was between 19-24 years of age. The number of deaths reported this season, Connecticut reports, “is within the range of influenza-associated deaths (1-65) reported during the previous five seasons.”
Shauna Rago, current Interim Director of Student Health Services, explained that the volume of influenza on campus has been similar to what it was last year. Rago explained, “I’ve been here since 2015. The first year I got here, I don’t think we saw that much flu activity. Last year, we had a pretty active year. With over 100 students diagnosed in Health Services, within a 4 week period. This year, it’s really only been since we got back from break. We’re still seeing active cases. But I’d say it’s a fairly high volume, comparable to last year. We don’t run any statistics until it’s over.”
As there has been discussion of students leaving campus in an effort to avoid the flu, Rago explained, “that would be something that would be self-directed, that is not directed by us.” She observes that, although the health center can track the number of students diagnosed with the flu on campus, it cannot easily determine the number of off-campus diagnoses. She says, “if people went to Position 1 or the Emergency Room at Backus or LNM, we wouldn’t necessarily know about that.” Typically, the health center advises students diagnosed with the flu to miss class until they have been fever free for 24 hours. The center also gives diagnosed students a sheet to hand out to roommates or friends who they think they might have exposed. The slip simply says, ‘You may have been exposed. Please contact Student Health Services.’ Students would then make an appointment and decide if they should take TamiFlu, a medication to help prevent someone from contracting the flu.
The instructional flu sheet that Student Health Services outlines symptoms including fever, dry cough, body or muscle aches, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, or nausea and vomiting. Rago instructed, “We want anyone with a cough and a fever to not go to class, not go to work. We also encourage people not to go to the dining hall. We tell them to send friends with their ID, and they can ask for special containers and bring food back.”
Rago explained that even those who have gotten the flu shot are still getting the flu, often in more mild or shorter cases; however, she suggests that “the vaccine is still really the best way to prevent.” The instructional sheet also suggests that “the best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccine each year.” Rago reported that about 350 flu shots have been giving in student Health Services, and are still being given with a $20 cover charge. The flu is active in the winter and spring, and Health Services expects it to be prevalent until April or May.
