Health Services adds flu vaccination clinics in response to concern over H3N2 strain
Due to the severity of this year’s flu season, Syracuse University Health Services has decided to add extra vaccination clinics this semester.
The 2014–15 flu season has been “moderately severe,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it advised any unvaccinated person to immediately get the vaccine. The CDC announced in a Jan. 16 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that getting a flu shot this season “reduced a person’s risk of having to go to the doctor because of flu by 23 percent among people of all ages.”
In response to the national media attention to the H3N2 strain of the influenza, Health Services made the decision to add vaccination clinics.
Ben Domingo, the director of Health Services, said the flu season this year has been typical, and said they have seen a few cases of Influenza A since students returned to campus from Winter Break. One of the additional clinics was held Wednesday.
Flu vaccinations are free to students and employees at SU and SUNY-ESF with a valid SU or SUNY-ESF ID. Michele Frontale, pharmacy manager of Health Services, said that while the current vaccine isn’t protecting against the H3N2 strain, which is the most common, it is still better to have some sort of immunity against the flu to lessen the effects of the virus.
Frontale said the flu is most common from November until April. Students who are diagnosed with the flu are given Tamiflu, which helps decrease the duration of the illness. They should also get plenty of rest and to stay well hydrated.
In October, Health Services held a massive flu clinic, which vaccinated more than 1,500 people in connection with Onondaga County. Health Services also held biweekly clinics which averaged about 150–200 student vaccinations during each three-hour clinic. The health center has held three separate clinics for faculty and staff.
The turnout this year has been about normal when compared to the 3,000 students and staff and faculty who are vaccinated by Health Services annually, Domingo said.
Published on January 29, 2015 at 12:01 am
