Flu Season Falls on Madison County
Samantha Tamplin
12/04/18 Richmond, KY
The flu season is upon us here at EKU and in Madison County. With fevers, sore throats, runny noses, and plenty of coughing, students are advised to take precautions to stay healthy this winter.
Influenza-like-illnesses or ILIs are one of the top illnesses on college campuses. ILIs are a disease characterized by the combination of a fever with either a sore throat or coughing.
There are basically two common expressions of the flu virus, the kind that is strictly upper respiratory, and the type involving the digestive system with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Often, flu symptoms are mistaken for the common cold, causing students and workers to attend their classes or jobs when they should at home sick, causing the virus to spread further and wreak havoc in the area. And since many college students are in such close proximity to each other with classes and dorms, the virus usually spreads very quickly.
“Usually, the flu season starts in October and ends in April, the peak of flu season is usually January-February,” said Patrese Nesbitt, the Health Services Manager at EKU Student Health. And though this flu season is beginning with very few cases, Nesbitt said that she definitely expects the rates to pick up as the year progresses.
“We’re still very early in the game,” said Taylor Fasig, the intern for Student Health Services.
And other experts agree. Sabrina Hall, a Nurse-Specialist at the Madison County Health Department said that right now, the influenza activity across the United States is considered low and as of now, Madison County only has one confirmed case. However, there is typically a spike in ILI cases as the year goes on. She also said that influenza is very different every year so it is difficult to predict exactly what the outcome will be.
Hall also discussed the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which is a compilation of influenza and disease data across the state of Kentucky. Local health departments have to report the number of influenza outbreaks in their region to the state once a week. The state department then puts a report together on those numbers broken up by regions that is sent out weekly to the Madison County Health Department and other local health organizations.
In order for a case to be registered in the MMWR, it must first be confirmed to be an ILI. “Basically, for a case to be confirmed, there are certain tests that have to be done,” Hall said. To do this, the ill person must test positive with something called a positive molecular virus RP-PCR or a culture is done on the virus itself. These results are then gathered and reported in the MMWR.
Some effective prevention methods to keep from getting the flu in the first place include, of course, getting the right strain of the flu vaccine, basic hand washing and preventative measures (i.e. stay home when you’re sick, get plenty of rest, cover you cough, etc). Try to catch it early-on, Hall advised, “We always recommend that if you have any of those signs and symptoms, that you seek medical attention.”
Nesbitt offered similar advice on some steps to staying healthy. “Getting the flu vaccine, that’s the first one. The second one is washing your hands, and not just with water, soap and warm water. Saying the alphabet while you wash your hands, singing the birthday song while you wash your hands, that’s also effective. Also, knowing some of the symptoms. Generally, if you have a fever, it is not recommended that you go to class.”
Other than that, Nesbitt reminds students to stay hydrated because the flu is mainly upper respiratory, and dehydration vastly affects lung health. Also she said that Student Health Services is campaigning for a lot of hand washing.
“Keeping your hands clean is probably simply the most powerful piece to keeping the flu at bay,” she said.
Some resources EKU’s Student Health Services has been providing include two recent flu clinics and a relatively new service, the distribution of cards campus-wide that, on one side explain the difference between the cold and the flu, and on the other contain a disposable thermometer.
According to Fasig, on-campus flu clinics have proven to be more successful than simply providing the vaccine at Student Health Services in Rowlett. Last year, she reports, they had 400 vaccines and had to end up discarding many of them.
“We’ve had two flu clinics this year. One was with “Rock Sober Fest” and the other one was up in the counseling center. We only had 200 vaccines and we actually gave out all 200 vaccines. Right now, they’re not looking to get any more, but if there’s enough interest, potentially.”
Students can also go to Student Health Services for the vaccine, but they are currently completely out and not expecting more.
Student Health Services also provides additional information via flyers around campus, their website and Twitter page, and for appointments or walk-ins at their office in Rowlett building. On their website, they also recommend other resources to visit besides Student Health Services if they are for some reason unavailable or closed.
Fasig also mentioned that Student Health wants to get as many students as possibly into the clinic to treat their ILIs or flu symptoms and that they put forth a lot of effort toward informing students about the flu. “We are putting together information to help students stay cold and flu free,” she said.
However, regardless of the efforts put forth by campus resources, several students still remain in the dark about influenza at EKU.
Abby Landis and Rebecca Gash, two Health Service Administration majors and students at EKU, claim they hear very little information about diseases on campus.
“I know you’re supposed to get vaccinated, I know it’s super contagious, and that’s about it,” Landis said. “I don’t get flu shots, but I definitely go to Health Services whenever I’m sick, but I’ve never had the flu so I never thought about getting the shot.”
She also said that other than the warnings to wash your hands, students don’t hear much about flu and disease prevention methods on campus.
Similarly, Gash said that flu information is lacking at EKU, “I feel like it’s a little bit. They can tell you that you can get flu shots here and I think they have them on campus, but other than that, I don’t think there’s a lot.”
She said that what she knows about the flu is that it is contagious and that different strands keep getting stronger in response to vaccines and people taking medication improperly. However, Gash takes care of most of her medical needs off-campus, back in Louisville including her flu vaccination.
Another student, Sophie Osburg, a freshman Dietetics major, said that she doesn’t really know anything about the flu.
“I know a couple of my friends have caught it on campus, but I personally haven’t had any kind of problem with it.”
And while Osburg did get a flu shot this year, she too decided to turn to an off-campus doctor rather than Student Health Services.
For more information on influenza-like-illnesses on EKU’s campus, visit the Student Health Services office in the Rowlett building, or check out their website at https://healthservices.eku.edu/ .
