Health officials at Mississippi State University will soon be administering the H1N1 vaccine to protect students against the H1N1 flu, which is expected to spread further.
Executive Director of University Health Services Dr. Robert Collins said the university is not giving out the vaccine for H1N1 yet because the Miss. Department of Health has not released the vaccine to the university.
“We will start giving the vaccine as soon as we receive it,” Collins said.
The vaccine is free. The only cost to students is an administration fee which covers the cost of personnel time, syringes, bandages and alcohol wipes.
He said 3,000 H1N1 vaccines have been initially requested.
“Depending on demand from students and others, we will ask for more as demand dictates,” Collins said.
The news coverage and controversy surrounding the H1N1 flu may have settled down a bit, but Collins said the flu problem is far from over.
“I have been tracking cases day by day, and there was a big surge in August and early September,” Collins said. “The numbers have flattened out, but it doesn’t look like it’s going away.”
Collins said he expects the numbers to increase as we get closer to flu season.
“Between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s day we expect it to surge again,” he said.
Collins advises students to get the vaccine, and after the students who want the shot have gotten it, MSU faculty and staff can get the shot.
“They (students) are in the high risk group for contracting the H1N1 flu,” he said.
Collins said the only students who are advised not get the vaccine are ones who will have a specific anaphylactic allergic reaction to the vaccine.
Though doctors are advising college-aged students to get the vaccination shot, some students seem to be apprehensive about getting the H1N1 vaccine.
Freshman education major Brittney McPherson said she has thought about getting the shot and decided she will not be getting the H1N1 vaccine.
“I’m afraid I will get the flu from the shot,” McPherson said. “I’ve never had a regular flu shot either.”
While some students seem to be afraid they will get H1N1 from getting the vaccine, others are scared of the side effects that come along with the new shot. Britt said she is scared of all of the possible side effects.
Elementary education graduate student Ashley Britt said she is weary of getting the shots as well.
“I am not going to get the shot; it scares me because it is too new,” she said. “You never know with something that hasn’t been tested very long.”
Collins said the systemic symptoms of the vaccination include soreness, redness, tenderness or swelling at the site of the shot, fainting, headache, fever, nausea and muscle ache. He said probably no other symptoms other than soreness at the injection site should be expected.
Some students seem to feel like the university community is overreacting to the H1N1 scare. Others seem to think the H1N1 flu is something to be worried about.
McPherson said she knows three people who have gotten H1N1, but she is not really worried about getting it herself.
“I just feel like it is another flu,” McPherson said. “I think it is good to be cautious, but some people are going overboard.”
Britt said she does not know anyone who has been infected with H1N1, but she knows it is something which should be taken seriously.
“I am scared of getting it because I teach a class of little kids during the day,” Britt said. “You never know what the kids are carrying around.”
The prominence of H1N1 is higher than some students think. Collins said there have been 682 presumed cases on campus so far, 30 last week or an average of six-per-day.
“It costs $350 per case to confirm with PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), 99.9 percent of the flu identified in the U.S. now is H1N1; it would be poor stewardship of the Health center funds to confirm cases at this time,” Collins said.
Collins encourages students, particularly those who are overweight or who have immune problems, to get the shot. To stay healthy and avoid becoming infected with H1N1, he recommends getting plenty of rest, staying hydrated, eating right and avoiding crowds where other people are in your personal space.
“When we have campus events like parties, football games and Bulldog Bash where a lot of people get together, people at risk are putting themselves in harm’s way,” Collins said.
Before getting the shot, Collins advises students to read the Vaccine Information Sheet supplied by the Centers for Disease Control which can be found at cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/default.htm#h1n1.