Influenza Frenzy: A Surveillance Report on This Year’s Virus
Words by: Sierra Allen and Julie Riedel
Seasonal influenza, better known as the flu, is a viral illness that causes fever, headache, sore throat, cough, nasal congestion and body aches. As flu season enters its peak month, public health officials urge citizens to receive the flu vaccination for immunity against the worse strain since 2009.
With similar symptoms as a cold, the two are frequently mistaken and are difficult to distinguish based on symptoms alone. With the cold comes a runny or stuffy nose, but if left untreated, the flu leads to health problems like pneumonia, bacterial infections, hospitalizations and even death, as the virus attacks healthy tissues in the lungs, nose and throat.
With their different side effects, four types of flu strains are responsible for widespread illness. The most common types, A and B, cause flu pandemics, as Type A is found in both animals and humans and Type B is found in humans alone. Type C, the milder virus, has less severe side effects and doesn’t cause pandemics. Type D, a new flu virus, was recently discovered and is only found in cattle.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, flu season typically lasts from October through March and recommends vaccination between October and November. By doing so, individuals are more likely to combat the peak month of February, which has had the highest virus percentages for 14 years since 1982. If a flu shot isn’t received by then, it’s still recommend to get one.
When a medical professional gives a flu shot, they use a longer needle to ensure the vaccine makes it to the upper arm muscle. If a vaccinated person still gets the flu, their sick time is usually shorter and less severe than that of someone who did not receive one. The vaccination does not cause the flu, but it takes two weeks to become effective.
Anyone can get the flu and healthy adults can spread it one day before developing symptoms and five to seven days after becoming sick. An infected person shows symptoms between one and four days after the virus enters the body.
Since October, Ohio had 3,854 flu-associated hospitalizations with at least 1,800 around the second week of January, much more than the five-year average of 400 for the same week.
Although the 2017-2018 flu season isn’t as bad as 2009, it’s still comparable. In 2009, the flu pandemic, or swine flu, was the second season to contain the H1N1 virus strain, which was also responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic that killed between 50-100 million people.
The 2009 flu season influenced cover your cough and cough into your elbow wellness campaigns and Purell hand stations throughout all of Kent State University’s buildings.
This year, the World Health Organization deemed H3N2 as the dominate strain with similar complications as the H1N1. One possible reason is that it mutates faster than other strains according to STAT, a national publication based on health, medicine and scientific discovery.
The CDC also estimated low probability rates with about 30 percent strain protection, one of many reasons why some people opt out on receiving the flu shot.
“I’ve read articles about how the strain this year isn’t effective,” Jillian Schmidt, a junior nursing student at Kent State University said. “That’s the reason why some people are opting not to get the flu shot but really, it’s recommended to get the flu shot anyway because some immunity is better than no immunity.”
Community immunity, also known as herd immunity, takes place when a sufficient portion of the population is immune to an infectious disease. Collective immunity makes the disease unlikely to spread from one person to another and even protects those who aren’t vaccinated. The flu vaccine does just that, which is why Jennifer D’Abreau, D.O. interim chief university physician at University Health Services, agrees that it’s a great way to protect yourself and others.
“So it’s a great way to prevent the disease both for you and for those that are around you. So that goes back to the herd immunity. And so a lot of times we tease each other that you’re not getting your flu shot for you, you’re getting it for everyone that you’re coming in contact with. So you’re doing it for those folks, you’re doing it for them.” D’Abreau said.
Since the flu shot isn’t a required vaccine like MMR, measles, mumps and rubella, motivating college students to get one remains a public health challenge. But D’Abreau says Kent State’s’ health center is vaccinating more patients each year.
“I’ve been at Kent State for several years, 18 to be exact, and I will say, over that time frame we give more flu shots almost every year than what we did the previous year, which that’s a plus,” she said.
One reason for vaccination increase is due to the health services efforts of making it more accessible to patients who are already there, instead of inconveniencing them with extra appointments.
“We’ve incorporated some changes in our intake procedures so that every patient who is seen at the health center should be asked during flu season, ‘Do you want a flu shot today?’ So just giving them an opportunity to get it, if they’re here for their pap test or they’re here for, you know, an STD testing or something unrelated, they can actually get it.”
Another way they’re accommodating students is with flu shot clinics at regional 
campuses and walk-ins every Thursday from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. at the Deweese Health Center.
The National Foundation of Infectious Disease found that student resistance to flu vaccinations is both attitude and economic based. According to the non-profit’s research, college students are unconcerned about the flu, are transitioning to managing their own doctor’s appointments and are too busy to add the shot to their routine. The biggest reasons are flu comprehension and personal concerns.
Sameera Bowles, a senior pan-African studies major, has received the flu shot before, but no longer gets them.
“The only reason why I got it before was because I was a minor and my mom made me,” she said. “But I don’t think you should get it because I don’t believe in vaccinations. I think that, the public doesn’t know, like we don’t actually know what’s in it, like we don’t know what they’re actually putting in us and it could be anything.”
Despite having the flu before, Dalevonta Preston, a junior phycology major, has never had the flu shot and shares similar views as Bowles.
“I’m not opposed to it,” he said. “I just don’t like the fact you have to stick a dead virus inside of me. I don’t know, that’s weird to me. I just find that really uncomfortable.”
College campuses are exposed to the flu because of rapid circulation through constant exposure of common living spaces, shared restrooms and social activities, which students are starting to understand.
According to the health services’ last count, only 355 of the 2,200 flu shots Kent State University ordered remain. Out of the 600 shots The University of Akron ordered, only 126 remain, according to Megan Nichols, a Registered Nurse at the University of Akron’s Health Services.
Last flu season Kent State had 200 cases of flu confirmed by nasal swab. So far, fall 2017 had 14 cases and spring 2018 has had 39 cases.
College campus are just one population that’s more susceptible to the virus. Children under 5, especially under 2, face a higher risk, as well as adults over 65, pregnant women, medical professionals and residents in nursing homes or long-term care facilities.
Melanie Amato, assistant director of communications at the Ohio Department of Health, also recommends the flu shot and says it’s the best way to protect yourself and family, along with flu season etiquette.
“Other ways to help protect yourself and others is, you can wash your hands frequently, you can cover your cough and sneezes in tissues,” she said. “Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth and remember if you don’t feel well, just stay home.”
Check out my latest story for class about the flu on college campuses. https://t.co/wsSvEVvxMV#JMCRPP
— Julie R. (@awkwardlycoffee) February 15, 2018
Influenza Frenzy: A Surveillance Report on This Year's Virus https://t.co/QWpl9zeTHs #JMCRPP
— SIEZUS†☾ (@sierra_aln) February 15, 2018