WHAT’S SPOOKIER THAN HALLOWEEN SEASON? FLU SEASON.
THIS PAST WEEK I DEALT WITH THE WHOLE WORKS: CHILLS, NAUSEA, ACHES, FEVER, THE FEELING OF IMPENDING DOOM WHEN SENDING EMAILS TO PROFESSORS TO RESCHEDULE A MIDTERM. TRUST ME, VAMPIRES AND ZOMBIES PALE IN COMPARISON TO THE FLU.
I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS FALLEN VICTIM TO THE FLU ONE MONTH INTO SCHOOL. ALTHOUGH IT IS ONLY MID OCTOBER, THE FLU HAS TAKEN NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY BY STORM.
MILAN BOBEK IS A THIRD YEAR MAJORING IN ECON AND MINORING IN BUSINESS INSTITUTIONS WHO JUST RECOVERED FROM THE FLU THIS PAST WEEKEND. BOBEK SAYS STUDENTS ARE NOT GETTING CHECKED ANYMORE FOR ILLNESSES ON CAMPUS.
[Milan]: If they [students] like, get tested at Searle and test positive for like COVID they’re gonna have to be quarantined, and so I think they just kind of, I don’t think kids get tested anymore.
ALEXIS BOE, A SECOND YEAR NEUROSCIENCE MAJOR THAT CURRENTLY HAS THE FLU, SAYS SHE BELIEVES STUDENTS IN PARTICULAR ARE NOT TESTING FOR COVID-19.
[Alexis]: I think specifically COVID because of the quarantine period and isolation that they have to go through in Hinman.
MEDICAL OFFICER AT THE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, DR. AMANDA COHN, WHO HAPPENS TO BE MY ROOMMATE’S MOTHER, SAID COVID-19 CREATED A HESITANCY TO TEST.
[Dr. Cohn]: because of the measures that were put into place to prevent transmission of COVID, that even if students aren’t necessarily getting sicker from COVID than they may, for example, with flu, there was still a lot more anxiety provoked by getting COVID. There also are at home tests. So it was easier to determine if you had COVID and it’s much more easily transmissible than other types of infections that kids get in college. And so I think it was it was scarier to students.
COHN SAYS TESTING IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT INFECTING OTHERS.
[Dr. Cohn]: But really if you have a cough and a fever, you shouldn’t be going out and you should be staying at home until you’re better regardless of whether or not you test positive for the flu. People who have underlying medical conditions in particular can get very sick from flu. So if you’re a healthy college student, you never know if you’re around college students who may have sickness who may have an illness and so it’s helpful to know if you have the flu.
ALTHOUGH TESTING IS IMPORTANT, BOTH BOBEK AND BOE ECHO HOW MISSING CLASSES IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT WHEN BEING SICK.
[Alexis]: It’s hard being behind in schoolwork.
BOBEK SPECIFICALLY EMPHASIZED HOW SOME PROFESSORS AT NU DO NOT HANDLE SICK STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES PROPERLY.
[Milan]: Some classes don’t even let you miss for illness, which is pretty lame, but I’m not going to go give anyone the flu. I think classes like teachers handled illness very poorly. One of my classes has a like a no, excused absences, including for personal reasons, and one of those personal reasons is illness.
MISSING CLASS WAS AN ISSUE FOR BOTH STUDENTS. BUT MEASURES CAN BE TAKEN TO INCREASE CHANCES OF AVOIDING ILLNESS, LIKE GETTING VACCINATED.
[Dr. Cohn]: The flu vaccine is typically between 40 and 60% effective which means that even if you get the flu vaccine, you’re still 50% There’s still a 30% chance that if you’re exposed, you will get it and that changes year by year. But the reason why I recommend people get it is that even if you get the flu, the flu shot protects you against severe disease, so it can prevent you from getting hospitalized or very sick from influenza.
COHN STRESSES VACCINATIONS WILL BE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT FOR THIS UPCOMING, AND UNCERTAIN, WINTER.
[Dr. Cohn]: I think this year especially it will be really important to get both your flu shot and the new COVID vaccine if you haven’t gotten that yet. We really don’t know what’s going to happen this winter. But it could be a bad season for both just given the dynamics of the last couple of years. And that’s the way to prevent yourself from getting really sick is to get vaccinated.
IN ADDITION TO GETTING VACCINATED, DR. COHN ALSO ENCOURAGES MONITORING YOUR SYMPTOMS.
[Dr. Cohn]: And I think the best thing you can do is if you start to have symptoms, just recognize them early and a bad cough and fever are those two major symptoms that you look for for flu and then drink fluids and and stay in.
BOBEK ECHOED THAT SENTIMENT AND HAD A STRAIGHTFORWARD MESSAGE FOR STUDENTS.
[Milan]: Get vaccinated. Don’t get the flu, it sucks.
