2008 Woodie Awards
Health Center advises on how to stay healthy during flu season
Cynthia Marts
Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: Campus News
Chills, headaches, sore throat, runny nose, and high fever are just a few of the painful and irritating symptoms that hundreds of UNCG students suffered during this past month. During the last week of January and the first few weeks of February, over a thousand students came into the Student Health Center, almost half of them with the flu or flu-like symptoms. Other symptoms include fatigue, cough, muscle aches, upset stomach, and chills.
Flu season usually lasts from November until May and peaks a little after the New Year. This year that peak hit hard, bringing record numbers of students into the Health Center with these complaints.
"We have seen an increased number of students with influenza this season," said Dr. Eldaliz Fernandez, medical director of the Student Health Center.
In those three weeks, the SHS saw over 1,010 more patients than they did during the same time last year. Seven hundred and sixteen of those were walk in patients, of which there were only 127 last year. About 339 suffered from upper respiratory infections, including both the flu and flu-like symptoms, versus last year's 58.
Despite efforts earlier this year to prevent the spread of winter-time sickness like the flu, including hand washing programs and the distribution of hand sanitizers, the patients just kept pouring in. There were so many, in fact, that during the outbreak some students even had to sit on the floor while waiting to be seen.
One of the biggest causes of the problem was the fact that many of the patients had a particular strand of the flu, AH3-one that was not covered in this past year's flu vaccine. According to Dr. Fernandez, the strand was brought over to the U.S. from another country, just after the vaccine had been created. This issue made this flu season hard on not just UNCG, but also the entire Greensboro area.
Student Health Services hopes to prevent a similar outbreak from happening again next year and encourages students to do their best to watch out and stay healthy. While getting sick might not seem like an issue as the new school year begins, students should take initiative in fighting off future infections.
Flu season usually lasts from November until May and peaks a little after the New Year. This year that peak hit hard, bringing record numbers of students into the Health Center with these complaints.
"We have seen an increased number of students with influenza this season," said Dr. Eldaliz Fernandez, medical director of the Student Health Center.
In those three weeks, the SHS saw over 1,010 more patients than they did during the same time last year. Seven hundred and sixteen of those were walk in patients, of which there were only 127 last year. About 339 suffered from upper respiratory infections, including both the flu and flu-like symptoms, versus last year's 58.
Despite efforts earlier this year to prevent the spread of winter-time sickness like the flu, including hand washing programs and the distribution of hand sanitizers, the patients just kept pouring in. There were so many, in fact, that during the outbreak some students even had to sit on the floor while waiting to be seen.
One of the biggest causes of the problem was the fact that many of the patients had a particular strand of the flu, AH3-one that was not covered in this past year's flu vaccine. According to Dr. Fernandez, the strand was brought over to the U.S. from another country, just after the vaccine had been created. This issue made this flu season hard on not just UNCG, but also the entire Greensboro area.
Student Health Services hopes to prevent a similar outbreak from happening again next year and encourages students to do their best to watch out and stay healthy. While getting sick might not seem like an issue as the new school year begins, students should take initiative in fighting off future infections.
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