Benjamin Rizzo
Flu vaccines pierce the collegeBy: Ben Rizzo
Death. Many words and sensations come to mind in describing your current condition this Tuesday morning in December but this one sums them all up. It’s 8 a.m., you find yourself in the same place you were at 8 p.m., sitting on the toilet, with a roll of toilet paper in one hand and a bucket in the other, while fluids run from your orifices as if you are a faucet with its knob left turned on. Greeted with the occasional outburst of an uncontrollable cough and its coinciding chunk of appetizing phlegm, you muster up the strength to open your anthropology book in a last ditch effort to cram for your first of two finals beginning in two hours. It’s hopeless; you can’t even read the words on the page, as your vision is blurred from the excruciating pain throbbing in your head.To think, this could all have been avoided back in late October with one tiny injection at the Student Health Center here at Pierce College. Yes ladies and gentlemen its flu season. That time of year from the beginning of November until the end of May when illnesses caused by influenza viruses spread like wildfire through forests of human beings around the globe. Now, vaccines for the flu are available at the Student Health Center. The best way to prevent the flu, according to Student Health Center Director Beth Benne, is by getting a flu vaccination each year.”I firmly believe prevention is everything,” said Benne, who received a shipment of 100 vaccines in the beginning of October.According to Benne, any student currently enrolled in classes at Pierce, once passed through proper screening procedures, is qualified for treatment at the student health center and thus eligible to receive the $15 injection.What is influenza?According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the flu is a contagious viral upper respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms include fever, cough, stuffed nose, sore throat, headaches and nausea. Numbers posted on the CDC’s website said 5 to 20 percent of the population in the United States gets the flu each year. Of this percentage, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized and about 36,000 people die. Most of these deaths occur in the elderly population as their immune system is weakened over time. Other people at a higher risk of contracting the virus due to a weakened immune system include children 6 to 59 months of age, pregnant women, asthmatics and adults 50 years of age and older. This has prompted government funded vaccination clinics to conduct free flu shots every year for these groups of people and more. For a complete list of clinics and more information on free flu shots, call (800) 427-8700 or visit www.lapublichealth.org.How does it spread?According to the CDC, a person, once infected, is able to spread the virus starting one day before symptoms develop and ending five days after becoming sick. Viruses are transmitted from person to person through the spread of germs with coughing and sneezing. If someone touches something with the viruses on it, then touches their mouth or nose, they may also become infected.In some cases, people spread the viruses before they even know they are sick.What is the influenza vaccine?There are two types of vaccines: Inactivated (killed) vaccine, otherwise known as the “flu shot” and live, attenuated (weakened) influenza vaccine, called LAIV. The shot is injected intramuscularly into the upper arm, while the LAIV is sprayed into the nose. Both vaccines, according to the CDC, comprise three influenza viruses: two different A viruses and one B virus. The difference between the vaccinations is the “flu shot” contains dead viruses, while the LAIV contains live viruses. “The flu shot,” said Benne, “Is an annual vaccine based on last year’s flu because the virus mutates over years and changes identity strains.”Yes, the injection to prevent the flu consists of different variations of the flu.According to the CDC, these viruses have been killed, so one cannot get influenza from the vaccine.”I give a dead vaccine,” said Benne, “You can’t get the flu from this vaccine.”Once injected, the vaccine forces the body to develop antibodies providing protection against influenza virus infection. According to Benne, this process could take up to four to six weeks.Why get vaccinated?In addition to touching many things already touched by someone else, hundreds of students at Pierce regularly attend one of the many three-hour-long classes available this semester. According to Benne, spending three hours in a classroom breathing in re-circulated air could be a potentially contagious environment.Some students, however, do not see classrooms as any more of a threat than other environments.”Dude, I work in a restaurant, if I’m going to get it anywhere, I’ll get it there,” said Catie Ellis, 20, who plans on majoring in philosophy.Students will also save money by receiving the injection at Pierce. At the cost of a new CD from the local record store, these vaccinations allow students to forego any additional expenses associated with consulting physicians outside of campus. “It’s a free visit,” said Benne, “The only thing we’re charging for is what we’re putting into people and taking out of people.”Although the vaccine can prevent influenza, Benne warns that nothing is 100 percent.Students planning on receiving the injection were hard to find.”I don’t hate injections, I just don’t care for a vaccine,” said 19-year-old Gianina Mendez.When/where do I get vaccinated?According to Benne, now is the time to receive the vaccine. Since it could take up to a month after the injection for it to work, any exposure to the virus during that time might render the vaccine useless. Also, medical personnel cannot give the vaccine if the student is already sick. Illnesses weaken the immune system, creating a dangerous environment to be injecting three flu viruses. Vaccines will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis. Last year, according to Benne, the Student Health Center threw away some $525 worth of vaccines due in some part to a lack of student awareness.Many students are not even aware there is a health center at Pierce.”This is a commuter school. People run on campus, then they run off,” said Benne. “I only see 3 to 4 percent of the population.”The Student Health Center is located in the Campus Center, Building 600. Positioned right next to the cafeteria, office hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Any student interested in receiving a vaccine may call and schedule an appointment at (818) 710-4270. For more information on influenza, contact the CDC at (800) 232-4636 or visit them at www.cdc.gov/flu.
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