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Campus Health advises students to get flu shots

Coughing, sneezing, fevers and headaches can be prevented by receiving a shot in the arm during the expected bad flu season, a UA Campus Health Center nurse said yesterday.

Jolie Schaeffler, a University of Arizona immunization nurse, said students need the influenza vaccine this season to prevent the virus' uncomfortable side effects.

Schaeffler said the immunization produces a sore arm, fever and muscles aches, but students won't receive the flu virus from the shot.

"Some people think they can get the flu from the shot but it's a dead virus, and they can't get the flu from the shot," Schaeffler said.

Schaeffler said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention warned that this year may bring more flu cases than in previous years, but it is too early to tell in Tucson.

"For me, it's too early (to tell) because we've had only a few cases," she said.

Schaeffler said the flu season in Tucson typically begins in January and lasts until April or May. Often, students who are from the East Coast bring the virus back with them after Thanksgiving, she said.

Influenza cases typically peak between late December and early March in the United States, according to the CDC.

Schaeffler said college students are at higher risk than other people because of their close proximity with people. She said so far about as many students are receiving shots this year as last.

Most people recover from the flu virus in about one to two weeks, according to the CDC.

The CDC recommends people who are at high risk - the elderly, those who suffer from diseases, health care personnel, pregnant women and those who breastfeed and household members of those at high risk - get a vaccination.

About 5 to 10 percent of people who receive influenza vaccines experience mild effects, according to the CDC.

The optimal time for those at high risk to receive a vaccine is October to mid-November, according to the CDC. Antibody development takes about two weeks after people receive vaccines.

The Campus Health Center flu immunization costs $5 with United HealthCare - the UA student insurance policy - or $6 without insurance.

Communication junior Hallie Campbell said she probably won't get a flu vaccine.

"I don't get the flu that often, and I'm not usually sick," Campbell said. "I would say it's worthwhile if you are planning to leave for a while or go out of the country or unless you are a sickly person, but otherwise I don't think it's necessary."

Tom Kehoe, an astronomy research associate, said the government in the United Kingdom, where he is from, doesn't stress receiving influenza vaccinations.

"Personally, I'm not worried about it but if people want to that's fine," Kehoe said. "The flu just means you're going to lie in bed for a few days and then you're 100 percent again."