Texas A&M Student Health Services is fighting against the upcoming flu season, and its weapon of choice is a needle.
The Student Health Center is offering seasonal flu shots to students. The cost of the shot is $18 and is available by appointment at (979) 458-8250.
Director of Student Health Services Martha Dannenbaum encouraged students to get the seasonal flu shot.
"We know that the flu can cause anyone, whether it's a young person or an old person, to develop a very serious illness. But we would encourage particularly students to get immunized because if they get the flu they are likely to miss a significant amount of class," Dannenbaum said.
Some individuals infected with the flu will miss seven to 10 days of work or school. For students, that could equal 20 classes.
The reason to get the flu shot is simple, said Vice President for Student Affairs Lt. Gen. Joe Weber. Receiving a flu shot minimizes the risk of coming down with the infection, which in turn reduces the number of people who could have been indirectly infected by contact.
"Not only does getting immunized help you personally, but it helps other students as well," Weber said. "As Aggies we take care of other Aggies, so if we are all on one team and we all take the shots it could have a tremendous impact on the number who will get the flu."
Seasonal flu vaccines are just one of the many additions Student Health Services has put in place. Last week, shots were made available for faculty and staff.
Coming soon is the 7th annual SHS Flu Shot Campaign scheduled to take place Oct. 7 and 8.
During the campaign, the seasonal flu shot will be given free to the first 5,200 students to show up at one of the four locations across campus. The locations for the shots will be Zachary Building from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Student Recreation Center Lobby from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., Wehner Lobby from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Commons Lobby from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
After the 5,200 free shots are given, the shots will cost $23.
Whether it is the $18 shots offered, the free campaign shot or the $23 shot, it is worth the cost, Dannenbaum said.
"We know that about 80 percent of cases of flu that occur annually are people who didn't get the immunization and get infected with one of the viruses that they would have been protected from had they gotten the seasonal flu shot," Dannebaum said.
Influenza has extra potential to spread quickly in dorms.
"[We are] encouraging staff and students to take extra caution, wash hands, use hand sanitizer and take extra measures to protect themselves. If we all do that we will minimize the chance of it spreading," said Residence Life director Ronald Sasse.
The health center has seen a significant increase in numbers of individuals with flu-like illness- defined as fever of more than 100 degrees associated with a sore throat and cough- in the past three weeks of this year compared with 2008.
Dannenbaum said this was expected due to the prevalence of the H1N1 virus in the age 24 and younger population.
While the offered flu shots do not protect against the H1N1 virus, University officials are expecting to receive a shipment of H1N1 vaccines near the end of October. The shots will be offered to students at no charge.
As another precautionary measure, the Office of Risk and Compliance has created a committee working on University-wide flu planning including representatives from areas including housing, human resources, faculty and environmental safety. They are scheduled to give a full report Wednesday.
To stay updated on the latest information visit flu.tamu.edu.
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