Flu season in full swing at Elon University

By Lilly Blomquist

From Jan. 3, the beginning of winter term, to Feb. 13, Elon Student Health Services saw 389 cases of the flu, which comprised 21 percent of visits to the health center.

“There was a period of about three weeks where if we saw someone who wasn’t there for the flu, we were surprised,” said Dr. Ginette Archinal, medical director of Elon University Student Health Services. “We had no appointments. We couldn’t see everyone who needed to be seen.”

The 2017-2018 flu season has seen the highest rate of flu-like illnesses and flu hospitalizations in nearly 10 years in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The viral strain that has caused the most illnesses this season is H3N2, a subtype of influenza A and a variant of the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu.

This flu season has seen an increase in sicknesses, hospitalizations and deaths because the H3N2 strain leads to more severe symptoms than influenza B viruses, the CDC said. Additionally, people have less exposure to H3N2 and therefore have a decreased ability to build up immunity.

Fighting the flu at Elon 

Elon University physicians, professors and students have seen the effects of the flu on campus.

Elon University Student Health Services is located in the R.N. Ellington Center for Health and Wellness.

Archinal explained that the flu is a highly contagious respiratory illness, and since

students live in close proximity to one another, the illness spreads rapidly and extensively. Some students who have the flu continue to attend classes to prevent falling behind, which infects other students, Archinal said.

Dr. Ginette Archinal, medical director of Elon University Student Health Services. Photo courtesy of Dr. Ginette Archinal.

Students often go to Student Health Services to obtain documentation that excuses them from attending classes, but Archinal said this has not always been the case this season.

“We ask about class, and they say, ‘Well, no. Actually, class was canceled today because so many people were out with the flu that the professor didn’t feel it was worth it to have class,’” Archinal said about her student patients.

While some professors canceled their classes that had a large number of students sick with the flu, others chose to readjust their lesson plans to accommodate the sick students.

As an assistant professor of wellness, Jen Kimbrough said during the first week of the spring semester, about one-third of her class was sick with the flu. These absences prompted Kimbrough to reconsider her lesson plans so that sick students could complete their assignments from home.

“I made some adjustments for my class that experienced a high rate of illness so that the students who were sick could keep up and not feel pressured to come to class and further spread the virus,” Kimbrough said.

Stephanie Baker, assistant professor of public health studies, said she also told her students to stay home when sick to prevent the flu from infecting other students. She still abided by her weekly lesson plan, but she recommended that those fighting the flu meet with her to discuss anything they missed in class.

“One of the reasons so many are affected by the flu is that people don’t want to stay home,” Baker said. “Students may be nervous about this because they don’t want to miss class, but in my class, I give you permission.”

The flu has not only affected students’ academic lives, but the illness has also prevented some from participating in certain extracurricular activities.

Kate Ulveling, a junior and marketing major, was a recruitment counselor this January for the female students who wanted to rush a sorority at Elon. During preference day, the second-to-last day of recruitment, Ulveling caught the flu. She was sick for four days and was unable to attend the rest of recruitment.

“I have never felt so sick in my life,” Ulveling said. “I had planned on going to an urgent care center that night, but after a few hours, I couldn’t wait any longer.”

Although Ulveling did not receive a flu vaccination, she said this was the first time she has gotten the flu in five to seven years.

Laura Viksnins, a junior and major in public health studies, managed to stay healthy, despite sharing an apartment with Ulveling.

“I used Clorox wipes to wipe down everything: door knobs, light switches, counters, refrigerator handles,” Viksnins said. “Little things like that could have had germs on them. I also made sure to drink lots of Emergen-C and eat oranges.”

Viksnins said receiving the flu vaccine earlier this season may have also salvaged her health.

Kristin Sicari and Laura Viksnins pose with a cutout of Kate Ulveling’s head on the last day of recruitment. Photo courtesy of Kate Ulveling.

Preventing the flu with vaccination

When people receive a flu vaccination, they are injected with an inactivated version of the flu virus, which stimulates the production of antibodies. Archinal said this better prepares people’s bodies to fight off the illness when they are exposed to the actual infection.

World Health Organization officials predict which strain of the flu will be the most dominant during the flu season, and six months before the season begins, they prepare the flu vaccine.

This season, WHO officials chose two strains of influenza A — one variant of H1N1 and one of H3N2 — and one or two strains of influenza B when preparing the flu vaccine.

However, since this process is based on educated speculation, it is not always foolproof. Archinal said this season’s flu vaccine was not a good match for the dominant H3N2 flu, another reason why cases of the flu have escalated this season.

Archinal explained that despite the ineffectiveness of the vaccination, when people do become infected with the flu, their symptoms are milder. Additionally, even if people have already been sick with the flu, they can become infected again because more than one strain of the flu is circulating. The flu vaccine can protect people from these other strains.

Still, Baker said people are hesitant to get their annual flu vaccine. As a member of the public health field, Baker said her role is to explore the reasons people hold negative perceptions of the vaccine and to educate the public on the vaccine’s contribution to their health.

“Some do not trust the vaccine is doing what it is supposed to be doing, and they believe, instead, that the vaccine is introducing some other type of health complication or that vaccines give you the flu,” Baker said.

To dispel this misconception, Archinal said some people experience flu-like symptoms after receiving the vaccine because they are sensitive to their bodies making antibodies. The flu vaccine does not give them the flu, she said.

Kimbrough said the flu vaccine preserves and protects the health of the community, so she encourages everyone to get the vaccine.

“Even if you don’t think getting the flu will be a problem for you as an individual, you may inadvertently catch and spread the virus to others who are at a higher risk for serious illness or death from the flu,” Kimbrough said.

Examining the flu in a broader sense 

These groups that are at a high risk for other health complications, like bronchitis or pneumonia, are individuals 65 and older, children under 5, pregnant women and people with certain chronic medical conditions, like asthma, diabetes and heart disease, according to the CDC.

Everyone is at risk of getting the flu, however. When small droplets from infected individuals’ coughs and sneezes land on others’ mouths and noses, they become infected with the flu.

One to four days after the exposure to the virus, symptoms appear suddenly, Archinal said. These may include chills, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, a cough, a fever, a sore throat and  a runny or stuffy nose.

To alleviate symptoms, Archinal said people should rest and stay hydrated. She also recommended Tamiflu to shorten the length of the flu and to reduce the chance of getting a more severe, secondary health complication.

To prevent the flu from continuing to spread, Archinal said individuals should wash their hands, stay home if they become sick, cover their coughs and sneezes and visit the local pharmacy to get a flu vaccine.

With the worst flu season in nearly a decade, Archinal said she wants people to understand the severity of the issue and hopes they practice proper hygiene to limit the amount of flu cases in the future.

“Take the flu seriously,” Archinal said. “The flu is not a minor inconvenience. It is a major public health issue, and as a society, we don’t really understand it.”