For sophomore business management major Brooke Fisher, it all started with symptoms she thought were mild allergies. But after a visit to Nurse Paul Mayer, director of health services, she discovered she had the flu. Fisher had not received the flu shot vaccination.
“I immediately texted my roommates and told them I was going to Clorox everything before locking myself in my room,” Fisher said.
To have your body taken over by the influenza virus is to suffer through symptoms like high fever, runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, headaches, muscle pain and coughing.
“I went through three tissue boxes in two days. My head was pounding and it was absolutely miserable,” Morgan Moody, junior English major, said. “I felt bad for my roommates because they could hear me coughing, and I’m sure they were freaking out.”
Several students have already tested positive for the flu this semester. There are certain precautions to take to avoid this illness.
One of the most effective ways to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated.
“Everyone should get their vaccinations,” Morgan Nelson, senior nursing major, said. “The flu is such a preventable sickness, and we have the means to prevent it. Why wouldn’t you?”
Union’s Flu Shot Clinic administers flu shots to students and faculty in Providence Hall on Sept. 30, 2015. The clinic will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The shots are $20 payable by cash, check, debit or credit card, or can be charged to student accounts. This price is actually cheaper than going off campus to receive your vaccination. At Walgreens, a flu shot costs $31.99 without insurance.
Don’t end up like Moody, who waited too long to get her vaccination.
“If I could go back, I would have definitely gotten the flu shot before I caught [influenza],” Moody said.
