The dreaded flu season is coming and students are warned to get their yearly vaccine to avoid getting sick.
"Students in the dorms should get the flu shot to prevent getting sick and getting behind in school," said Beverly Kloeppel, interim director at the Student Health Center. "The people who should get the flu shot are those who have the highest risk of getting complications from the flu."
Those include people with chronic health problems, those who are 50 or older, health care workers and people in institutional settings, such as UNM.
The Student Health Center begins giving the vaccine in October before the virus strikes the population, Kloeppel said. She said the center gives the shot to anyone who wants it, not just students and faculty.
The flu season peaks in New Mexico in late December or early January, said Joan Baumbach, medical epidemiologist for the New Mexico Department of Health.
The immunity against the flu lasts less than a year, which is why a person needs to get vaccinated every year, Baumbach said.
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Kloeppel said not everybody can receive the vaccine. People who cannot be vaccinated for the flu include those who are hypersensitive to eggs and egg products, allergic to latex, have a fever, those who feel ill and pregnant women.
According to Kloeppel, people who have weak immune systems due to organ transplants or HIV/AIDS may get the flu shot but should see their doctor before getting the vaccine.
"Those are people who should get the shot because they may not be able to recover from the flu if they catch it," Kloeppel said.
Symptoms of the flu are sudden onset of high fever, chills, headache, cough and muscle aches, Kloeppel said. Complications from the flu include pneumonia, which is the most common symptom.
The Student Health Center administers between 2,000 and 3,000 vaccines per year, Kloeppel said. Last year, about 2,500 people were given the vaccine.
Kloeppel recommends getting the shot in October and no later than November. The shot becomes effective about two weeks after injection.
"Side effects include a number of allergic reactions," Kloeppel said. "Thimerosal, a preservative, is contained in the vaccine and people can be allergic to that as well."
Other reactions include fever and muscle aches that begin within a few hours of receiving the injection, Kloeppel said. Those symptoms may last up to 24 hours.
"The vaccine works because it is an inactivated flu virus," Kloeppel said. "The body makes protective antibodies against the virus. When you come in contact with the virus you are protected."
The vaccine costs $15 and $3 with student health insurance. The center gives the immunizations until January or until it runs out of them, Kloeppel said.
